Paul O’Grady: the life and times of the popular entertainer

TV and radio broadcaster, comedian, game show host, outrageous, foul-mouthed drag queen par excellence, writer and actor, outspoken political critic, LGBTQ+ pioneer, raconteur, animal lover, and with a rich Liverpudlian accent to boot, the nation responded with an outpouring of sadness at the passing of Paul O’Grady in March 2023.

Paul James O’Grady was born at St Catherine’s Hospital in Tranmere, Birkenhead, on June 14, 1955, to a working-class Irish migrant family. His father Patrick Grady (1912-73) was from Ireland and his mother Mary (1916-88), English-born but of Irish parentage. Paul was their third child after Brendan (1941) and Sheila (1944), the O’Grady appellation coming about accidentally, a mishap on Patrick Grady’s RAF application by all accounts.

Paul’s early life was spent in a rented house at 23, Holly Grove, Higher Tranmere, and he attended St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, then Blessed Edmund Campion R.C. Secondary Modern and Corpus Christi High. At 16, he began work in the civil service, as a DHSS clerical assistant in Liverpool while also part-time at the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) club in Oxton. O’Grady was 18 when he had his only child, Sharon (Sharon Mousley to be), born on May 16, 1974, to a friend, Diane Jansen, and would go on to have two grandchildren. He learned of the pregnancy at the same time both his parents had heart attacks; his father died. O’Grady would also suffer heart disease, which made him conclude it was congenital, although he readily admitted smoking 40 a day didn’t help either. Working at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court as an assistant clerk before an abortive period in London was followed by a return to Birkenhead, a job in an abattoir and then three years at a children’s convalescent home and school in West Kirby.

As Lily Savage, the character who first brought him fame. Image: PA Paul was married for the first time to Teresa Fernandes in 1977 (divorced in 2005) and it was also in the late-1970s that he moved to London where he worked as a care officer. It was now he would make his name as a performer, with his alter ego, drag queen persona Lily Savage who was savage by name and savage by nature yet also imbued with a heart of gold.

He first developed this act in the late '70s, reputedly basing the character on qualities and traits he observed in some of his female relatives. Going solo with Lily in the early 1980s, the entertainer performed at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in South London for eight years as he honed both his craft and his volatile twin. The transformation was so successful he was able to front popular TV shows, such as Blankety Blank (1997-2002) as Lily, rather than as Paul. It was a creation that would continue to do well for him into the 1990s and beyond. Eventually, however, he decided it was time to go it alone and be himself, starring in the BBC sitcom Eyes Down (2003-04), and then shedding Lily as he hosted several TV and radio shows including The Paul O’Grady Show, between October 2004 and May 2015, and Blind Date (2016-17).

He was awarded the MBE in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to entertainment.

Paul was made an MBE for services to entertainment Image:Fiona Hansen/PA Photos Perhaps the show that most endeared the performer to an animal-loving nation was Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs (2012-23) in which he came across as sincere, warm and genuinely moved by the plight of the animals he came into contact with. Perhaps it was this series above all others that saw him regarded as a national treasure.

Paul's friendships included Carry On and Eastenders’ actress Barbara Windsor, fellow Blind Date presenter Cilla Black, and Labour MP Mo Mowlam. He gravitated towards Labour and poured scorn on politicians from privileged backgrounds who he said knew nothing of the struggles of ordinary folk: ‘I didn’t notice a tax on polo mallets,’ he once proclaimed.

Paul’s second marriage would be to André Portasio in 2017, his time now split between a London flat and a farmhouse in Kent where he grew organic fruit and veg and herbs. His final performance was in Annie at the Edinburgh Playhouse just days before his died.

Paul O’Grady passed away on March 28, 2023, aged 67, after suffering cardiac arrest. He was buried at the Church of St Rumwold’s, Bonnington, Kent, close to his home at Aldington. He published several books including a four-volume memoir, had been a heavy smoker, hence his joke about his two great loves: 'Benson and Hedges’. Despite his fame and earned wealth remained true to his working-class roots: ‘I still consider myself working class. I know my circumstances have changed dramatically since I was growing up back in Birkenhead. Now I live in rural Kent in what I suppose people would call a posh house.

Although raised a Roman Catholic he developed an interest in ‘alternative’ religions including modern paganism and also believed in the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. At six foot one inch he was, literally and metaphorically, a larger-than-life character, and a one-off: ‘I do count my blessings. I have had two heart attacks, and if I get to 60 that will be amazing’; he made 67. He also had advice for anyone who’d survived a heart attack, as he had: ‘You have two choices: sit on the sofa and count your tablets all day, or get on with it and get moving.’

Paul O'Grady became a national treasure thanks to his love of animals demonstrated by ITV's For the Love of Dogs. Image: Archant CHRONOLOGY