Entertainer Paul O’Grady, who achieved fame as drag queen Lily Savage before becoming a much-loved comedian and host on British television, has died. He was 67.
O’Grady’s partner Andre Portasio said he died “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Wednesday.
“He will be greatly missed by his loved ones, friends, family, animals and all those who enjoyed his humour, wit and compassion,” Portasio said in a statement.
Born in Birkenhead, near Liverpool, in 1955, O’Grady was working as a local-authority care worker when he began performing as Savage, a tart-tongued Liverpudlian drag queen.
Savage became a fixture as a stand-up and talent-show host at London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a landmark gay venue. O’Grady used his platform to speak out about LGBT rights at the height of the Aids crisis, a time when the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was passing anti-gay laws.