Graham Norton

From Grace Jones to his duet with Dolly Parton.

TV presenter and comedian, Graham Norton shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley.

Graham was once voted the most powerful man in comedy with four BAFTAs and an international Emmy under his belt.

He's best known for his TV chat shows for Channel 4 and the BBC, as well as the annoying Father Noel in Father Ted. He's compared the two channels to the difference between a night out with your friends or a family Christmas lunch. Media critics pondered how his camp brand of adult humour would translate to mainstream TV. Graham went on to host a weekly show for BBC Radio 2, before switching to Virgin Radio.

Originally born Graham Walker in Dublin in 1963, he was brought up in the small town of Bandon in West Cork. As a child he loved TV describing it as a 'window to life' and a world he wanted to be part of.

He began an English and French degree at University College Cork but dropped out after his first year and went to America where he lived in a hippy commune in San Francisco. He eventually returned and enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London with the ambition of becoming an actor.

He changed his name to Norton - as the actor's union Equity infomed him they already had another Graham Walker on their books.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2004.