The Life and Death of Lily Savage followed the rise and fall of Paul O’Grady’s drag alter-ego (Picture: Rex)
Paul O’Grady’s fans who tuned into documentary The Life and Death of Lily Savage about the comic’s drag alter-ego on Friday night were reduced to tears.
The ITV special charted the creation and career of O’Grady – who died last March aged 67 – through his celebrated character creation, a working class Liverpudlian single mother with a sharp tongue and foul mouth.
However, viewers were left struggling not to cry when they heard previously recorded audio of the beloved star talking about his life and about Savage, alongside plenty of archive footage of some of her most memorable appearances onstage and on TV, giving the impression that he was ‘narrating’ the programme.
O’Grady began performing as Lily Savage in the 1970s while working as a peripatetic care officer for Camden Council in north London, before embarking on an eight-year tenure at London’s iconic Royal Vauxhall Tavern – and later a television career that encompassed The Big Breakfast, Lily Live! and This Morning.
He also hosted Blankety Blank in character as Savage from 1997 to 2002, before retiring her in 2004.
‘Feels a bit emotional hearing Paul’s voice again while he’s talking on this documentary about himself and Lily Savage,’ tweeted Susan Seddon on X during the documentary’s broadcast.
Lily Savage went from LGBTQ+ pubs to mainstream TV, where she was a fixture for years (Picture: Ken McKay/Rex/Shutterstock)
O’Grady’s fans found themselves emotional listening to the late star talk about Savage and his life, as though ‘narrating’ the documentary (Picture: Getty)
‘Watching the Paul O’Grady/Lily Savage programme. Slightly bizarre Paul is narrating much of it,’ mused @headsashed55, before adding: ‘Loved Paul O’Grady.’
‘Actually, maybe if Paul was still alive, I’d want him as Lily Savage narrating my life, including off the cuff comments from him,’ posted user @tisiphone6023.
Others also shared their emotional reactions, with Ryan Love declaring: ‘The Lily Savage documentary on ITV was absolutely gorgeous. Laughed and cried throughout.
‘All our lives are a little darker without both Paul and the one and only Savage.’
‘Paul O’Grady dying was such a loss, I can’t state that enough. #lilysavage,’ chimed in @Sam_5516, while Matt Ainsworth shared: ‘The Life and Death of #LilySavage on #itv1 – a wonderful tribute and fascinating biography, clearly so lovingly made by everyone involved.’
Famous friends shared their memories of Savage for the documentary (Picture: Nikki English/Rex/Shutterstock)
Celebrity contributors to The Life and Death of Lily Savage, discussing their experiences with her, included Graham Norton, Alan Carr, Julian Clary and Sir Ian McKellen.
O’Grady’s daughter Sharyn Mousley also shared her own memories of growing up with a famous father, including one especially memorable birthday.
‘I was about seven and it was my birthday party. And my dad said, “I’ve got a great surprise for you”,‘ Sharyn, 49, explains.
‘He swallows this fluid and then starts fire eating in my mum’s little flat you know, and then there were sort of scorch marks on the ceiling and all the girls were screaming because like, “It’s a fire!”‘
She admitted: ‘I was mortified when he thought it was [great] and he’s doing all this and he’s like blown fire. I’m seven, I wanted a clown!’
O’Grady’s daughter Sharyn also contributed to the documentary (Picture: Shutterstock)
The presenter and comic retired Lily Savage in 2004 (Picture: News UK Ltd/Rex/Shutterstock)
Post Savage, O’Grady continued to appear as himself, hosting his own radio show for BBC Radio 2, and the beloved Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs, as well as multiple iterations of afternoon chat show The Paul O’Grady Show between 2004 and 2015.
He died ‘unexpectedly but peacefully’ in March 2023 aged 67, with husband Andre Portasio at his side as he passed.
The coroner’s report determined that O’Grady’s death was linked to sudden cardiac arrhythmia syndrome (SADS) – which is when someone dies unexpectedly from cardiac arrest, but the cause cannot be found.
Portasio recently shared some heart-wrenching details about O’Grady’s final moments, including their dog Arfur’s reaction.
The Life and Death of Lily Savage is available to watch on ITVX.
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