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Paul James O'Grady (b. 14 June 1955 in Birkenhead , Cheshire ) is an English comedian and television personality. He is the creator of comic character '''Lily Savage''' (the "Birkenhead bombshell"), a vampish Liverpudlian woman. O'Grady was brought up in an Irish Catholic household in Tranmere . He attended St Anselm's College, Birkenhead . When he was 19 he worked as a clerk in a magistrate's court and met Diane Jansen, ten years his senior, with whom he had a daughter, Sharyn. However, he claims he was "gay from the moment he was born". Three years after his daughter was born, Paul wed a Portuguese Lesbian waitress called Teresa Fernandes in a Marriage Of Convenience . His jobs have included Civil Servant , cleaner for Cleo Laine , Office work in an Abattoir and a Woodsman . He has also worked in a children's home in Kirkby . In 1977 , he went to Manila where he worked as a Waiter in Gussy's Bar (also a Brothel ). It was here he got the idea for Lily Savage. He returned to London in the early 1980s and subsequently achieved fame with his creation of Lily, initially playing to gay clubs around Vauxhall in London but then taking the act into the mainstream. Lily first became popular on television as the 'On the Bed Presenter' on '' The Big Breakfast '', a Channel 4 morning show. For a few years Lily hosted the game show '' Blankety Blank '' for the BBC and later for Talkback Thames shown on ITV, as well as her own comedy show '' Lily Live! '' (made by London Weekend Television for the ITV Network, 2000). O'Grady once played a Prostitute called Roxanne in an episode of '' The Bill ''. In 2003 , he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. More recently (in 2005 ) he has tended to appear less as Lily and more often as himself, and he had success as the presenter of his own early evening talk show, '' The Paul O'Grady Show '', on the ITV network, which controversially ran head to head with Richard And Judy who are both close friends of Paul on rival terrestrial station Channel 4 . In 2003 he appeared in '' Celebrity Driving School '' for the BBC and more recently guested on '' LivingTV '''s Paranormal show, '' Most Haunted Live ''. In December 2005 he won the Best TV Comedy Entertainment Personality category of the British Comedy Award . On the 10th January 2006 , in a shock decision, O'Grady decided to ditch ITV and take his daytime chat show to Channel 4 after the company which produces Granada programming apparently 'forgot' to renew his contract. He is still in an ongoing dispute with ITV , regarding the use of props and studio design for his daytime chat show ( The Paul O'Grady Show ). As a consequence of this, O'Grady has decided he never wants to work for ITV again and has pulled out of appearing on a new Talent Show and host of The British Soap Awards . He was very outspoken in his anger towards ITV plc for a while after his move to 4, but less so recently. On the 27th March 2006 , Paul O'Grady began hosting his talk show, now called The New Paul O'Grady Show , on Channel 4. It is shown weekdays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and this series is scheduled to run until 16 June 2006 . Channel Four's Richard And Judy went head to head with ITV's Paul O Grady Show during 2004 with the friends being forced against each other, but ever since O'Grady's decision to move to Channel Four, they have agreed to bury old quarrels. Richard and Judy and O'Grady share the Channel Four 5pm-6pm slot with each show sharing 6 Months of the Channel 4 ''teatime'' schedule. O'Grady has also hosted a show on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 15 April where he interviewed Bonnie Langford and Roy Hudd. He currently lives on a Farm in a tiny village in Kent . CATCHPHRASES O'Grady has a number of catchphrases which he uses on his show regularly; "If I wanted your opinion, I'd slap it outta ya" "Oh puh-lease" "They've only came in for the warm" "Times are hard and friends are few" "Spend it on yourself" "oooh, what? fabulous" "Bert, put that clip on!" "Live at five on four" or "Live on four at five" "C'mon Bust, do yer trick!" EXTERNAL LINKS
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