Julian Clary

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Julian Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English comedian known for his camp style; unlike some of his precursors, he is openly gay.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Clary was born in Teddington, Middlesex and went to St Benedict's School, a Catholic school in Ealing, London. He then 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, complete with his sidekick, Fanny The Wonderdog. Clary dressed in outrageous fashions, usually involving leather and hinting at bondage. He wore shocking make-up, although he did not fall into the categories of cross dresser, transvestite or female impersonator.

[edit] Television

After a number of successful appearances on Friday Night Live, he presented the gameshow Sticky Moments with Julian Clary. The gameshow was noticeably less formal than most, with Clary usually awarding points because he liked the contestants rather than for any particular outstanding performances in any of the various challenges. He followed that up with the sitcom Terry and Julian with June Whitfield, and All Rise for Julian Clary.

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, and also makes frequent appearances on the BBC Radio 4 panel game Just a Minute.

In 2004, Clary was one of the celebrities taking part in the BBC's popular Strictly Come Dancing series, a competition in which he finished 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.

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.

[edit] Film

Clary appeared in the film Carry on Columbus (1992), his double-entendre-laden performances being one of the few highlights of a film which was widely panned.

[edit] Controversy

Clary's comedy has largely relied upon near-the-knuckle innuendo and often explicit sexual references (compare with Paul O'Grady's alter-ego Lily Savage). More recently he has attempted to enter the mainstream, toning down his outfits and wearing sharp suits (although wearing makeup), but his style of comedy has always proved too much for some parts of the public.

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, but it has been largely rehabilitated in recent years.

[edit] Writing

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

[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

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