LAST UPDATE | 29 Mar 2023

Paul O'Grady, as Lily Savage, in 1993. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

FANS AND COLLEAGUES have been paying tribute to “trailblazing” Liverpool-born comedian Paul O’Grady who died yesterday at the age of 67. 

O’Grady’s drag persona Lily Savage brought him fame across the UK and Ireland and he himself became one of the UK’s best-known TV and radio hosts. 

He was well known for his self-titled daytime chat show, The Paul O’Grady Show, which began airing in 2004, followed by the New Paul O’Grady Show.

He took on chat show The Lily Savage Show for the BBC for a short run in 1997 and later that year had success as the host of a revived version of gameshow Blankety Blank, which ran until 2002.

The entertainer was never shy in expressing his views on social issues and many of the tributes and clips being shared about him today reflect that fact. 

Paul/lily was my first introduction to queer culture and drag. Watching him sat on a stool, in my kitchen as a child knowing that was me, I was being reflected but not really knowing how. A titan in Drag and though I never met him everyone I know who did had nothing but love RIP https://t.co/sCEnyGd0A3

— Divina De Campo stream DECODED (@Divinadecampo) March 29, 2023

Drag queen Danny Beard today told BBC Breakfast that O’Grady was “the most important person in British culture for drag”.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who does the job that I do that doesn’t class Paul as an icon,” the former Drag Race UK winner added. 

Paul was a trailblazer, they were on telly just after the Aids crisis.

Among the stories people have shared from that time is when Lily Savage was on stage in London gay bar the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in 1987 when it was raided by police who claimed they were there because of public drunkenness.

The police were wearing rubber gloves so as not to touch those arrested, with Lily Savage stoically joking “looks like we’ve got some help with the washing up”. 

There’s a story, possibly legend, about Lily. It’s said that when the police raided the Vauxhall Tavern during the AIDs crisis Lily was carted down the station. The copper asked Lily her name.
“Lily Savage”
The copper asked for her real name.
“Lilian May Veronica Savage” pic.twitter.com/dOV49fzsHp

— Myra DuBois (@myradubois) March 29, 2023

Others have shared videos of O’Grady speaking about politics, with the entertainer a frequent critic of the Tory party both in interviews and on his own show. 

Speaking in 2017, O’Grady said: 

Do you know what I hate. I hate this ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ business. I’m scared for the future, I’m scared of global warming, I’m scared for my grandkids, I’m scared there’ll be no elephants in eight years, I’m worried about becoming an isolated island when we come out of the EU. I’ve stopped watching the news – I can’t see any more kids being blown up in Syria.

In 2010 during his popular Paul O’Grady Show, he railed against the austerity cuts being led by the Tory government, urging people to “be more French” and take to the streets in protest. 

RIP to Paul O'Grady. I suppose we'll see this clip a lot today, but it can't be shown enough.

I'd love to know what went into its being broadcast and if he ever got any pushback. I've never seen anything so dazzlingly, righteously angry on Consensus Approved TV since. pic.twitter.com/XAwLfcEi9X

— The author, Séamas O'Reilly (@shockproofbeats) March 29, 2023

O’Grady was a “devoted animal lover” and campaigner for animal rights who presented the award-winning For The Love Of Dogs programme at the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. 

During the first series of For The Love Of Dogs he took home Eddie, a Chihuahua Jack Russell-cross puppy.

We are so terribly sad to hear the news of the passing of Paul O’Grady. A kind gentleman who truly loved animals. Our deepest sympathy to his family & friends and all who worked with him over the years in @Battersea_ May he rest in peace 🐾 pic.twitter.com/BxDCJgGoPW

— DSPCA (@DublinSPCA) March 29, 2023

He had lived in a farmhouse in Kent with his husband Andre Portasio along with a menagerie of animals including four dogs, goats, sheep, chickens and barn owls.

The DSPCA was among those who today paid tribute to O’Grady. 

O’Grady’s connections to Ireland were well known, with his father being from Roscommon and both his maternal grandparents also from Ireland.

He grew up in the Irish community in Birkenhead in Liverpool and previously told Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show about his frequent trips to Ireland. 

Both his parents died young from heart problems – his father when O’Grady was in his late teens and his mother, whose maiden name was Savage, when he was 33.

O’Grady began his career by performing as Lily Savage in the 1970s whilst working as a peripatetic care officer for Camden Council in north London.

He went on to tour northern England as part of drag duo the Playgirls, before settling into a solo show as Savage that ran for eight years at London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern.

The comedian made a name for himself speaking out about LGBT issues and picked up a mainstream following after being nominated for a Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 1991.

Ah God, that is sad about Paul O’Grady. As you’re probably gathering from Twitter today, he was hugely popular, a warm generous character who got a ton of laughs and did a ton of good. He will be sorely missed.

— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) March 29, 2023

Other colleagues have also been paying tribute to O’Grady today. 

Former Big Breakfast presenter Gabby Roslin, who occasionally sat in for the presenter on his BBC Radio 2 Paul O’Grady show, wrote that his death is “unbelievably sad news” and said the presenter was a “one-off” as she posted a picture on Instagram of the star with his dog.

She added: “Goodness me we laughed together so much. Our chats lasted for hours and he’ll be up there now nattering away and keeping everyone laughing.”

O’Grady presented his final BBC radio show in August 2022, having hosted the Sunday afternoon programme for nearly 14 years.

In a statement, Lorna Clarke, director of music at the BBC  said that O’Grady had “a unique sense of humour, charm and warmth that touched the hearts of many.”

Watching all these clips that people are sharing this morning, I’d forgotten how funny, biting and brilliantly crude Lily Savage was. And that’s just on telly so I can only imagine how bawdy Lily was live. A proper trailblazer. RIP Paul O’Grady

— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) March 29, 2023

TV presenter Carol Vorderman said that O’Grady “exploded through the daft, made-up rules of society”.

She added: “When you were with Paul, and even when you watched him on screen … he was one of those people who just made your blood feel like you were alive.

“There was every part of you that was alive, and you never knew what was going to happen.”

- With reporting by Press Association