Paul O’Grady says he was chatted up by Ben Hur movie legend Charlton Heston while dressed as Lily Savage.
The Hollywood icon mistook Paul’s loudmouthed, blonde-haired alter-ego Lily for a real woman at an Oscars party, he says.
TV presenter and DJ Paul, 65, says he was at the Oscars in 1996 when confused Heston began flirting with him at a finger buffet.
Paul was clutching a sausage roll when he was buttonholed by the actor, who won an Oscar for his title role in 1959 gladiator epic Ben Hur.
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Paul, then 40, was dressed as Lily for a skit on 1990s Channel 4 show The Big Breakfast, then hosted by Gaby Roslin.
Paul recalled of the odd encounter: “I met Charlton Heston at the Oscars. I was at the buffet helping myself and he came over and started chatting away.
“I’m chatting back and blah blah blah and he was very, very friendly. When Charlton Heston walked off, Robin Williams came over and said ‘He’s got a shine on you… he thinks you’re a woman’.
"Every time Charlton saw me, I got a wink and a nod, and I gave him a wink and a nod back and I thought ‘I’m on here, I hope he’s got his chariot outside’.”
Paul recalled the encounter on his Radio 2 show. His producer Malcolm Prince chipped in: “Good lord, you got picked up by Charlton Heston.”
Paul replied: “Yes, picked up at a buffet by Chuck Heston and I had a sausage roll in my hand at the time!”
Heston died at the age of 84 in 2008 after a career spanning almost 100 movies – also including Planet of the Apes, Earthquake and Soylent Green.
He also appeared in TV series Dynasty and spin-off The Colbys.
Heston was wed to actress Lydia Clarke for 64 years. She died in 2018.
