At the dawn of the 21st century, the comedian Paul O’Grady was in an unusual but not unenviable position. On the one hand, he had been behind one of the biggest comedy success stories of the 1990s. The enormous popularity of his onstage persona Lily Savage had expanded way beyond the confines of the 1980s London gay scene into the very heart of Britain’s mainstream. Once seen as a somewhat taboo act suitable only for an adult audience, by the 1990s Savage was appearing regularly on family-friendly light-entertainment shows such as The Big Breakfast and Blankety Blank.
But, through it all, Paul O’Grady himself remained quietly unknown to most people, almost as if Lily Savage was a comic book superhero and Paul was her secret identity.
A thoroughly ordinary-looking tall, thin, grey-haired, bespectacled man in his mid-40s, O’Grady could easily walk around London unrecognised. Only his distinctive voice – which O’Grady had never made any attempt to disguise – gave him away.
However, all this was about to change. O’Grady was growing weary of Lily Savage. “I come back to my flat some nights and there’s an old leopard-skin handbag on the floor and a pair of her shoes and some old coat,” he complained. “It’s like living with some boozy old barmaid who’s trashed the place.”
Esta historia es de la edición June 2023 de Best of British.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición June 2023 de Best of British.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
"A Personal Stab of Shock and Horror"
Chris Hallam looks back on the British reaction to President Kennedy's assassination
A BUILDING BONANZA
Claire Saul samples some of the entries in a new publication from the National Trust
ON TARGET
Russell Cook browses through 50 years of a publishing phenomenon
The Rise and Fall of Poole Pottery
Steve Annandale charts the history of what was, by the 1990s, Dorset's most significant tourist attraction
DOCTOR HO-HO!
Robert Ross takes a swift spin through some of the comedy stars who have stumbled into the Tardis
The Three Ronnies
Martin Handley celebrates the talents of a trio of composers
A RARE OLD SCRAMBLE
Colin Allan has fond memories of tuning in to Grandstand to watch scrambling on winter afternoons in the sport's golden age of the 1960s
THE ULTIMATE RESPONSE
Roger Harvey nominates a sculpture in his native Newcastle as the most poignant and powerful memorial to duty and heroism
POSTCARD FROM CHESHIRE
Bob Barton finds out about subsidence, timber-framed buildings, boat lifts, waterways and Lewis Carroll, taking it all with a pinch of salt
OVER HERE
Michael Foley looks back at how the people of East Anglia reacted to the American \"invasion\" during World War Two that saw the building of dozens of airfields