Paul O'Grady is a household name for many in this day and age, however for the older generations they may remember him as his alter ego, Lily Savage.
As it stands, the 66-year-old TV personality has had a long and successful career but arguably owes it to Lily Savage, who helped him achieve notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s.
Last year, Paul, originally from Birkenhead, said he would be 'cancelled' if he were to bring back the drag act and deliver her questionable sense of humour to today's society.
READ MORE: ITV Life Stories Kate Garraway's first marriage, famous ex and caring for Derek
But how did Lily become known for her humour in the first place?
While working in London, Paul made his first appearance as Lily Savage at a gay pub in Camden back in 1978.
Basing Lily on traits found among his female relatives, her debut performance at The Black Cap involved miming the words to Barbra Streisand's Nobody Makes a Pass at Me .
But despite Paul describing Lily as “a creature that was more cartoon than human," he found little work in London and so as part of a two-man drag mime act, the Playgirls, he toured around the North of England.
After the pair went their separate ways, Paul continued to perform as a solo act for a while until mass unemployment crippled the country and left him with no other option but to move back in with his mum in Birkenhead.
Paul returned to London as a barman at Vauxhall gay pub, the Elephant and Castle in 1984.
Every Tuesday, Lily would make an appearance to host ‘Ladies Night’, where amateur drag acts would perform. Here, he dabbled with hosting and he tried his luck at comedy routines. Unsurprisingly, he quickly became known for his quick wit and insulting both the acts and the audience.
Paul then revamped his show to the ‘Stars of the Future’ and took it to the nearby Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT) gay pub every Thursday.
When Paul got his own flat, he quit his work and began focusing on his career as Lily full time, taking her across the country and abroad.
At the time, Lily spoke out on issues affecting the LGBT+ community, having marched against Section 28 and regularly holding fundraisers for HIV/AIDS research.
Lily began to release VHS videos of her performances and at one stage, it was hard to escape her.
After appearing on Channel 4’s comedy show, Viva Cabaret! And BBC’s Brookside, she swapped to radio and even presented an episode of Top of the Pops.
It is believed some in the South London gay scene became critical of Paul, accusing him of being a sell out but in true Lily fashion, he fiercely denied these accusations stating: "I've done nearly ten years on the factory floor and now I feel I deserve a shot in the office."
This wasn’t the only problem Paul faced during his time as Lily.
As the media constantly continued to solely refer to him as a drag queen, he commented that Barry Humphries, who played the character of Dame Edna Everage, "never called a drag act because he's a heterosexual male. But I'm called one because I'm a gay man.
Lily’s career ended on a high note having added advert appearances for Ford Escort, Pretty Polly Tights and the soft drink Oasis.
Paul retired Lily back in 2004, but her legacy lives on as one of the UK's most iconic drag queens.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here.
