Larry Grayson
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Larry Grayson (21 August 1923 in Banbury - 7 January 1995) was an English much loved camp comedian and gameshow host of the late 1970s.
Born William White in 1923 to unmarried parents, he was adopted into a coal mining family in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
By the age of 14, he was working under the name of Billy Breen as a supporting drag act on the comedy club circuit, and over the next thirty years he toured the UK not only in male revues and drag shows, but also in variety shows.
He was one of the first television comedians to suggest a deliberately gay persona. Larry did not achieve stardom until he was in his fifties and had his own television show. An early TV appearance in the 1950's had led to many complaints about his act being too outrageous and Larry had resigned himself to a career off television. He was very popular in review and working mens clubs with a unique and very gentle anecdotal style of comedy. It was usually based around his various 'friends' such as Everard, Apricot Lil, Slack Alice and the postman 'Pop it in Pete'. A lot of this was observational ..Larry's family had had the only telephone on the street as a kid and he used to listen to his neighbours using the phone.
Following a hit run of guest spots on ATV variety shows in the 1970's, he was rewarded by Lew Grade with his own award winning show Shut That Door! (1975), although the peak came when he moved over to the BBC to present The Generation Game.
Attracting record audiences of over 18 million each week, the show became even more popular and ran between 1978 and 1981. Larry was aided and abetted by Isla St Clair, who he always referred to as 'my lovely Isla'. Despite its phenomenal popularity, The Generation Game was being beaten in the ratings by its ITV rival Game For A Laugh and the BBC took the decision to end the series in early 1982. Accepting this decision philosophically, Larry went into semi-retirement, enjoying time on his own at his bungalow with his beloved dogs.
He also made two memorable "cameo" appearances in the Midlands-based soap opera, Crossroads, as a flouncing, difficult customer at the Crossroads Motel, and as the chauffeur at the wedding of Meg Richardson (played by his close friend, Noele Gordon.) Ironically, Larry couldn't drive.
Larry moved with Flo (his adoptive mother,who also happened to be his older sister) to Torquay, Devon as part of his semi-retirement, but moved back to Nuneaton after just a couple of years.
Many people were very curious as to whether Larry was gay but he always refused to speak about it.This is perhaps understandable bearing in mind the time and place he grew up in.National newspapers went as far as 'tailing' him to see if he had boyfriends or went to any gay clubs, but never found anything!. Larry was celibate,although near the end of his life he did 'come out' as being gay.
It was said that he had been incensed at an objection by one councillor at a Nuneaton Town council meeting to the idea of a monument for Larry in the town. Apparently the comments made were unpleasantly homophobic. Larry asked his family to ensure that no memorial to him was ever to be erected there. He is buried in an unostentatious grave with other members of his family in Nuneaton,the town he loved.
[edit] Catchphrases
- Shut that door!
- What a gay day!
- Isla, can we have the scores on the doors please?
- (To young, good looking male contestants - ) Seems like a nice boy...!
- (After running his finger across the top of the back of a chair) Oooo! Look at the muck in here!
| Preceded by Bruce Forsyth |
Host of The Generation Game 1978-81 |
Succeeded by Bruce Forsyth (in 1990) |
