Description
This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the entertainer Paul O'Grady. Best known as the 'Blonde Bombshell', Lily Savage, he's one of the most popular figures on television with his outrageous clothes and wigs. Originally from Tranmere in Birkenhead, Paul worked as a social worker for Camden Council as well as working part time in pubs around London in the 1980s. His talent as a drag artist was discovered at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in South London after he stood in for the compere who'd rung in sick.
He got his first big break on Channel 4's Big Breakfast replacing Paula Yates in 1995. Since then he's hosted Blankety Blank and his own Lily Savage Show as well as the sitcom Eyes Down, set in a bingo hall in Liverpool. He'll also be following in the footsteps of Bruce Forsyth, Larry Grayson and Jim Davidson by fronting a new series of the show the Generation Game. Paul's recently scaled down work commitments after suffering a heart attack last April. He was given angioplasty and has made a full recovery but he now says he's taking life easier and cutting down on drink and cigarettes.
[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]
Favourite track: Meditation from Thais. Act 11 by Jules Massenet
Book: The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Luxury: Skin so Soft - Avon
Dame Alicia Markova was born Lilian Alice Marks in December 1910, in a two-bedroom flat in Finsbury Park, London. She began ballet classes because she was flat footed and knock kneed. Her natural talent, when she was ten, was spotted by Diaghilev, the Russian artistic impresario who founded the...
Published 10/14/22
Sue Lawley's castaway is the actress Kim Cattrall. Kim Cattrall became a household name in her forties as a result of playing man-eater, defiant singleton and PR mogul Samantha Jones in Sex and the City. She is about to star in the play Whose Life is it Anyway? in the West End of London.
She was...
Published 12/26/04
Sue Lawley's castaway is the singer Engelbert Humperdinck. Engelbert Humperdinck is one of Britain's most successful entertainers. He is known as the King of Romance and has been at the top of the showbusiness ladder for nearly 40 years - selling more than 130 million records including sixty-four...
Published 12/19/04