Graham Norton |
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Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963 in Bandon, County Cork, Republic of Ireland) is an Irish actor, comedian and television presenter. He is known by his stage name Graham Norton.
Norton was born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin but grew up in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. He dropped out of University College Cork to move to San Francisco. He trained as a drama teacher at the Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1992 his stand-up comedy drag act in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a tea-towel clad Mother Teresa of Calcutta made the press when Scottish Television's religious affairs department mistakenly thought he represented the real Mother Teresa.
His first appearances in broadcasting were in his spot as a regular on the BBC Radio 4 show Loose Ends when the show ran on Saturday mornings, in the early 1990s. His rise to fame began as one of the early successes of Channel 5, when he won an award for his performance as the stand-in host of a late-night talk show usually presented by Jack Docherty. This was followed by a comic quiz show called Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment, which wasn't well received as a programme but did further enhance Norton's individual reputation. He also took part in the show Carnal Knowledge.