Paul O'Grady: The Biography

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It was a really great day. Sharon looked fabulous and Philip is a smashing fella. They fit together like a pan and a lid,’ O’Grady said. O’Grady, who sprang to fame as his beloved drag alter ego Lily Savage, went on to present The Big Breakfast before fronting The Paul O’Grady Show, Blind Date, Blankety Blank, and ITV’s multi-award-winning For The Love Of Dogs. In August last year, O’Grady presented his final BBC Radio 2 show, having hosted the Sunday afternoon programme for nearly 14 years. In his final show, he said it was “one of the longest jobs I’ve ever held down. I only came to do a few hours for Elaine Paige and look what happened.” Sadly, Buster died of cancer in 2009, but O’Grady’s dog Olga, a Cairn Cross terrier, continued to appear alongside him on TV.

Beloved entertainer Paul O’Grady, who died recently at the age of 67, is set to make an emotional appearance at Eurovision in one of the last things the TV star filmed. O’Grady was formerly married to Portuguese model Teresa Fernandes – but he admitted that it was a ‘marriage of convenience’, and they were not in an active relationship. It was his second marriage, with the pair getting together after O’Grady ended his 28-year marriage to the woman he married in 1977. The Birkenhead-born comic will feature in a short film for the official opening of the Eurovision Song Contest, which is taking place in Liverpool, on behalf of Ukraine. O’Grady did not have children with Teresa, although he had a daughter Sharon, with his friend Diane Jansen.O’Grady wrote a four-volume memoir and in 2008 he was awarded an MBE for his services to entertainment. When described as a national treasure in an interview with the Observer in 2017, he responded: “Oh, what a terrible phrase. That wasn’t planned.” O’Grady came to mainstream attention in 1991 when he was nominated for the Perrier award, the UK’s most prestigious comedy prize, and began appearing on radio and television as himself. O’Grady retired Savage – to “a convent in Brittany” – in 2004.

The couple were wed in 1977, O’Grady later saying that he married her to prevent her from being deported. The star’s daughter Sharyn Mousley joined him, Andre Portasio and his sister Sheila Rudd when he was made an MBE in 2008 (Picture: PA)Paul O’Grady, the beloved TV presenter and comedian who broke on to the scene with his drag act persona Lily Savage, has died at the age of 67. Many of those who turned out to watch the procession were accompanied by their beloved pet dogs in a touching tribute to the star.

He was never happier than in a TV studio or theatre… Buster knew all the theatre doormen and loved being fussed over,’ O’Grady said of the shih tzu-bichon frisé cross. O’Grady had adopted a number of rescue dogs over the years, several of whom appeared alongside him on TV,However at the time of his death he and Portasio were sharing their home with five dogs – Arfur, Conchita, Eddie, Nancy and Sausage, known as Soz. Paul was also granddad to Sharon’s two children, son Abel, who was born in 2006, and daughter Halo, born in 2009. Who is Paul O’Grady’s husband Andre Portasio?

She was widely loved. She had her own fan club. I’m really sad but there was no choice but for Olga to be put to sleep,’ he said at the time. We worked in a club in Westbourne Grove, London, when I was 22. She was from a very strict Catholic family and was always being hassled by them: “Why aren’t you getting married?” So I said: “Come on then, we’ll get married”, and we did. He has worked with many other dance companies including Sadlers Wells Theatre and the Royal Ballet School since retiring, as well as being the CEO, producer and director of Artstreaming TV, a digital production company focused on the cultural sector. I had no idea we were still married until my manager Brendan said: ‘If anything happened to you, everything would go to your wife”,’ he explained. ‘It’s like a real-life Corrie story-line.’ Who is Paul O’Grady’s daughter?

Do Paul O’Grady and Andre Portasio have children?

Husband announces ‘unexpected but peaceful’ death of personality who was known for his drag persona Lily Savage He will be greatly missed by his loved ones, friends, family, animals and all those who enjoyed his humour, wit and compassion. MORE : The wild ride behind creating the Eurovision stage: ‘The Netflix spoof is surprisingly accurate’