A sad farewell to the much loved British television presenter, actor, and comedian Paul "Lily Savage" O'Grady who has passed at the age of 67 “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday evening which was confirmed by his husband Andre Portasio Ourtia.
Born in Birkenhead in 1955 on the Wirral, to a working-class Irish immigrant family/ In 2015, he told
a reporter that despite his wealth, he still felt “very much”
working-class, saying, “I know that probably sounds strange. Mentally, I
still am. I’m still thinking, have I got the rent for Friday?”
His
mother’s maiden name was Savage, which inspired his act. So did other
female relatives and clients he met during his early career as a social
worker. He performed as Lily in a solo show that ran for eight years at
South London’s famed Royal Vauxhall Tavern and became renowned for
speaking out about LGBT rights, notably the Aids crisis, police
harassment and Section 28. He combined warm compassion with outrageously
spiky wit – a rare combination that stood him in good stead throughout a
glittering, eclectic career.
Rather than dressing in Hollywood-style super-glam like most drag acts
of the era, O’Grady consciously made Lily a streetwise everywoman. “I
gave her cheap clothes, visible roots, a tattoo and a lovebite,” he
later recalled on Michael Parkinson’s chat show. “Her heels were scuffed
and she had holes in her tights. She was a divorced ex-prostitute with
two children and a fondness for booze and drugs. Next thing I knew, she
was on primetime telly. What happened there?”
O'Grady took his deliciously naughty foul mouthed Lily from pubs to peak time
television. All in an age when homophobia was the ‘norm’! He helped
break those barriers down, as an activist while lending his voice to those to scared to come out.
After O’Grady killed off Savage in 2005, claiming Lily had “seen the
light, taken the veil and packed herself off to a convent in France”.
Thereafter he took centre stage as himself. As the host of the Paul
O’Grady Show and Paul O’Grady Live he could be just as caustic as
Savage.
In 2010 he provoked complaints to Ofcom for attacking the new coalition
government during Paul O’Grady Live. “Do you know what got my back up?”
he told his ITV audience. “Those Tories hooping and hollering when they
heard about the cuts. Gonna scrap the pensions – yeah! – no more
wheelchairs – yeah! ... I bet when they were children they laughed at
Bambi when the mother got shot.”
In a 2018 interview with The Guardian, O’Grady stated that he was
“ashamed” of the state of the country under the Tories, particularly in
regards to the underfunding of the National Health Service (NHS). He
also expressed his belief that the austerity measures implemented by the
government had caused unnecessary hardship for many people.aul O'Grady never compromis
O’Grady also criticised the Conservative Party’s stance on issues
such as Brexit, climate change and LGBTQ+ rights. In a 2017 interview
with The Independent, he accused the Tories of “destroying the country”
and said that he would “rather eat a wasp” than vote for them.
In 2019, O’Grady made headlines after he accused Prime Minister Boris
Johnson of being a “buffoon” and a “complete and utter disgrace”, after
Johnson made comments about Muslim women wearing burqas. O’Grady also
accused the Conservative Party of deliberately stoking racial tensions
for political gain.
While some criticized O’Grady for his political activism, many of his
fans applauded him as a national treasure for using his platform to speak out on issues he was
passionate about. O’Grady’s comments on the Tories are just one example
of his willingness to use his voice to effect change and hold those in
power to account. accountable, proving .to be more effective in opposition to the viciously cruel Tories than the brown nosed subservient Starmer and his treacherous Blairtes ever could.
An iconic trailblazer,passionate campaigner and fantastically funny observer of real
life who laughed with us cried with us and offered support to those
who had no voices at all, he remains a national treasure admired by many because he never compromised his beliefs for anyone, while breaking down barriers for gay rights and mainstream
acceptance.
He should be remembered as a fiercely defiant gay man whose righteous fury against the establishment should remain a battle cry for us all. My thoughts go out to his loved ones, his family and his friends,.
Rest in Peace Paul "Lily Savage" O'Grady.
