Larry Grayson

Larry Grayson
Larry Grayson on The Generation Game
Birth name	William Sulley White
Born	(1923-08-31)31 August 1923 Banbury, Oxfordshire, England
Died	7 January 1995(1995-01-07) (aged 71) Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England
Medium	Comedian, TV presenter
Notable works and roles	The Generation Game

Larry Grayson (31 August 1923 – 7 January 1995), born William Sulley White, was an English comedian and television presenter who was best known in the 1970s and early '80s. He is best remembered for hosting the BBC's popular series The Generation Game and for his high camp and English music hall humour.

His camp stand-up act consisted mainly of anecdotes about a cast of imaginary friends, the most frequently mentioned were Everard and Slack Alice. He is often cited as one of the first gay entertainers to have enjoyed mass appeal, although he never made any reference to his sexuality. He was devoted to his adopted home town of Nuneaton, where a museum display relating to his life and work and a memorial have been established.

Grayson was born William Sulley White in Banbury, Oxfordshire, in 1923. His parents were unmarried and he never met his father. When Grayson was ten days old, his mother, Ethel White, arranged for him to be adopted by Alice and Jim Hammonds in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He had two adoptive sisters, Flo and May. His adoptive mother Alice died when he was six years old, and he was brought up by his eldest adoptive sister, Flo, with whom he lived for much of his life. It has been reported that his mother stayed in touch with the family and was known to Grayson as "Aunt Ethel" throughout his childhood, until he discovered her true identity in later life.

Grayson left school at the age of 14 and began working professionally as a supporting drag act on the comedy club circuit. He initially used the stage-name Billy Breen, but changed it to Larry Grayson in the 1950s on the advice of his agent. BBC TV's The One Show reported on 27 November, 2012 that the name "Grayson" was taken from the American singer Kathryn Grayson, but the origin of the name "Larry" is unknown.

Over the next 30 years he toured the UK in male revues and drag shows, as well as in variety shows at venues including working men's clubs, regional theatres and the Metropolitan in London. He also added stand-up comedy to his act and developed a unique and very gentle anecdotal style of comedy. It was usually based around his various imaginary friends such as Everard, Apricot Lil, Slack Alice and the postman Pop-It-In Pete. A lot of his material was observational. In his early years, Grayson's family had the only telephone in the street, and his inspiration came from overhearing his neighbours using it. The "imaginary friends" were in fact based on local characters: for example, Apricot Lil worked at the local jam factory.