BBC - Coventry and Warwickshire - History - Shut that door with Larry Grayson You are in: Coventry and Warwickshire > History > Famous People > Shut that door with Larry Grayson Larry Grayson Shut that door with Larry Grayson Nuneaton's Larry Grayson was one of the most popular performers of his generation, discover a little more about the fabulous comedian. Pop-it-in-Pete, Apricot Lil and, best of all, Slack Alice and Everard became close friends of the British public during the 1970s and it was all thanks to one man. It was the amazing Larry Grayson, star of the Generation Game and stages up and down the country - as well as a star of his beloved Nuneaton community, where he spent most of his life. Larry was a true comic genius, who could make millions of people howl at their TVs on a Saturday night with just a raise of an eyebrow or a shout of "shut that door!". But it was from humble beginnings that one of the greatest ever light entertainers came. Paying attention Born William White in Banbury in 1923, he was put up for adoption by his unmarried mother Ethel.

At the tender age of ten days, he arrived in Nuneaton to live with his new foster family, Alice and Jim Hammond and their daughters Flo and May. Sadly, Alice died when young Billy was just six and eldest sister Flo took it upon herself to take special care of her baby brother. She adopted the role of Billy’s mother and their special and very deep relationship led to him thinking of her, and referring to her, as Mum for the rest of his life. Larry's agent and star maker, Michael Grade Billy’s early days in Nuneaton helped to form some of his comic creations for his later life. The closely-knit community was typical of its time, with plenty of gossip over back fences, on the bus and on the streets and he listened intently, storing up some of the seemingly mundane conversations for later life. His showbusiness bent started early and he staged shows for friends and neighbours at his home - proving a huge success and paving the way for his future ambitions. Becoming Larry After leaving school, Billy started work in a shoe shop but he lasted only two days before a kindly neighbour offered him a slot at the local working men’s club.

His stage debut saw him sing the music hall ditty In the Bushes at the Bottom of the Garden - and he became a roaring success. His act progressed as he began working in other clubs around the Midlands and he eventually extended his act to include drag - he dressed as a woman in the first half and came back on as a man. Not many people realised the acts both side of the break were one and the same person, a testament to his success! Larry takes to the floor His act continued - under his new stage name of Billy Breen - until he linked up with agent Eve Taylor. They decided on a name change, she chose Larry and he chose Grayson after one of his idols, the singer Kathryn Grayson, star of Kiss Me Kate. Shut that door! He continued his trek around the country’s clubs for 30 years as Larry Grayson but though popular, wasn’t receiving the recognition he craved. His health began to suffer and he suffered three burst ulcers during 1969 and then from nervous problems. Things were about to change, however, and when young Michael Grade spotted him performing in London, he was signed up immediately and under Grade’s management, he started to get some television appearances.

He proved a massive hit instantly and was signed up for his own show, Shut That Door - a half an hour long variety show, featuring his inimitable brand of comedy and led to him being voted Britain’s Funniest Man in the TV Times awards, voted for by the public. He continued working for ITV for more than six years, recording more of his own shows and specials and worked in many of his famous characters, like Slack Alice, Apricot Lil and Everard. However, he never left his roots and though he was able to move to a more exclusive part of the town, he remained in Nuneaton and the only visible show of his new fortune was a white Rolls Royce. Larry Grayson with Isla St Clair Scores on the doors Larry Grayson finally engraved his name on the hearts of the nation forever when he moved to BBC One in 1978 To front the Generation Game after Bruce Forsthye’s departure. Though at first reluctant to step into the shoes of the great Bruce, he decided to adopt the mantle with the encouragement of family and friends.

With his new sidekick - the forever giggling Scottish folk singer Isla St Clair - he made the show his own with the unique way he related to the inevitably badly dressed contestants and joined in the fun himself, usually with deliberately disastrous consequences! His asides to camera, usually coming after he had misread a card containing the contestants’ biographical information, and withering remarks to guests as well as his tales of Slack Alice and the rest propelled the show to stellar heights. Larry Grayson on the Generation Game The show began to pull in 18 million viewers regularly and it was renamed Larry Grayson’s Generation Game as a mark of his success. Arriving home When the show was at its peak, Grayson decided to stand down and bade an emotional farewell in 1981. He retired back to Nuneaton after a brief spell in Devon and though he made guest appearances on various shows, he began to fade into the background. His final appearance came at the 1994 Royal Variety Performance, when his parting words were his most famous catchphrase "Shut that door!". Larry died in January, 1995 and his funeral was held in his beloved Nuneaton.

Though gone, he could never be forgotten and many still travel to the town in his honour. last updated: 01/04/2008 at 16:33 created: 30/03/2006 Larry Grayson - Shut That Door (What A Gay Day LP, Track 6) (1972) - YouTube Larry Grayson - Shut That Door (What A Gay Day LP, Track 6) (1972) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jul 4, 2012 The sixth track, of the 12-track LP 'What A Gay Day' released by 70s light entertainment star Larry Grayson in 1972. Two of the tracks from this album, 'Shut That Door' and 'Apricot Lil' were released on a single too, the same year.

Larry Grayson (31 August 1923 -- 7 January 1995), born William Sulley White, was an English comedian and television presenter who reached the peak of his fame 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 unique stand-up act consisted mainly of anecdotes about a cast of imaginary friends, the most famous of which were 'Everard' and 'Slack Alice'. He is often cited as one of the first openly gay entertainers to have enjoyed mass appeal, although he never made direct reference to his sexuality. He was devoted to his hometown Nuneaton, where a museum display relating to his life and work and a memorial have been established. 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; the origin of either name is unknown.

Over the next thirty years, he toured the UK in male revues and drag shows, as well as in variety shows at venues including working mens' 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 owned the only telephone in the street, and his inspiration came from listening to his neighbours using the phone. An early TV appearance in the 1950s had led to complaints about his act being too outrageous, and Grayson had resigned himself to a career off television. Then in the early 70s his club act was seen by TV impresario Michael Grade, who immediately signed him for ATV. Following a hit run of guest spots on ATV variety shows, he was rewarded by Lew Grade with his own show, Shut That Door!, in 1972 and the eponymously titled Larry Grayson Show.

He also made two 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). In real life Grayson could not drive. He also made a number of guest appearances in variety shows, chat shows and panel games. Grayson was one of the first television comedians to suggest an openly gay persona and many of his catchphrases, gestures and anecdotes were certainly suggestive, although he never publicly discussed or made direct reference to his sexuality, and was never known to have a partner. Grayson's popularity peaked when he was hired by the BBC to present the Saturday night show The Generation Game in 1978, as replacement for Bruce Forsyth. The show became hugely successful, attracting audiences of up to 24 million each week, and the title of the show was changed to Larry Grayson's Generation Game to reflect his popularity. Grayson was assisted by his co-star Isla St Clair, whom he always referred to as "my lovely Isla".

Despite its huge popularity, by 1981 The Generation Game was being overtaken in the ratings by ITV's rival show Game for a Laugh. Grayson decided to leave The Generation Game in 1982 while it was still relatively successful. The BBC decided he couldn't be replaced, and the show was cancelled. It was only resurrected eight years later when the original host, Bruce Forsyth, returned to the BBC. Grayson went into semi-retirement, enjoying time on his own at his bungalow with his beloved dogs, although he did return to television to present the game show "Sweethearts" for ITV in 1987. He made a number of other TV and radio appearances. Grayson moved with Flo (his adoptive older sister) to Torquay, Devon as part of his semi-retirement, but moved back to Nuneaton after just a couple of years. Grayson's final public appearance was on 3 December 1994 at the Royal Variety Performance. During this performance he referred to his hiatus from television by commenting to the audience, "They thought I was dead!".

His last words during the performance were his catchphrase "Shut that door!", followed by "I love you." On New Year's Eve 1994, Grayson was rushed into hospital. He was found to have suffered from a perforated appendix. After being allowed home from hospital, Grayson died on 7 January 1995 in Nuneaton, at the age of 71. He is buried alongside other members of his family in his home town of Nuneaton.

Category The Generation Game - UKGameshows The Generation Game Bruce Forsyth (1971-7, 90-4, 2007) Roy Castle (stand-in, 29 November 1975) as Bruce Forsyth and the Generation Game: BBC1, 2 October 1971 to 31 December 1977 as Larry Grayson's Generation Game: BBC1, 23 September 1978 to 3 January 1982 as Bruce Forsyth's Generation Game: BBC1, 7 September 1990 to 24 December 1994 as Jim Davidson's Generation Game: BBC1, 21 October 1995 to 20 April 2002 (for episode and series counts, see Trivia below) as Generation Fame: BBC One, 31 December 2005 as The Generation Game: Now and Then: Splash Media for BBC Worldwide and UKTV Gold, 22 November to 20 December 2007 (5 episodes in 1 series) bbc.co.uk webcast, 5 to 6 March 2011 ( 

24 Hour Panel People ) Synopsis The Generation Game involved four couples where the two members of each team were a generation apart (hence the 'generation' bit of 'The Generation Game').

The four couples split into two sets of two couples who faced off against each other. The winners faced each other in the final and the winners of the final played the conveyor belt game (did we go a bit fast for you there?) The games themselves relied on the hilarity that normal people are rubbish at anything remotely difficult. An expert demonstrated how to do something, say modelling something using a potter's wheel or wallpapering an overhang or dressing up a shop window then the players tried to emulate the feat, usually in less time than the expert took. Original host Bruce Forsyth welcomes his audience After watching the contestants make complete fools of themselves for a few minutes, they brung the expert back in to judge their efforts. Most games involved the players in the teams playing separately so each team got two marks out of ten which was added together to make the score for that round. Funnily enough, you could do really badly but would still get a mark just as high as somebody who was actually far better 'just for trying', which was nice. After two rounds, the team with the highest score went through to the final whilst the losing team were sent home - with a Quivvering Bloke as a consolation prize in Davidson's version.

Jim Davidson and "quivvering bloke" After being put through the rigmarole again, the finalists usually did some major dance or acting role with the added hilarity of the players not being able to read very well so the lines came out all wrong. These pieces would usually involve someone quite famous too who in olden days would have marked each team but by the end the winners were decided by the democracy of the audience vote. That's New Labour for you. The winners then played The Conveyor Belt game where they had to remember as many of the twenty objects that passed in front of them as they possibly could - one of which would be the infamous giant cuddly toy. All together now - "Aaaahh!". For each one they could recall (or were blatantly reminded by the hosting at the time) they won that prize. In the Forsyth years they also had Brucie Bonuses, seemingly worthless objects which if recalled were opened up to reveal a holiday. In Davidson's tenure they had to remember 15 out of 20 to win the holiday. The conveyor belt game. Did they really use colours like that in the 1970s? The show had quite an interesting lineage with regards to hosts.

Way back in the mists of time old Brucie boy hosted with co-host, and (at the time) wife Anthea 'Teeth' Redfern. He regularly asked her to 'Give us a twirl', she replied 'Cadbury's haven't invented them yet' (not really). He also sang the show's theme tune (see below). Of course, when he sang "Life is the name of the game" which is wrong of course, since The Generation Game was the name of the game. With inaccuracies like that it's no wonder he left. Bruce Forsyth and Anthea Redfern He was replaced by Larry 'Camp' Grayson with Isla St Clair. Larry Grayson was camp, there's no denying that. His catchphrase was "Shut That Door" and he was a popular host. He didn't try to be Brucie and he did this by having his own style.

As well as camping it up, he constantly gave the impression that he didn't know quite what he was supposed to be doing or even where he was meant to stand, but this was mostly put on - and the audience and viewers loved it, especially when he tried out the games himself and inevitably made a complete hash of it - which Brucie rarely, if ever, did. But even when Larry did get himself in a jam, Isla St Clair was always there to get him out of it - the two had an excellent rapport with much amusing banter - and she also took on the role of explaining the games. Grayson also asked "What are the Scores on the Doors, Isla?" but Jim Morrison was unavailable for comment. Then shock of shocks, it ended. Then the BBC bought it back! With Brucie as host! With the original theme tune! With Rosemarie 'Who?' Ford! Perhaps it was a testament to the format or the choice of hosts that the updated versions still managed to pull in a reasonable amount of viewers. Yup, Brucie was back and stayed for another four years, and didn't he do well? Friday nights with this and Challenge Anneka had the BBC basking in a blaze of glory.

Near the end of the Brucie run, for one reason or another Jim Davidson stood in for an episode. He proved so popular (apparently) that when Brucie left he did it full time. Rosemarie Ford left and in came Sally 'GMTV' Meen who smiled a lot but didn't really gel into the format. However, the theatrically trained Melanie Stace was then drafted in to the show's line up. Jim Davidson and Melanie Stace in a publicity photo for a Christmas show The final hostess - Lea Kristensen - may have been familiar to regular game show viewers as one of the models on Bruce's The Price is Right . Jim met her at the Harry Ramsden's fish and chip bar in Heathrow Airport and it was "love at first sight". Who says romance is dead? By that time of course the show was all modern and tacky and family orientated. There were plenty of laughs (sorry, we meant "plenty of gunge"), more emphasis on contestants making fools of themselves and appearances of special guests, a veritable "Who's That?" of past-it celebs.

In some ways, the new-style series wanted to be Tiswas pure and simple, except not nearly as good and by that time we preferred watching Blind Date anyway, so nerrrr. To be fair, Davidson did a reasonably good job as stand-in host in 1994 when Brucie was off, but then, if he'd tried to introduce his own style at that time, he (Davidson) would certainly have come off second-best in any comparisons between the two hosts. A shame then that he did build up his own style when he took over full-time and that it proved to be the beginning of the end of the show. Although it had a few dodgy patches, this was one of the best-loved and longest-lasting UK variety formats of all time, and finally ended in 2002 after getting thrashed in the ratings by Pop Idol . Didn't it do well? Now and Then In 2007, UKTV Gold briefly revived the format, with Forsyth back in charge, fronting a mixture of classic archive clips, guest celebrities, and a previous runner-up playing the conveyor belt.

Key moments A guaranteed mass nervous breakdown from the audience every single week when Brucie (hosting at his absolute Bruciest) inevitably decreed "Ohh! Didn't they do well?". Catchphrases Bruce Forsyth : His famous "Good game, good game!" catchphrase was often used after a really bad game - Forsyth used it to generate applause from the audience so that it gave him time to get the contestants back to the front of the stage. Other catchphrases included: "Nice to see you, to see you, nice!", "Let's meet the eight who are going to generate!", "Give us a twirl, Anthea", "Let's take a look at the old scoreboard", "What's on the board, Miss Ford?" (which actually started out as, "How have they scored, Miss Ford?"), "Didn't they do well?!", "Our contestants have no idea what's coming up, they have not rehearsed, this... is their...

rehearsal", "That's all there is to it!" "And on the conveyor belt tonight..." "Keep thinking nice thoughts", "Our first game is called (whatever) - but first of all, feast your eyes on these!" "First - get it over with?" (this being in response to a finallist couple deciding to go first rather than second in the endgame, as was usually the case), and "See you next week - be there!" Larry Grayson : "Shut that door!", "What are the scores on the doors, Isla?" or, "Isla, can we have the scores on the doors, please?" (in later series, this changed to "the awards on the boards"), "What a gay day!", "Look at all the muck in 'ere!", "Who is the guest behind the door tonight?" and so forth. And instead of "Didn't they do well" it was "What a lot you got!" Jim Davidson : No real catchphrases as such, but lots of bizarrely out-of-place catchgunge.

(Actually, he did have one catchphrase in the early days - "What's on the screen, Miss Meen?" but this didn't last long, because Sally Meen only stayed for one series). Isla St Clair (in response to Larry's request for 'the scores on the doors'): "And the names on the frames say ...." Also: "Now it's time to draw the straws" or "draw the doors", depending on the series. (This was in order to decide which of the two couples in the final would go first, replacing Brucie's tossing of a coin in previous series). Inventor Based on the Dutch show (Een Van De Aacht - literally, One Out of Eight) that was part game, part chat show. They dropped the chat for the Brit format. In fact, they dropped just about everything except the conveyor belt at the end. Theme music The best remembered version of the theme music was written and sung by Bruce Forsyth himself, and begins thus: Life is the name of the game, And I wanna play the game with you. Life can be terribly tame, If you don't play the game with two.

Yeah life is a go-as-you-please And I need some place to go with you. Life can be oh-such-a-tease, If you don't play the game with two. Trivia Bruce met hostess Anthea Redfern at a Miss Lovely Legs competition - she later became his second wife. An anagram of Bruce Forsyth 's Generation Game is Embarrassing Ego of the Century. For all Brucie's slickness on the show, he was occasionally caught on the hop. Two such incidences occurred during his 90's version of the show: on one occasion, he said 'decapinated' instead of 'decapitated' and the late Ned Sherrin , who was judging the game concerned, pulled him up on that. The other occasion was when the contestants were having to impersonate various celebrities, as demonstrated by Allan Stewart . One of the celebrities they had to impersonate was Bruce himself: Bruce said afterwards, "I thought the Bruce Forsyth bit was a bit cruel" and Stewart responded, "No, they did very well there - in fact, I thought the worst Bruce...was you Bruce!" much to Bruce's (mild) indignation.

One episode was watched by 23.9 million viewers during the 1979 ITV strike, making it the highest ever rating for a UK game show. The Generation Game was unsuccessfully piloted in the USA as A Piece of Cake, with Forsyth as host. Jimmy Tarbuck was offered the host's job when Larry Grayson left, but turned it down to do Live At Her Majesty's for ITV instead. Two "Blue Peter" presenters, John Noakes and Lesley Judd, took part in a rehearsal for the show on one occasion in the mid-70's - and they won, with Noakes being the one to go through the conveyor belt game (not that he took the prizes home, of course - they had to go back on the belt for the real contestants later on). Apparently, Bruce paid them both a big compliment at the end by turning to Anthea and the crew and saying, "Didn't they do well?" and they felt that he really meant it, too.

One other notable point here is that Judd mentioned that the conveyor belt required several men to place the prizes on the belt and several more to take them off, all well within earshot, making it very difficult for contestants to remember things. Plus, they'd have Bruce (or Larry) constantly chipping in behind them, not to mention the audience shouting things out, so, all in all, it was little short of a miracle that the contestants managed to remember as many prizes as they generally did. The man responsible for commissioning the series in the UK was the BBC's legendary Head of Light Entertainment at the time, the late Bill Cotton. Cotton once revealed that the first-ever show was so disastrously bad that he and his team decided not to broadcast it. Instead, they broadcast the far better pilot show, the only problem being that the pilot was far longer than the allocated transmission-slot, so they had to do a quick last-minute edit, meaning that the scoring ended up making no sense at all, but not one viewer wrote or phoned in to complain.

What was more, the pilot proved so popular that the series' future was assured and Cotton and his team duly ensured that all subsequent shows were made in the style of the pilot rather than that of the hopeless first edition. After Bruce Forsyth left the show for the second time, Michael Barrymore was rumoured to be taking over the show, but he didn't. Matthew Kelly almost took over hosting duties of the show until he competed with Jim Davidson, As soon as Jim Davidson got the job hosting the show, Matthew Kelly responded to him, "Congratulations, you've got the f***ing Generation Game." the next time they met. The Generation Game lent itself to episodes containing highlights from recent shows. It also lent itself to episodes where all of the games were themed around Christmas or Easter. We've attempted to distinguish between these: "Special" is a themed competitive show, "Compilation" the best of one series. Bruce Forsyth (1970s) 108 episodes in 7 series, plus 9 specials, 9 compilations, and 2 repeats billed as "Bruce's Choice" (one of which was, itself, repeated). Larry Grayson: 60 episodes in 4 series, plus 12 specials.

One show in each series is billed as including some highlights from the last series; we've counted these as regular episodes. Bruce (1990s) 71 episodes in 5 series, plus 5 specials and 4 compilations. Jim Davidson: 124 episodes in 7 series, plus 9 specials, 6 compilations, and 1 thirty-year retrospective. Merchandise A Bruce Forsyth 's Generation Game book was published in 1992. In 1975, Strawberry Fayre and Denys Fisher published a board game featuring a three-dimensional diorama of the set, a working countdown clock and the famous sliding doors. Web links Shut That Door by Larry Grayson Songfacts Shut That Door by Larry Grayson Songfacts Songfacts Larry Grayson (1923-95) spent decades working the club and cabaret circuit before finding fame first with his own TV show Shut That Door in 1975, and later as the presenter of the BBC family show The Generation Game.

A drag artist as well as a comedian, he was a master of high camp; "Shut that door" was his catchphrase, so it was inevitable that he would record a song with that title. Credited to Worth/Peacock, it was released on York Records in August 1972, when he was on the verge of becoming a household name. The B-Side was "Slack Alice," one of the characters he created for his comedy act. As might be expected "Shut That Door" is slightly risqué in the double entendre department, and it is surprising it didn't fall foul of the BBC censor. >> Suggestion credit: Larry Grayson (1923 - 1995) - Find A Grave Memorial Nuneaton Warwickshire, England Larry Grayson, born William White in Banbury, Oxfordshire in 1923 was an English stand-up comedian and television presenter of the 1970s and early 80s. He is best remembered for hosting the BBC's popular series The Generation Game and for his high camp humour. He was adopted by Alice and Jim Hammond and lived in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

Alice died when he was six years old, and he was brought up by his eldest foster sister, Flo. When he was eight, he discovered that his "Aunt" Ethel was in fact his natural mother, though he always considered Flo as his mother. He began professionally under the name of Billy Breen as a supporting drag act on the comedy club circuit. Over the next thirty years, he toured the UK in revues, drag shows and variety shows. He did not achieve stardom until he was in his fifties and had his own television show. He was very popular in revue and working men's clubs with his anecdotal, observational style of comedy. It was usually based around his various "friends" such as Everard Farquarharson, Apricot Lil, Slack Alice, and the postman Pop-It-In Pete.

Following a hit run of guest spots on ATV's "Saturday Variety" shows in the early 1970s, he was rewarded by Lew Grade with his own award winning show, "Shut That Door!", (13 episodes) in 1972 and 1973, "The Larry Grayson Hour of Stars" in September 1974 and 14 episodes of "Larry Grayson" in 1975 and 1977. Grayson's popularity peaked when he moved over to the BBC to present The Generation Game in 1978 which attracted audiences of over 18 million each week and ran until 1981. Grayson was assisted by Isla St Clair, whom he always referred to as "my lovely Isla". When his stint on the show finished, Grayson went into semi-retirement at his bungalow in Nuneaton with his beloved dog, although he did return to television to present the game show "Sweethearts" for ITV in 1987.

A 60th Birthday tribute was screened on ITV on 26th August 1983 featuring clips of Larry visiting his old school, scenes at home and tributes from show-biz friends. Grayson 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. A permanent tribute to Larry Grayson was opened in April 2009 at the Riversley Park Museum, Nuneaton, with a display of personal memorabilia and items from his showbiz career including his trademark gold bentwood chair, a plaque from the star dressing room at the London Palladium, trophies, gifts and souvenir programmes as well as his attempt at the Potters Wheel from The Generation Game. He was known for his catchphrases "shut that door!" "What a gay day!" "Seems like a nice boy...!" (After running his finger along a surface) "Look at the muck in 'ere!" On New Year's Eve 1994, Grayson was rushed into hospital suffering from a perforated appendix.

After being released home, Grayson died on 7 January 1995 in Nuneaton, at the age of 71. Grayson's final public appearance was at the 1994 Royal Variety Performance. During this performance he referred to his absence from television, by commenting to the audience, "Yes, I am still alive!". His last words on stage were his catchphrase "Shut that door!" He is buried alongside other members of his family in his home town of Nuneaton. His signature tune was "The Man That Got Away" Larry Grayson - Biography - IMDb Larry Grayson Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Trade Mark (2) | Trivia (1) Overview (4) 5' 9½" (1.77 m) Mini Bio (1) Born William White in 1923 to unmarried parents, Grayson was adopted into a coal mining family in Nuneaton.

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. After touring and presenting further variety shows in the 70s, including his own TV series 'Shut That Door', his catchphrase, he took over presenting 'The Generation Game' from Bruce Forsyth. He retired from television in 1981, but continued to perform in the theatre, particularly in pantomime. He died in 1995, aged 71. - IMDb Mini Biography By: david-879 Trade Mark (2) Catchphrase: "Ooh, shut that door!" Always smartly dressed and delivering waspish remarks and jokes Trivia (1) Larry Grayson - UKGameshows Larry Grayson Sweethearts Biography Born William White in Banbury, Oxfordshire, in 1923 to unmarried parents, Grayson was adopted into a coal mining family in Nuneaton.

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 Great Britain with various male revues and drag shows. After touring and presenting further variety shows in the 70s, including his own TV series Shut That Door (one of his catchphrases), he took over presenting The Generation Game from Bruce Forsyth. He retired from television in 1981 (apart from being a team captain on A Question of Entertainment and a number of guest appearances on various other shows, such as Crackerjack and What's My Line? ), but continued to perform in the theatre, particularly in pantomime. He died in 1995, aged 71, due to a perforated appendix. Trivia He was the presenter for the pilot of Every Second Counts . Another unsuccessful pilot he presented was called Beyond Belief (Thames TV) and featured purported clairvoyants competing to predict events in the lives of members of the public. His catchphrase, "Shut that door!", reputedly came about after his agent asked repeatedly for privacy when he and Grayson tried to have a private dressing room conversation.

Other memorable catchphrases included, "What a gay day!" "Isla, can we have the scores on the doors, please?" and "What a lot you've got!" - the latter two being from "The Generation Game". He had a number of 'imaginary' friends which he would use to tell his anecdotes, including Everard, Slack Alice, Pop-it-in-Pete (the postman), Top-it-up-Ted (the petrol station attendant), Apricot Lil (the tart who worked in a jam factory), Self Raising Fred (the baker), Non Stick Neil and Once a Week Nora. Web links 1972 Larry Grayson; What A Gay Day - My Friend Everard - YouTube 1972 Larry Grayson; What A Gay Day - My Friend Everard Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Jul 20, 2014 Larry Grayson (31 August 1923 – 7 January 1995), born William Sulley White, was an English comedian and television presenter who reached the peak of his fame 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 unique stand-up act consisted mainly of anecdotes about a cast of imaginary friends, the most famous of which were 'Everard' and 'Slack Alice'. He is often cited as one of the first openly gay entertainers to have enjoyed mass appeal, although he never made direct reference to his sexuality. He was devoted to his hometown Nuneaton, where a museum display relating to his life and work and a memorial have been established. 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 thirty 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 owned the only telephone in the street, and his inspiration came from overhearing his neighbours using it. Grayson's final public appearance was on 3 December 1994 at the Royal Variety Performance.

During this performance he referred to his hiatus from television by commenting to the audience, "They thought I was dead!". His last words during the performance were his catchphrase "Shut that door!", followed by "I love you." On New Year's Eve 1995, Grayson was rushed into hospital. He was found to have suffered from a perforated appendix. After being allowed home from hospital, Grayson died on 7 January 1995 in Nuneaton, at the age of 71. He is buried alongside other members of his family in his home town of Nuneaton. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Obituary: Larry Grayson | The Independent Obituary: Larry Grayson Monday 9 January 1995 00:02 BST Click to follow The Independent Online William Sully White (Larry Grayson), entertainer: born Banbury, Oxfordshire 31 August 1923; died Nuneaton, Warwickshire 7 January 1995.

Larry Grayson brought high camp to television in the Seventies with his catchphrases "Shut that door!" and "What a gay day!", and his references to fictional characters such as Everard, Slack Alice and Apricot Lil, delivered with pursed lips and hand-on-hip flouncing. After spending much of his career in variety, Grayson found his greatest fame on television as host of The Generation Game, taking over from Bruce Forsyth and finding new heights of popularity to the game-show that featured relatives of different generations and a host of prizes. He was born William White, out of wedlock. His mother Ethel travelled for the birth from Nuneaton to Banbury, Oxfordshire, because she was so scared of her family's reaction across the border in Warwickshire. He grew up back there with foster-parent friends of his mother - Jim Hammond, a miner, his wife Alice and their two daughters - and his mother was a regular visitor, as "Aunt" Ethel, but he never met his father, William Sully, a factory foreman. When he was six, his adoptive mother died and he wasbrought up by the younger daughter, "Fan" (Florence).

On leaving school at the age of 14, William took to the stage with The Very Lights concert party, making his debut at the Fife Street Working Men's Club, in Nuneaton, singing a risque song, "In the Bushes at the Bottom of the Garden". Exempted from war service through a weak heart, he entertained the troops and, when peace came, changed his stage name to Billy Breen, toured the West Country in Harry Leslie's revue Tomorrow's Stars (1947) and did a summer season in Redcar with Barry Wood's Radio Tymes. It was during this time that he developed an act as a female impersonator, appearing for one half of the show in a suit and the other half wearing a short frock and a beret, carrying a sling handbag and opening with the line "I've just returned from Portsmouth." In the Fifties, he changed his professional name again, taking the surname of Kathryn Grayson, the Hollywood singing star, and adding the forename Larry, suggested by his agent. For 30 years, Grayson worked in pubs, clubs, works canteens and summer seasons.

He eventually dispensed with the dresses and added stand-up comedy to his act, stepping up the ladder briefly to appear in London at the Metropolitan and the Finsbury Park and Chiswick Empires during the last days of variety. But, by the Sixties, he accepted that fame would probably never come his way and returned to the Midlands, getting work around his native Nuneaton. His act was based on gossiping about make-believe friends, the delivery inspired by landladies Grayson had met. Everard, whose speciality was dancing the Gay Gordons, was the name Grayson heard a Brighton landlady calling her 11-year-old son. Slack Alice, a coalman's daughter, was more famous for her Black Bottom, and Apricot Lil worked in a jam factory. In 1969, the theatrical agent Peter Dulay - who later became known to television viewers as host of the revived Candid Camera - persuaded Grayson to do a week's performances at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, in London.

His music-hall patter went downso well that the show ran for seven weeks and the impresario Paul Raymond cast him in his all-male revue Birds of a Feather, which opened at the Royalty Theatre the following year. "England's Comedy Sensation", as Grayson was billed in the show, won acclaim and was booked for a summer season in Brighton, variety at the London Palladium, a Goldilocks and the Three Bears pantomime with Dora Bryan in Brighton and a cabaret season at Danny La Rue's London club. Grayson's limp-wristed act proved a hit when he made his 1971 television debut in The Leslie Crowther Show and, a year later, appeared in ITV's Saturday Variety show. The ATV boss Lew Grade saw a star in the making and signed him up to make a string of appearances in the programme, before giving the comic his own, 16-part series, Shut That Door! (1972), a title inspired by the catchphrase that Grayson had first used when he felt a sudden draught while on stage at the Theatre Royal, Brighton , in 1970.

In the television series, he invited viewers to "make yourself at home for a gay evening. Pull up a chair and let's unwrap that surprise package, with everyone doing their own thing." In 1972, he also performed in front of the Queen in the Roy al Variety Gala at the London Palladium, in aid of the Olympics Fund, and was named the Variety Club of Great Britain's Showbusiness Personality of the Year. Stardom had finally come his way in middle age. On stage, Grayson did two summer seasons of Grayson's Scandals, in Margate and Blackpool, before taking the show to the London Palladium in 1974, the year he presented a television special called Larry Grayson's Hour of Stars. The following year, he chauffeured his good friend Noele Gordon and John Bentley in his white Rolls-Royce for the television wedding of Meg Richardson and Hugh Mortimer in Crossroads. He had previously appeared in the serial two years earlier, as a guest checking in at the famous television motel. He also presented two series of The Larry Grayson Show (1975 and 1976-77) on ITV, before switching channels.

When Bruce Forsyth left the BBC in 1978, Grayson took over as host of The Generation Game, which had become a Saturday-night institution, and took the programme to new heights. He and the fresh-faced folk singer Isla St Clair were an even bigger hit thanForsyth and Anthea Redfern, attracting more viewers than Bruce Forsyth's Big Night, screened on ITV opposite Larry Grayson's Generation Game, which ran for four series until 1981, when Grayson decided to stop while still on top. Unfortunately, his next game show, Sweethearts (1987) - revolving around whether couples were telling the truth about their romances - was a flop and proved to be Grayson's last series, apart from captaining one of the teams in the A Question of Entertainment quiz (1988). His other television work included topping the bill three times in the BBC music-hall series The Good Old Days (1984, 1986 and 1991). His last appearance on television, seen as marking a possible comeback, was in the Royal Variety Performance in front of the Prince of Wales at the Dominion Theatre last November. Anthony Hayward

Question: Which Generation Game presenter was famous for his catchphrase Shut That Door?
Answer: Larry Grayson