Actors - Paul O'Grady

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	Actors - Paul O'Grady

Paul James O'Grady (b. 14 June 1955 in Birkenhead, England) is an English comedian and television personality. He is the creator of comic character Lily Savage (the "Birkenhead bombshell"), a vampish Liverpudlian woman.

O'Grady was brought up in an Irish Catholic household in Tranmere. He attended St Anselm's College, Birkenhead. When he was 19 he worked as a clerk in a magistrate's court and met Diane Jansen, ten years his senior, with whom he had a daughter, Sharyn. However, he claims he was "gay from the moment he was born". Three years after his daughter was born, Paul wed a Portuguese lesbian waitress called Teresa Fernandes in a marriage of convenience.

Paul's jobs have included civil servant, cleaner for Cleo Laine, office work in an abattoir and a woodsman. He has also worked in a children's home in Kirkby.

In 1977, he went to Manila where he worked as a waiter in Gussy's Bar (also a brothel). It was here he got the idea for Lily Savage. He returned to London in the early 1980s and subsequently achieved fame with his creation of Lily, initially playing to gay clubs around Vauxhall in London but then taking the act into the mainstream. Lily first became popular on television as the 'On the Bed Presenter' on The Big Breakfast. For a few years Lily hosted the game show Blankety Blank for the BBC and later ITV, as well as her own comedy show Lily Live! (ITV, 2000).

Paul once played a prostitute called Roxanne in an episode of The Bill.

In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

More recently (in 2005) he has tended to appear less as Lily and more often as himself, and he has had success as the star of his own early evening talk show, The Paul O'Grady Show, on ITV1. In 2003 he appeared in Celebrity Driving School and more recently guested on LivingTV's paranormal show, Most Haunted Live. In December 2005 he won the Best TV Comedy Entertainment Personality category of the British Comedy Award.

On the 10 January 2006, in a shock decision, Paul decided to ditch ITV and take his daytime chat show to Channel 4. Paul is still in an ongoing dispute with ITV, regarding use of props and studio use for his daytime chat show (The Paul O'Grady Show). As a consequence of this, Paul has decided he never wants to work for ITV again and has pulled out of appearing on a new talent show and host of The British Soap Awards.

On the 27 March 2006, Paul began hosting his talk show, now called "The New Paul O'Grady Show", on Channel 4. It will be shown weekdays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. until 16 June 2006.

Paul currently lives on a farm in a tiny village in Kent.

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