Paul O'Grady has had audiences in stitches for more than three decades and has firmly positioned himself as one of our national treasures.
The Birkenhead native is known for his sharp wit and huge heart, that has seen him fighting animal's corners for years. The 66-year-old is probably best known for his alter-ego persona drag queen Lily Savage.
He is the epitome of hard work, spending years learning and executing his craft on the stand-up circuit in the pubs in and around Liverpool. In 1984 he then moved to London, where he, as Lily, presented shows at the Elephant and Castle pub.
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Soon after, TV came calling for Paul O'Grady and his huge talents, My London reports. In the early 1990s, Paul began appearing on a host of television programmes including late-night Channel 4 comedy show Viva Cabaret! and he even presented an episode of the BBC's Top of the Pops.
As more people became aware of his abilities the phone calls continued to come in, a breakthrough presenting role on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast brought him to the attention of even more viewers during a stint between 1995 and 1996.
The BBC were eager to find a fit for Paul's Lily Savage and with the relaunch of Blankety Blank in 1997, they found the perfect vehicle for his razor tongue. The show was a huge success with millions tuning in each week, it was so good in fact that ITV later took on the show and offered Paul an eye-watering salary.
Paul, who was born at St Catherine's Hospital in Birkenhead, later had several guest presenter appearances on Des and Mel in 2003 TV execs cottoned on to Paul's incredible ability to build rapport with celebrities and the British public. In 2004 The Paul O'Grady Show launched on ITV before moving onto Channel 4 where the programme ran over two periods, split by a return to ITV, until 2015.
Paul's army of loyal fans only grew while The Paul O'Grady Show aired and his enduring love of animals shone through the show. Over the last few years, the TV personality has only continued to dominate feel-good television with a plethora of programmes using his name in the title.
While his hugely successful career shows no sign of stopping any time soon, things have not always been plain sailing for the star. Paul has endured huge health battles in recent years.
He had heart attacks which occurred in 2002, 2006 and 2014 were brought on by the star’s extravagant partying lifestyle fuelled with booze, drugs and chain smoking 40 a day. He’s since admitted he changed his lifestyle after what he called “health issues”.
Thankfully he was given a "clear bill of health" in September 2021. According to the Daily Star, he said "My cardiologist thought I should have a pacemaker, so he sent me to the specialist. I had the ECG and all that business - but the specialist said, 'You don't need the pacemaker. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it.'"
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