
Acting
Paul O'Grady
Born — Died
1955-06-14 — 2023-03-28
Place of birth
Tranmere, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
66 titles
Paul James O'Grady, MBE DL (14 June 1955 - 28 March 2023) was an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio disc jockey. He achieved fame using his comedic drag queen character, "Lily Savage", and later became well known for presenting TV programmes as himself, such as The Paul O'Grady Show. Born to a working-class Irish family in Birkenhead, he attended Blessed Edward Campion Secondary Modern School, in Claughton Village, Birkenhead, Cheshire (now Merseyside). O'Grady moved to London in the late-1970s, there working as a peripatetic care officer for Camden Council. It was here in 1978 that he developed his drag act, basing the character of Lily Savage upon traits found …
Known for
7.6The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.
Doctor Who
2005
7.2Each week celebrity guests join Irish comedian Graham Norton to discuss what's being going on around the world that week. The guests poke fun and share their opinions on the main news stories. Graham is often joined by a band or artist to play the show out.
The Graham Norton Show
2007
6.6The biggest stars, the most iconic performances, the most outrageous outfits – it’s Britain’s number one pop show.
Top of the Pops
1964
6.8The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.
The Bill
1984
6.5The likes of Antoine de Caunes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Davina McCall, and Lolo Ferrari are your guides to the weird and wonderful in Europe and beyond. How else would you learn about pubic hairdressers, the Penis Olympics, or the latest Japanese sex toys?
Eurotrash
1993
NRMichael Parkinson returns for a second run of his iconic talk show.
Parkinson
1998
Film credits
2020s · 7 titles
1.0After 50 years in the business, Mr. David Raven still performs as 'Maisie Trollette', Britain's Oldest Drag Artiste. But as his 85th birthday approaches, we see the challenges this brings, and when he meets fellow Drag Queen, Darcelle XV from America, Guinness World Record Holder at 87, professional rivalries flare between our feisty Pantomime Dame and the regal Pageant Queen.
Maisie
2022
NRDoumentary telling the story of Cilla Black, who rose from working-class roots in Liverpool to become one of the nation's most successful and best-loved singers, presenters and all-round entertainers.
Our Cilla: The One and Only
2021
8.0ITV pays tribute to the iconic and much-loved entertainer Paul O'Grady in this special celebratory film, featuring highlights from his incredible career and interviews with those who knew him best. Celebratory documentary broadcast following the death of the comedian and presenter. Features Paul O'Grady
For the Love of Paul O'Grady
2023
NRProduced over four years with full access from Ken’s widow Lady Dodd, the film takes an in-depth look into Doddy’s private world, exploring the many secrets of his comic talent, revealing never-before-seen home-videos, stage performances and extracts from some of the thousands of Ken’s diary notebooks which he’d asked his wife to burn after his death. Wrestling with her conscience for quite some time, Lady Dodd, finally agrees with entertainment historians, museum curators and many of Ken’s admirers like Stephen K Amos, Harry Hill, Shaparak Khorsandi, Lee Mack, Paul O’Grady, Johnny Vegas, and Sir Ian McKellen to preserve Doddy’s notebooks for posterity. These stars explore their passion and memories of Ken in this candid, insightful film which takes you backstage behind the red curtain to reveal a far more intriguing man than the public or even his wife ever realised.
The Real Ken Dodd: The Man I Loved
2024
NRThis one-hour special documentary celebrates 25 star-studded years of the National Television Awards, with contributions from stars including Graham Norton and Simon Cowell.
The National Television Awards Celebrate 25 Years
2020
NRA star-studded documentary revealing the private man behind one of Britain’s greatest comic geniuses, using home movies and extracts from notebooks that he wanted to be burnt after his death.
Ken Dodd: A Legacy of Happiness
2025
7.0Intimate documentary exploring how Paul O'Grady's creation, Lily Savage, took mainstream TV by storm. Unravel the real story of Lily with insights from Paul's daughter and famous pals.
The Life and Death of Lily Savage
2024
2010s · 4 titles
6.5Tribute to entertainer Cilla Black.
Our Cilla
2015
8.3A razor-witted entertainer who found fame as two people - first his drag queen alter ego, Lily Savage, and then as himself. This documentary film charts the unique career of a working class Merseysider whose life away from the spotlight has often been far more dramatic than the consistently successful career he has enjoyed on stage and screen.
The Paul O'Grady Story
2017
NRPaul O'Grady travels to Germany into the world of his fairy tale heroes, the Brothers Grimm, exploring its landscapes, picture book castles and chocolate-box villages.
Paul O'Grady's Favourite Fairy Tales
2016
NRThe end of an era as the studios where ITV filmed its many shows for 45 years closes its doors for the last time.
The London Studios: Home of the Stars
2018
2000s · 3 titles
NRComedy legend Stanley Baxter returns from retirement and returns to the Christmas schedules with a trawl through the very best of his classic sketches and routines, his memories of making the shows, plus some brand new material, including his contemporary take on the Queen's Christmas Message to the Commonwealth.
Stanley Baxter: Now and Then
2008
Shot live at the one off Comic Aid benefit gig at London’s Carling Apollo – which sold out in just three and a half minutes of tickets being put on sale – the DVD features the entire uncut show for all those unfortunate enough to have missed out on tickets. The 3 hour show sees Jonathan Ross, Jack Dee, Graham Norton, Julian Clary, and Lily Savage host a stellar comic line-up that includes; Lee Evans, Dawn French, Jimmy Carr, Ardal O’Hanlon, Johnny Vegas, Bill Bailey, Bo’ Selecta! star The Bear, Jo Brand, Jon Culshaw, Omid Djalili, Otis Lee Crenshaw, Eddie Izzard, The League Of Gentlemen with Miranda Richardson, Alistair McGowan, Dylan Moran, Dave Spikey, Simon Pegg & Jessica Stevenson. Psychological illusionist Derren Brown and international percussion sensation Stomp also present their own unique blend of stage entertainment.
Comic Aid
2005
Along the kilometre stretch of Kilburn High road in London, there are twenty-eight pubs: that's one every thirty-six metres. Populated predominantly by the Irish, this area has come to be known as County Kilburn. Here we witness the loves, lives and laughs of a disparate group of dreamers, losers and ever-hopefuls.
County Kilburn
2000
1990s · 9 titles
7.9A small-time Belfast thief, Gerry Conlon, is wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London, along with his father and friends, and spends 15 years in prison fighting to prove his innocence.
In the Name of the Father
1993
NRIn the late Eighties, there had been a series of comedy concerts (modelled on the Amnesty International “Secret Policeman’s Ball series”) to raise both awareness and raw cash for HIV/AIDS charities. The series was called Hysteria to reflect the hysteria (and downright untruths) surrounding the issue of HIV/AIDS. The last one of these had been in 1989, so in 1994, Pozzitive set out to revive the idea of a fundraiser with “Filth!” a night of comedy and music at the Sadlers Wells theatre, on Sunday 24 April. In fact, so many comedians and writers said “yes” to the idea, that we hit on the notion of doing two shows in one evening back to back. The first show was hosted by Lynn Ferguson and Arthur Smith, the second show by Mark Lamarr. Artists involved in the show included Tom Robinson, Steve Coogan, Spitting Image, Eddie Izzard, Jo Brand, Jeremy Hardy and Ben Elton.
Filth!
1994
8.0From her Lambeth council flat to top billing on television and the West End stage comes the Scouse bombshell who's shaken British comedy to it's foundations; Lily Savage is live, loud and very, very funny.
Lily Savage: Live And Outrageous
1995
10.0Enjoy the outrageous and flamboyant First Lady of British Comedy, Lily Savage, as she performs her incredibly hysterical live show before a star-studded audience.
An Evening with Lily Savage
1996
8.0This made-for-TV film, was Lily Savage's first foray into the world of video. Although the working-class, Birkenhead born tart-with-a-heart had already appeared on television briefly (on Jonathan Ross' chat show, and the news footage of the 'Poll Tax Riots', if we can believe her!), Lily, alas Paul O'Grady in drag, hadn't yet hit the mainstream of things, and was still largely confined to the clubs, so this venue was one of their first big engagements.
Lily Savage Live from the Hackney Empire
1991
NRA specially created compilation of unused material from her incredibly successful 1998 BBC series
The Untransmittable Lily Savage Show
1997
9.0Multi award-winning TV personality Paul O'Grady stars as Lily Savage, the Scouse bombshell who catapulted him to superstardom. From her Lambeth Council flat to top billing on television and on the West End stage, this stand-up special spans Lily's career from her 1959 Miss Pears triumph to numerous shop-lifting convictions and finally her international sex-kitten status.
Lily Savage Live: Paying the Rent
1993
3.3Animated short set in the dressing room of several drag artists.
Fairest of Them All
1994
NRLily Savage performs her first live tour in four years, captured here at the 1998 Edinburgh Festival. Lily pulls no punches in an act designed to demonstrate that, despite her mainstream television breakthrough with 'Blankety Blank', she is still as outrageous as ever.
Lily Savage: The Live Show
1998
Series credits
7.6The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.
Doctor Who
2005
7.2Each week celebrity guests join Irish comedian Graham Norton to discuss what's being going on around the world that week. The guests poke fun and share their opinions on the main news stories. Graham is often joined by a band or artist to play the show out.
The Graham Norton Show
2007
6.6The biggest stars, the most iconic performances, the most outrageous outfits – it’s Britain’s number one pop show.
Top of the Pops
1964
6.8The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.
The Bill
1984
6.5The likes of Antoine de Caunes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Davina McCall, and Lolo Ferrari are your guides to the weird and wonderful in Europe and beyond. How else would you learn about pubic hairdressers, the Penis Olympics, or the latest Japanese sex toys?
Eurotrash
1993
NRMichael Parkinson returns for a second run of his iconic talk show.
Parkinson
1998
NRMichael Parkinson returns for a second run of his iconic talk show.
Parkinson
1998
7.1TFI Friday was an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of guest presenters. It was broadcast on Fridays at 6pm from 9 February 1996 to 22 December 2000, with a repeat later that night. The title officially stood for "Thank Four It's Friday", but was widely understood to mean "Thank Fuck It's Friday" and was a reference to the popular phrase "Thank God it's Friday". The show's theme tune was Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase, in keeping with Evans's frequent use of 1960s television themes in his work.
TFI Friday
1996
5.3An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.
An Audience with...
1978
6.1A gameshow hosted by Ant and Dec filled with stunts, sketches, and special guest appearances.
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
2002
5.1The Paul O'Grady Show is a British comedy chat show hosted by Birkenhead-born comedian Paul O'Grady. The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV before moving to Channel 4, where the show was produced by Olga TV. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, and occasionally viewer competitions.
The Paul O'Grady Show
2004
6.1Jonathan Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band.
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
2001
6.0Playhouse Presents is a series of self-contained TV plays, made by British broadcaster Sky Arts. The series started airing on 12 April 2012, on Sky Arts 1. Each episode is written by a different writer with a different cast.
Playhouse Presents
2012
6.0Celebrity Mastermind is a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. The show is a spin-off of the long-running quiz show Mastermind, with the exception that all the contestants are celebrities. As with the main show, John Humphrys is the host and question-master. Magnus Magnusson was quizmaster on the 2003/04 episodes featuring Jonathan Meades as winner.
Celebrity Mastermind
2003
5.2Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.
Blankety Blank
1979
6.3The big-collared comic gives his own spin on TV clips from recent programmes, plus contributions from a set of regular characters
Harry Hill's TV Burp
2002
7.0The final incarnation of Michael Parkinson's iconic talk show featuring an array of celebrities from every sphere.
Parkinson
2004
7.0The final incarnation of Michael Parkinson's iconic talk show featuring an array of celebrities from every sphere.
Parkinson
2004
7.0The final incarnation of Michael Parkinson's iconic talk show featuring an array of celebrities from every sphere.
Parkinson
2004
5.9Celebrities open up to Kate Garraway in intimate and moving interviews.
Kate Garraway's Life Stories
2009
7.5The New Statesman is a British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time.
The New Statesman
1987
6.8Little Crackers is a series of Christmas short films featuring stars of British and Irish comedy.
Little Crackers
2010
7.1The Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former Boomtown Rats singer and Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof. The programme was distinctive for broadcasting live from former lockkeepers' cottages commonly referred to as "The Big Breakfast House", or more simply, "The House", located on Fish Island, in Bow in east London. The show was a mix of news, weather, interviews, audience phone-ins and general features, with a light tone which was in competition with the more serious GMTV and even more serious BBC breakfast programmes.
The Big Breakfast
1992
No synopsis available yet.
Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
1988
7.0Jean White is an antiques dealer who runs a successful business with her husband, Rory. But when he suddenly dies and leaves her nearly penniless, Jean relocates to their one remaining asset - a cottage in French antiques hub Saint Victoire - and begins investigating Rory's mysterious death.
The Madame Blanc Mysteries
2021
4.1The latest news, sport, and weather from the UK in this daily breakfast show.
Good Morning Britain
2014
6.7Celebrities perform famous dance routines in front of a panel of judges to raise money for the Comic Relief appeal, with viewers voting for their favourites.
Let's Dance for Comic Relief
2009
6.0Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make the public laugh, while raising money to help people around the world and in the United Kingdom. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, an annual (previously biennial) telethon held in March. The first live fundraising evening, held on 4 April 1986, featured comedians and pop stars, including Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, Kate Bush and co-founder Lenny Henry.
Comic Relief
1988
5.2This Morning features a variety of news, as well as show business, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, home and garden, food, tech, live phone-ins, and competitions.
This Morning
1988
NRA British TV documentary series for ITV. Each hour long program sees well-known celebrities travel to various parts of the world to explore more about a person who has inspired them.
Perspectives
2011
9.2Alison Hammond carries on Paul O'Grady's incredible legacy, following the ups & downs of life at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.
For the Love of Dogs
2012
Outtake TV is a blooper show originally hosted by Paul O'Grady from 2002 to 2003, then, by Anne Robinson from 2004 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2011, Rufus Hound. Robinson had been presenting the show 2004 to 2009 and airing on BBC One. It replaced the channel's original blooper show Auntie's Bloomers. The show consists of various clips past and present of bloopers of which Anne Robinson comments on with a manner comparable to her witty remarks on The Weakest Link which she also hosts. Various special episodes have been aired which consist of clips from one programme, most notably EastEnders or The Weakest Link. It is frequently repeated on Watch.
Outtake TV
2002
4.0Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong was an entertainment show on Channel 4, presented by Alan Carr. During the first series, voice-over commentary in between rounds on the scores is provided by Leslie Phillips. From Series 2, the announcer is Peter Dickson. Season was released onto DVD in 2008. Due to the success of Alan Carr: Chatty Man it has been announced that the show would not return for a third series.
Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong
2008
6.2Eyes Down is a comedy starring Paul O'Grady as Ray Temple, the manager of a bingo hall in Liverpool, England called The Rio, although the series was filmed in Rayners Lane in London. Although it had moderate ratings, the programme only lasted for two series until it was cancelled by the BBC in 2004. The show was written by Angela Clarke and directed by Christine Gernon.
Eyes Down
2003
NRThe British Soap Awards are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV.
The British Soap Awards
1999
6.0A journalist investigates the death of his girlfriend at a fertility clinic where she worked and uncovers a plot to create a new breed of human based on crossing the genetics of man and ape.
Chimera
1991
6.2Revolving around the life of Vivienne Vyle, a daytime TV presenter/agony aunt in the mold of Trisha, the show focuses on not only the problems of her guests but the problems Vivienne faces herself in regards to her love and home life.
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
2007
7.0Paul and members of the studio audience ask celebrity guests intriguing questions, scenarios and dilemmas. The guests then line-up in order of how they would answer the question from best to worst, most likely to least likely etc.
Paul O'Grady's Saturday Night Line Up
2021
5.0Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly present an entertainment variety show with music, comedy and audience participation.
The Ant & Dec Show
1995
Viva Cabaret is a late night comedy variety television show that aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 14 April 1993 to 24 June 1994. The series was filmed in a sound stage in West London, with the set designed to resemble a cabaret club. The programme's house band included drummer Ray Weston (of Wishbone Ash) and members of Pink Floyd's touring band. The first episode, which debuted on 14 April 1993, was hosted by Tom Jones. Subsequent hosts included Julian Clary, Mark Lamarr, Mike McShane, Jools Holland, Mark Thomas, Eartha Kitt, Paul O'Grady as Lily Savage, and Lee Evans. Competition for slots on the show was intense, with many stars of the British alternative comedy circuit hoping to make an appearance. In addition to the show's British stars, regular international guests included Americans Greg Proops and Sandra Bernhard, and Australia's Doug Anthony All Stars.
Viva Cabaret
1993
Behind the camera
NRIn the late Eighties, there had been a series of comedy concerts (modelled on the Amnesty International “Secret Policeman’s Ball series”) to raise both awareness and raw cash for HIV/AIDS charities. The series was called Hysteria to reflect the hysteria (and downright untruths) surrounding the issue of HIV/AIDS. The last one of these had been in 1989, so in 1994, Pozzitive set out to revive the idea of a fundraiser with “Filth!” a night of comedy and music at the Sadlers Wells theatre, on Sunday 24 April. In fact, so many comedians and writers said “yes” to the idea, that we hit on the notion of doing two shows in one evening back to back. The first show was hosted by Lynn Ferguson and Arthur Smith, the second show by Mark Lamarr. Artists involved in the show included Tom Robinson, Steve Coogan, Spitting Image, Eddie Izzard, Jo Brand, Jeremy Hardy and Ben Elton.
Filth!
1994
10.0Enjoy the outrageous and flamboyant First Lady of British Comedy, Lily Savage, as she performs her incredibly hysterical live show before a star-studded audience.
An Evening with Lily Savage
1996
NRA specially created compilation of unused material from her incredibly successful 1998 BBC series
The Untransmittable Lily Savage Show
1997
