RIP Paul O'Grady

[wispa lover]

Shocked and sad to hear about the unexpected passing of one of my favourite celebrities. Enjoyed seeing him as Lily Savage on The Big Breakfast, his 5 o'clock chat show and his Sunday night Radio 2 show. Hope he's happily reunited with Buster, Olga and his other dogs.

[darren]

Yes was shocked to hear of his passing a man who brought joy to many.
R i p paul.

[Richard1978]

I was sad to hear the news, it was most unexpected.

[George 1978]

Quite shocking news - I knew that he had health problems, but it was still shocking to hear of his death on Thursday. It was all so sudden, and he had plans to present on Boom Radio as well which makes it all the more shocking. Now we know that the first three hosts of Blankety Blank (even though (s)he presented as Lily Savage) are now no longer with us. He appeared in The Bill and was amusingly, credited at the end as "Paul Savage" - I don't think that he ever used that name, and that it was a mistake by the credits people.

Lily Savage was the main character that he will always be associated with, even though he had "outlived" her by a few years. I was quite amused that when Pretty Polly did a "wonderful legs" competition (or whatever it was called) in the mid 1990s to promote their hosiery range, for the first time, a female didn't win it, for O'Grady as Savage won it instead. I enjoyed that - I believe in equality, gender-wise!

Also, I think that O'Grady helped modernise the female impersonator image in which Danny la Rue and Dame Edna Everage had originally set the standard - in the 1990s he (or indeed she) was a successor to them. It's also interesting how similar Lily Savage was to Pauline Calf, the character played by Steve Coogan - very identical in character and identity - one assumes that Coogan had got the inspiration from O'Grady.

His death was complete shock.

[Richard1978]

Also, I think that O'Grady helped modernise the female impersonator image in which Danny la Rue and Dame Edna Everage had originally set the standard - in the 1990s he (or indeed she) was a successor to them. It's also interesting how similar Lily Savage was to Pauline Calf, the character played by Steve Coogan - very identical in character and identity - one assumes that Coogan had got the inspiration from O'Grady.

Talking of Steve Coogan, Alan Partridge had drag act Fanny Thomas as a guest, who was probably a nod to Lilly Savage!

[George 1978]

Two tributes for the price of one here: this Oasis soft drink advert from the mid 1990s features both the recently departed Mystic Meg, as well as Paul O'Grady as the voiceover!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwqnKoJpMCA