fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Lanah P, previously known as Alan Pillay, is an LGBT English entertainer.[1]

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (July 2019)

Lanah P
Born	Alan Pillay Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
Other names	Alan Pillay, Al-ana Pellay, Lana Pellay, Lanah Pellay, Lanah P
Occupation	Actor, comedian, singer
Years active	1983 – present

Previously billed as Alan Pellay, Al Pillay, Al-ana Pellay, and Lana Pellay, Pillay starred in The Comic Strip Presents, playing Ray in "Susie" (episode 8), "Himself" (as Alan Pellay) in "Gino: Full Story and Pics" (episode 10), as "Herself" (as Alana Pellay) in The Bullshitters (episode 13), as Mary (as Lana Pellay) in the film The Supergrass, Women's Clothing Shop Employee in "Consuela (Or 'The New Mrs Saunders')" (episode 14), and as Alex in the 1986 film Eat the Rich.

Early life

Pillay was born near the docks of Grimsby and was the youngest of six children; his mother was a cleaner of Bajan descent, while his father was an engineer on the fishing trawlers, and was of Indian descent.[1]

Career

Working men's clubs

Pillay left school at fifteen and went to Manchester, where she befriended the Northern drag performers Bunny Lewis and Frank "Foo Foo" Lammar. Pillay impersonated Shirley Bassey, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Cleo Laine and Dorothy Squires in full drag, with no microphone, and was booked into the Working men's clubs throughout the North of England, as well as the cabaret club circuit.

Disco diva

During a lull in Pillay's drag career, while managing the Black Market Café in Levenshulme and renting a room from Coronation Street actor Alan Rothwell, Pillay was introduced to Kay Carroll and Mark E Smith of The Fall. Pillay formed his own band, the I Scream Pleasures, who subsequently appeared as guest support at Fall gigs.

Pillay also recorded with Adrian Sherwood and her dub label, On-U Sound, recording the track post punk or punk funk industrial music tune Parasitic Machine on an early compilation. The sound engineer was Mark Lusardi who had previously worked with Creation Rebel.

Pillay metamorphosed into a disco diva as the hormone-popping transsexual Lana Pellay, dressed in costumes by her close friend Leigh Bowery,[2] enjoying a top 40 single in Australia and New Zealand with "Pistol in My Pocket".[3][4] She also accompanied Gary Clail on his 1991 hit "Human Nature", singing the couplet "Let the carnival begin... Every pleasure, every sin!"

TV and movie career

While living in London's Notting Hill, Pillay met Keith Allen, who invited Pillay to appear on the first programme aimed at a youth audience on the recently launched Channel 4 network. There he met his champion, Peter Richardson. He was an actor, comedian, writer and director for The Comic Strip Presents who wrote parts for him in the episodes Susie, Gino, The Bullshitters and The Supergrass.

He also wrote the lead part for him in the 1986 feature film Eat the Rich.[5] Following The Comic Strip, Pillay became a film critic on the ITV late night chat show Funky Bunker, alongside Craig Charles.

Theatre and cabaret

As Al Pillay, she performed in a one-person play, Glitter & Twisted, based on her life and written by Tim Fountain, which had its premiere at the Beckett Theater[6] on 42nd Street as part of the first Manhattan Musical Theatre Festival. She also appeared in her own cabaret show, A Life in Song, at Pizza on the Park and the Café De Paris in London. Her cabaret performance has been released as a double CD.[7] In 2012, she played the title role of the Welsh singer Dorothy Squires on stage in Mrs Roger Moore.[8]

Discography (as Lana Pellay)

Singles

• "Pistol in My Pocket" (1986) – UK No. 96,[9] AUS No. 17,[3] NZ No. 40[4]
• "I Can Make a Man Out of You" (1986)

References

External links

• Al Pillay's youtube channel "Lana's Story Land"
• Al Pillay's entry in IMDb

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