Julian Clary

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Julian Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English comedian who is openly gay and known for his camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre. In this regard he followed the model set by previous camp comedians, notably Frankie Howerd.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Stand-up comedy 3 Television 4 Film 5 Controversy 6 Writing 7 Awards 8 Trivia 9 External links

[edit] Early life

Clary was born in Teddington, Middlesex and went to St Benedict's School, a Catholic school in Ealing, London. He studied English and Drama at Goldsmith's College, part of the University of London.

[edit] Stand-up comedy

Clary's comedy career started on the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s as The Joan Collins Fanclub. He wore heavy glam make-up and dressed in outrageous fashions, usually involving leather and hinting at bondage. His pet dog "Fanny the Wonder Dog" featured in performances.

[edit] Television

After a number of appearances on Friday Night Live, he presented the gameshow Sticky Moments with Julian Clary. This was a light-hearted gameshow, with Clary often awarding points because he liked the contestants rather than for any particular skill or aptitude. He later featured in the sitcom Terry and Julian with June Whitfield, and in the studio-based All Rise for Julian Clary in which he played a judge in a mock courtroom, setting.

In 1999 he became a team captain on the quiz show It's Only TV... But I Like It along with Phill Jupitus and Jonathan Ross.

In 2004, Clary took part in the BBC series Strictly Come Dancing, finishing third with his partner Erin Boag.

In 2005, Clary hosted Come and Have A Go for the National Lottery.

On 1 February 2006, he appeared on the BBC 2 programme Who Do You Think You Are?, a genealogy series which traced his ancestors to a World War I flight engineer and a German immigrant. In May 2006 Clary hosted the topical quiz show Have I Got News For You.

In September 2006 Clary returned to primetime TV as presenter and judge on Channel 5's brand new celebrity performance programme The All Star Talent Show. Julian was joined by two guest judges every week to assess celebrity performances and co-presented with Myleene Klass and Andi Peters. He also voices the Channel 5 childrens series "The Little Princess" with Jane Horrocks

In November 2006, Clary joined the panel of QI, a panel game/comedy show hosted by Stephen Fry, and also appeared on an episode of The New Paul O'Grady Show.

In 2007, he made a cameo appearance in the Australian soap opera, Neighbours, in scenes filmed in London with Natalie Bassingthwaighte. In March 2007 it was announced that Clary will present a brand new show for the BBC called Underdogs. Celebrities and children will be paired up with rescue dogs. They will then commence training and compete against each other in obedience and agility trails in a live arena. The show runs from the 20th March-26th April 2007.

[edit] Film

Clary appeared in the film Carry on Columbus (1992), an unsuccessful attempt to revive the "Carry On" series of films. It was widely panned by critics.

[edit] Controversy

Clary was cast into the show business wilderness after making a sexually explicit joke about politician Norman Lamont ("I've just been fisting Norman Lamont") during a live broadcast of the 1993 British Comedy Awards ceremony, before the 9 o'clock watershed. The audience reaction was sufficiently raucous that his intended punchline ("Talk about a red box!") was almost entirely drowned out. His career was adversely affected by this event^{[citation needed]}, but he has been largely rehabilitated in recent years.

[edit] Writing

Since 2005, Clary has written a weekly column for New Statesman magazine

Clary published an autobiography in 2005 A Young Man's Passage, which covers his life and career up until the Norman Lamont incident.

His first novel Murder Most Fab will be published on 16th August 2007 and he has also narrated a selection of childrens books.

[edit] Awards

On 7 September 2005, Goldsmith's College made Clary an honorary fellow.

[edit] Trivia

• One of Clary's close friends is fellow comedian Paul Merton, who was one of the sketch writers for his Sticky Moments with Julian Clary programme before Merton gained fame on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Clary has guested on an episode of "WLIIA?", and Merton is one of the regular panellists for Have I Got News For You.

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Julian Clary at the Internet Movie Database
• The 1993 British Comedy Awards at OffTheTelly.co.uk
• Julian Clary on Who Do You Think You Are?