Julian Clary

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Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born on 25 May 1959) is a British actor, comedian, novelist, and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s, and has since appeared in films, on television, and on stage.

His comedy tours have included: The Mincing Machine Tour (1989); My Glittering Passage (1993); Natural Born Mincer (2003); Lord of the Mince (2009–2010); Position Vacant: Apply Within (2012–2014); The Joy of Mincing (2016); and Born To Mince (2019).

He has appeared in numerous Christmas pantomimes, becoming a regular star of the London Palladium pantomimes. Between 1998 and 2002, he was a recurring performer in ITV's televised pantomime productions, appearing in Jack and The Beanstalk (1998), Cinderella (2000), Aladdin (2000), and Dick Whittington (2002).

He began his career under the name 'Leo Hurll', a fake keyboardist with the pop band Thinkman. He entered the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s, first under the alias 'Gillian Pieface', and later as 'The Joan Collins Fan Club'. He wore heavy glam make-up, and dressed in outrageous clothes, often including items of leather/PVC bondage gear.

In the mid-to-late-1980s, he made a number of appearances on the TV show Friday Night Live.

In 1989, he co-hosted the short-lived ITV game show Trick or Treat with Mike Smith, before achieving greater success later that year with his own high-camp Channel 4 game show, Sticky Moments with Julian Clary. The same year, he released a large-format comedy book titled My Life With Fanny The Wonder Dog.

In 1991, he appeared in an episode of the improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

In 1992, he starred alongside Lee Simpson in the Channel 4 audience participation sitcom Terry and Julian, appeared in the film Carry On Columbus (an unsuccessful attempt to revive the Carry On series of films), and released a large-format comedy book titled How To Be A Man.

In 1993, he made an infamous appearance at the British Comedy Awards, where he made a joke comparing the set to Hampstead Heath (a known cruising area for gay men) and stated he had just been fisting the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont (who had presented an award earlier in the ceremony). Although the joke was met with uproarious laughter from the audience, and Lamont himself did not complain about it, Julian was criticised by some tabloid newspapers, which launched a campaign to have him banned from television.

In 1996, he hosted the BBC's studio-based All Rise for Julian Clary, in which he played a judge in a mock courtroom setting.

Between 1998 and 2001, he co-hosted three series of the Sky TV show Prickly Heat, the first two with Davina McCall, and the last with Denise van Outen.

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

In 2001, he was the subject of an episode of This Is Your Life, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel during the curtain call of the pantomime Cinderella at the Richmond Theatre. The same year, he appeared in the film The Baby Juice Express, about a prisoner who is desperate to find some way of conceiving with his wife while he is in prison.

In 2003, he presented the first series of the Japanese TV clip show Sushi TV, for Challenge.

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

In 2005, he hosted Come and Have A Go for the National Lottery, and published his first autobiography, A Young Man's Passage, which covered his life and career up to his controversial appearance at the 1993 British Comedy Awards

Between 2005 and 2008, he wrote a fortnightly column for the New Statesman magazine.

In 2006, he appeared on the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are?, which traced his ancestors to a World War I flight engineer and German immigrants, and he also guest-hosted an episode of the topical quiz show Have I Got News for You.

In 2006, he returned to primetime TV on Channel 5's celebrity performance programme The All Star Talent Show, co-presenting with Myleene Klass and Andi Peters. He also narrated the Channel 5 children's series The Little Princess, along with Jane Horrocks, and appeared on episodes of the panel show QI and The New Paul O'Grady Show.

In 2007, he presented a brand-new show for the BBC called The Underdog Show, in which celebrities and children were paired up with rescue dogs, and trained them to compete in obedience and agility trials. He also made a cameo appearance in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, in scenes filmed in London with Natalie Bassingthwaighte. The same year, he released his first novel, Murder Most Fab.

In 2008, he was drafted as a relief presenter for This Morning, co-presenting alongside Fern Britton and Ruth Langsford, during Phillip Schofield's absence. He also guest-hosted another episode of the BBC One series Have I Got News for You, appeared in an episode of Celebrity Bargain Hunt, and was a short-notice guest on The Paul O'Grady Show (after Peter Andre and Katie Price could not appear).

In 2009, his second novel, Devil in Disguise, was published.

In 2012, he was one of the contestants in Celebrity Big Brother 10, and went on to win the series.

In 2013, he was a judge on the ITV entertainment series Your Face Sounds Familiar, alongside Emma Bunton.

In 2015, he took part in ITV's Give a Pet a Home show, working alongside the RSPCA in Birmingham, and also presented the three-part nature show Nature Nuts with Julian Clary for ITV. The same year, he published the first of The Bolds series of children's books, which feature a family of hyenas disguised as humans.

In 2016, he was named Ambassador for the Adelaide Fringe, responsible for promoting the festival internationally.

In 2019, he was inducted onto the Palladium's Wall of Fame, in a ceremony led by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In 2021, he published a second autobiography, The Lick of Love: How Dogs Changed My Life, which told the story of his life through his various pets.

[Source: Wikipedia, 12/05/2023.]