Sheridan Smith (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress and singer known for her contributions to the British sitcoms Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Gavin & Stacey and Benidorm. She is also a critically acclaimed West End theatre actress; winning 2 prestigious Laurence Olivier Awards in 2 consecutive years^[1]. In 2011, she won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for originating the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde the Musical and, in 2012, received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her performance as Doris in the revival of Flare Path.^[2][3]

Early life and career[link]

Smith was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire and from an early age studied dance with the Joyce Mason School of Dancing in Scunthorpe She also trained in movement and dance with Kay Traviss. She attended South Axholme Community School where she studied Performing Arts. She was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre from 1995–2001, performing a number of lead roles in productions such as Bugsy Malone and Into the Woods.

Television and Film[link]

From 1999 to 2000, Smith played Emma, the girlfriend of Antony (Ralf Little) in The Royle Family, but has not appeared in later episodes; she has also played Janet in the long running series Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, the girlfriend, then wife, then widow of Johnny (also portrayed by Ralf Little) from 2001 until her departure from the show in 2009.

In 2004, she made a one-episode appearance in Mile High as Suzy, an airport cleaner who was so desperate to become cabin crew, she impersonated a flight attendant. She also featured in The Comic Strip's 2005 episode "Sex Actually" as Angie.

Smith played Cleo Martin in Love Soup and also starred as Michelle, a hypocritical nutritionist, in the sitcom Grownups. The first series aired on BBC Three on 7 May 2006, followed by a second series that started on 5 August 2007 and the third series began filming in October 2008. She has also appeared on The Lenny Henry Show as M.E. Westmocott, a role spoofing the various medical examiners on CSI. In the 2009 Two Pints of Lager Comic Relief special, which crossed over with Grownups, Smith played her characters from both series.^[4]

Smith has also appeared in a number of other shows including the BBC's Eyes Down alongside Paul O'Grady in which she played the part of Sandy, and smaller parts in shows such as The Bill and Fat Friends. She featured in the second and third series of another BBC Three sitcom, Gavin & Stacey, co-written by James Corden, as his character Smithy's sister Rudi (also known as Smithy).

Smith guest-starred in the Christmas 2008 episode of Lark Rise to Candleford and appeared on New Year's Day 2009 in "The Grinning Man", a special episode of Jonathan Creek, alongside Alan Davies.^[5] She also appeared in The Judas Tree, an Easter special aired on 4 April 2010, playing the same character. She was also a regular in Benidorm series three playing the Liverpudlian, Brandy in 2009.

During 2010 Smith acted as a mentor to the contestants of the BBC show Over the Rainbow. She appeared as a guest on the BBC show The One Show on 3 August 2010.

Sky Arts' Chekhov Comedy Shorts also featured Smith in 2010 when she starred in The Proposal, as Natasha (re-uniting her with Gavin and Stacey actor Mathew Horne).^[6] The programme was first shown on 28 November 2010.

Smith will make an appearance in the forthcoming movie Hysteria, which is due to be released in Autumn 2011. Her role will see her taking part in a three-and-a-half-minute orgasm scene.^[7] She is also slated for a role in A Fantastic Fear of Everything, an upcoming film starring Simon Pegg.

With the return of Bizarre ER Smith does the voice overs taking over from Freema Agyeman. Smith has been named as part of the cast of the ITV1 film adaption of Daphne du Maurier's novel The Scapegoat.^[8]

Radio[link]

Smith played companion Lucie Miller alongside Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor in a radio series of Doctor Who, produced by Big Finish and transmitted on BBC 7 from New Year's Eve 2006; the plays returned in a second series released on CD and scheduled for BBC 7 broadcast. A third series of adventures for Lucie and the Doctor aired in March 2009, as weekly half-hour downloads followed by a Christmas Special. She also appeared as Ruby Ruggles in the 2008 radio serial The Way We Live Right Now, and took over the role of Tamsin Trelawny in series 2 of Elephants to Catch Eels on BBC Radio 4.

Theatre[link]

Smith's theatre credits include the musical Into the Woods at London's Donmar Warehouse,^[9] and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park.^[10]

She also played Audrey in the stage production of Little Shop of Horrors at The Menier Chocolate Factory, London, from November 2006 which then moved to The Duke of York's Theatre in March 2007, and due to a very successful run moved again at the end of June 2007 to The New Ambassadors Theatre, its run ended in September 2007. Smith received a nomination for the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, for her performance in the show.^[11]

Smith appeared as Vanessa in Tinderbox: a Revenge Comedy by Lucy Kirkwood at the Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush, in April 2008.^[12]

Smith originated the role of Elle Woods in the musical version of Legally Blonde in its transfer from Broadway to London's West End in December 2009.^[13] Ex-Blue boyband member Duncan James played opposite Smith until June 2010, when he was replaced by Richard Fleeshman. Other cast members Sheridan has performed alongside include Aoife Mulholland as Brooke, Denise Van Outen as Paulette, Peter Davison as Professor Callahan.^[14] Her performance was well received, the Daily Telegraph describing her as: "blessed with vitality, warmth, great comic timing and sudden moments of touching vulnerability. She is infinitely more likeable than Reese Witherspoon in the film."^[15]

Smith was originally supposed to leave Legally Blonde on 23 October 2010, but she extended her run to 8 January 2011, when Susan McFadden took over the role.^[16]

For her role in Legally Blonde, Smith won the WhatsOnStage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[17] She was also nominated for the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress and was the winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[18][19]

Between March and June 2011, she appeared in Trevor Nunn's production of Flare Path at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket as Doris, a former barmaid married to a Polish count in the RAF. The production was part of the playwright Terence Rattigan's centenary year celebrations and also starred Sienna Miller and James Purefoy. For this role she won the 2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role^[20], the 2011 Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress^[3] and the BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.^[21]

As well as her role in Legally Blonde, Smith also performed the title role in the workshop productions of a new musical adaptation of Bridget Jones' Diary. She has stated that the musical will not reach the stage until 2012, with Smith taking on the title role in what would be the original London cast.^[22] On April 5, 2012, it was announced that Smith had decided to pull out of the musical, and would no longer be playing the title role, delaying the production of the show.^[23]

Personal life[link]

Smith was in a relationship with James Corden, which ended in June 2009.^[24]

On 6 March 2010, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Smith revealed that she and Scottish actor Ross McCall had begun dating after a 10 year friendship.^[25] However she spoke to The Daily Telegraph in August the same year and revealed that they had split up due to the pressure of a long distance relationship.^[26]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sheridan Smith at the Internet Movie Database

Paul O'Grady MBE
O'Grady in 2009
Birth name	Paul James Michael O'Grady
Born	(1955-06-14) 14 June 1955 (age 57) Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
Medium	Broadcaster, actor, entrepreneur, comedian, author, television personality
Nationality	British
Years active	1988–present
Spouse	Teresa Fernandes (m. 1977–2005) «start: (1977-04)–end+1: (2006)»"Marriage: Teresa Fernandes to Paul O'Grady" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Paul_O%27Grady) (divorced)[1]
Domestic partner(s)	Brendan Murphy (1980–2005) (his death) Andre Portasio (2006–present)[2]
Notable works and roles	Blankety Blank (1997–2002) Eyes Down (2003–04) The Paul O'Grady Show (2004–09) Paul O'Grady Live (2010–11)
BAFTA Awards
Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance 2004 The Paul O'Grady Show (2008)

Paul James Michael O'Grady MBE (born 14 June 1955) is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as whom he performed in various television series including Blankety Blank (1997–1999) and Lily Live! (2000–2001). He also appeared in the comedy sitcom Eyes Down (2003–2004) and presented several travel documentaries. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2 with his own Sunday evening show, Paul O'Grady on the Wireless produced by Malcolm Prince.

Born to a working class Irish migrant family in Birkenhead, O'Grady went through various jobs in his youth, including working in various bars, for the civil service and for social services, moving around the country to do so. It was whilst living in London in 1978 that he first turned his hand to drag, developing the character of Lily Savage based upon various female relatives of his.

In 2003, O'Grady was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and in 2006 he was listed by The Independent at number 32 in their 101 most influential gay men and women in Britain. In October 2008, he was appointed MBE in the 2008 Birthday Honours list for services to entertainment. On 23 July 2010, O'Grady received an Honorary Doctor of Arts from De Montfort University, Leicester, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to television, radio and the stage.^[3]

Life and career[link]

Early life: 1955–71[link]

Paul O'Grady's father, Patrick "Paddy" Grady (died 1973),^[4] had grown up on a farm in Ballincurry, County Roscommon, Ireland, but moved to England in 1936 in search for work, and settled down in the working class area of Birkenhead. His name was accidentally changed from Grady to O'Grady in a paperwork mistake when he joined the Royal Air Force and he subsequently decided to keep this altered name.^[5][6] Patrick married Mary Savage (1916–1988),^[7] who was born in England but whose parents had also been Irish immigrants, from County Louth. Patrick and Mary were devout Catholics and brought up their children in the faith. Paul was their third child, born at 7:30am on 14 June 1955 at St. Catherine's Hospital, Tranmere.^[8][9] His birth, over a decade after that of his siblings Brendan and Sheila,^[4] was not planned; his mother was 39 and she only discovered the pregnancy when she visited the doctor complaining of indigestion. Paul O'Grady spent his early life at the family's rented home of 23 Holly Grove, Higher Tranmere, Birkenhead,^[10] a house that had been built in a former quarry during the early 1930s, and O'Grady would later remark that the house was always damp and cold and that it also suffered from "ominous cracks" which "would appear in the walls and ceilings overnight".^[11]

He initially attended St. Joseph's, a Catholic primary school, where he excelled in all subjects but mathematics, and so his parents, hoping that he had a good future ahead of him, budgeted so that they could afford to send him to a private school, Redcourt, which was the Roman Catholic primary school attached to St Anselm's College. He subsequently failed the Eleven Plus exam, meaning that he was unable to gain entry to a grammar school, much to his mother's dismay, and went instead to the Blessed Edward Campion R.C. Secondary Modern and the Corpus Christi High School.^[12] It was here that he had his first homosexual experience, having a brief romance aged twelve with another boy, although in keeping with societal attitudes at the time he still assumed that he was heterosexual.^[13]

At the time he was also a huge fan of the popular television series The Avengers and Batman,^[15] and was enrolled in the cub scouts by his mother, which he hated and left after a month. He later became an altar boy at a local Catholic church, though was dismissed from this position after laughing during a funeral service.^[16] Following on from this he joined the Marine cadets, later commenting that he was following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, the cartoon Popeye.^[17] He enjoyed the cadets, and at the advice of his captain joined the Boys' Amateur Boxing Club, where he gained his lifelong love of the sport.^[18][19] Meanwhile, he began playing truant from school, getting him into trouble with his parents, and then got into trouble with the police after he led three other boys into breaking and entering a house to commit burglary.^[20] O'Grady's first job was a paper round that he managed to keep for a week, being employed by a woman, Mrs Henshaw, whom his mother despised,^[21] and through this and other jobs he saved up to afford Mod clothes, for a time becoming a suedehead.^[22]

Early adulthood: 1972–76[link]

After leaving school aged sixteen, O'Grady's mother got him a job in the civil service, working as a clerical assistant for the DHSS, who had offices in Liverpool that he could commute to from his parents' home every morning. To supplement this income, he also got a job working part-time at the bar of the Royal Air Forces Association club in Oxton.^[23][24] He was later called for a disciplinary hearing at the DHSS, who accused him of being incompetent and often late, and at which he decided to resign.^[25] Hoping for a better and more exciting life, he got a job at the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Virginia Water, Surrey, and aged seventeen moved away from his parents' home in Birkenhead and travelled south. He subsequently found the work and accommodation to be appalling, although he noted that it was here that he lost his virginity to a woman whom he had met smoking cannabis at a party. He did not remain in Surrey long however, as soon after he was arrested, accused of stealing from the hotel and was subsequently fired despite protesting his innocence.^[26]

Promptly returning home to Birkenhead, he soon got his old job at the RAFA club back, and also began to increasingly socialise within the Liverpudlian gay scene, attending local meetings of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and getting a job at a gay bar, the Bear's Paw, all of which he kept a secret from his parents, to whom he was still not "out of the closet".^[27] Nonetheless, at the time he considered himself to be bisexual, and began having casual sex with a friend and colleague of his named Diane Jansen.^[28][29] Meanwhile, he had befriended a man named Tony on the gay scene, and they had "hit it off after a prolonged bitching session one night, though we were like chalk and cheese." Becoming best friends, the duo would regularly travel down to London to socialise with Tony's friend, the classical music conductor John Pritchard (1921–1989), whom O'Grady became very fond of.^[30]

When O'Grady was eighteen, his mother suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital, the stress of which caused his father to suffer the same fate within a matter of hours; whilst his mother recovered, his father soon died. Only a few days later, O'Grady's life was further complicated when he learned that Diane was pregnant with his child, a daughter named Sharon Lee Jansen.^[31][32] Following her birth on 16 May 1974, O'Grady agreed to pay £3 every week towards the upkeep of his daughter, but refused to marry Diane as he had begun to recognise that he was homosexual and did not want to enter a marriage that he would hate.^[33][34]

Briefly working as an assistant clerk at Liverpool Magistrates' Court, O'Grady subsequently got a job working as a barman at Yates's Wine Lodge, whilst also working the occasional night at the Bear's Paw.^[36][37] Realising that the wage from these jobs was not enough to support both himself and his daughter, he decided to travel to London in search for work. Moving in as a lodger of a gay couple in Westbourne Green, he once again only found poorly-paid work as a barman. Meanwhile, it was in London that he first began to associate with drag queens, particularly a man named Alistair and his stage partner Phil, who went under the stage name of The Harlequeens. Although he made friends in the city, O'Grady was homesick for Birkenhead and Liverpool, and feeling that he had few prospects in London, returned home.^[38]

Employed as an accountant in a Merseyside abattoir belonging to FMC Meats, he eventually became disgusted by the place and gained employment at Conny Home in West Kirby, a home for disabled and abused children, something he would continue for three years.^[39][40] Subsequently entering into a relationship with an older man named Norman, O'Grady moved into his house in Littlehampton, although their relationship was strained, with both cheating on one another, and ultimately it broke apart.^[41] Moving once more to London, where he rented a flat in Crouch End, O'Grady initially started busking with a friend in Camden Town before getting a job as a physiotherapist's assistant at the Royal Northern Hospital.^[42] Being made redundant from the hospital due to public sector cuts, O'Grady took up a job at a gay club called the Showplace, where he befriended a Portuguese lesbian named Theresa Fernandes, and in May 1977 they legally married in order to prevent her deportation back to Portugal, although eventually lost contact and only gained a divorce in 2005.^[43][44] He subsequently took up a job as a cleaner and a waiter at private functions, working for a series of wealthy clients in London, including an elite escort service.^[45] Following this, he began working for Camden Council as a peripatetic care officer who would live in with elderly people or dyfunctional families, a job that exposed him to the extreme poverty, poor living conditions and domestic violence faced by many Londoners, and would have a lasting effect on him for many years to come.^[46][47]

Lily Savage and Manila: 1978–80[link]

It was whilst working for Camden social services that O'Grady made his first attempt at putting together a drag act, creating the character of Lily Savage in the process. Commenting on this, he would later relate that "I wanted to get up there but be larger than life, a creature that was more cartoon than human. I wasn't sure yet."^[48] His debut was on the afternoon of Saturday 7 October 1978, at a pub called the Black Cap, where he mimed the words to the Barbra Streisand song "Nobody Makes a Pass at Me" from the show Pins and Needles. Coming offstage to a round of applause, another, more experienced drag act in the changing room remarked to him that "Well done, dahling [sic], You weren't bad, no, not bad at all… You've got something you know, de-ah, raw of course but with a little polish… who knows? A word of advice though. If you're considering getting an act together I'd drop the name. Lily Savage is all right for a bit of camp but no one is going to take an act that sounds like an old scrubber seriously, dahling."^[49] Nonetheless, the name, which was based upon his mother's maiden name, was one thing that he would maintain, and he would later recollect that:

I've frequently been asked over the years who Lily Savage was based on and I've always answered that it was no one in particular and she was just a figment of my imagination. The truth, I realize now, is that Lily owes a lot to the women I encountered in my childhood. Characteristics and attitudes were observed and absorbed, Aunty Chris's in particular, and they provided the roots and compost for the Lily that would germinate and grow later on.^[50]

Following a holiday to Poland,^[51] and discovering that he was owed several more weeks off of work, he agreed to go and visit an ex-boyfriend who was living in Manila, The Philippines. Managing to afford the fare due to a "sizeable tax rebate" from the Inland Revenue, O'Grady found Manila to be a "culture shock", having difficulty with the climate, the food and the child sex industry, something which deeply disgusted him. He nonetheless learned to like many things about the city, briefly getting a job as a barman and waiter at a brothel known as Gussie's Bar.^[52][53]

Success of Lily Savage: 1980s[link]

He returned to London in the early 1980s and subsequently achieved fame with his creation of Lily, initially playing to gay clubs and pubs up and down the country. He performed many times at the Goldsmith's Tavern, New Cross where he'd often precede Vic Reeves' three-hour show Vic Reeves Big Night Out before promptly leaving to do a show elsewhere. O'Grady's Lily was best known at the time for an eight-year residency at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in south London. As Lily Savage, O'Grady was also in several acts which toured Europe. After appearing at The Edinburgh Festival and gaining a Perrier Award nomination, O'Grady's Lily Savage act became more mainstream and the character became popular on television, making appearances on the ITV daytime programme This Morning and as the 'On the Bed Presenter' on The Big Breakfast. For a few years O'Grady hosted the game show Blankety Blank as Lily Savage, for the BBC and later for ITV. There was also a comedy show built around the character, Lily Live!, appearing on ITV in 2000. Performing as Lily, O'Grady also co-hosted the 1996 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party with Ant & Dec. O'Grady also appeared along side Cilla Black and Barbara Windsor (as Savage) in the 2001 Royal Variety Performance where the trio performed a rendition of "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" from the musical Gypsy.

It was during the 1980s that O'Grady would meet Brendan Murphy, known as "Murph" or "Murphy" to his friends, who would become his partner.^[54]

O'Grady retired the Lily Savage character around 2004. He claimed she had "seen the light, taken the veil and packed herself off to a convent in France" but on his TV show, he said, "she's escaped the convent and she's heading towards these shores!". On 23 May 2008 on the 500th edition of The Paul O'Grady Show, guest star Julie Goodyear told O'Grady that Bet Lynch, the character she played in television soap opera Coronation Street, had joined Savage in the French convent. On the 7 October 2009 episode of The Paul O'Grady Show, after being prompted by actor Martin Clunes to "bring Lily back", O'Grady said he could not because she had been "bricked up in a chimney" by the Mother Superior of the convent.

Return of Lily Savage: 2010–11[link]

However, in March 2010 it was announced that Lily Savage would be resurrected for one last time in the Christmas pantomime Aladdin – A Wish Come True at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, from December 2010 till January 2011.^[55]