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Who was Quentin Crisp?
The death of author and raconteur
Quentin Crisp at the end of the 20th century represented the passing of
one of the last grand queens of a bygone era.
Crisp, originally named Denis
Charles Pratt, was born on Christmas Day in 1908 in the London suburb of
Sutton, the youngest child of a “middle-class, middle-brow” family.
Always considered a sissy, he later said he could never remember not being
tormented by his father, siblings, and schoolmates.
Crisp studied journalism and art in
London, and in his early 20s began hanging out with hip young gay men in
Soho, supporting himself with various jobs, including graphic artist,
window dresser, tap-dance instructor, and hustler. He adopted a new
moniker and a flamboyant, effeminate style that included flowing scarves,
platform shoes, dyed hair, and makeup. He was “not merely a
self-confessed homosexual, but a self-evident one,” he would later say,
describing himself as “a blithe spirit reveling in androgynous
anarchy.”
Openly gay and gender-variant at a
time when homosexuality was highly stigmatized and sex between men was
illegal, Crisp was frequently attacked by strangers in the streets and
harassed by police. During World War II, he was exempted from military
service due to his homosexuality, and instead embarked upon a career as a
nude model at a government-funded art school.
Crisp did not gain widespread
notoriety until his 60s, with the publication of his autobiography, The
Naked Civil Servant (1968), one of the first unapologetic contemporary
accounts of gay life. Although the book was well-received, it was the 1975
television movie version starring John Hurt that brought Crisp instant
fame.
Crisp began appearing on talk shows
and created a successful one-man theatrical performance. He took his show
to New York City in 1978, fell in love with America, and decided to
immigrate a few years later, settling into a notoriously sloppy one-room
apartment in a seedy neighborhood on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Crisp became a fixture of the
city’s celebrity scene, growing increasingly famous just for being
himself. “If I have a talent for anything,” he said, “it is not for
doing but for being.” He wrote a column for the New York Native
newspaper and film criticism for Christopher Street magazine, and
published several more books, including How to Become a Virgin (1981) and
Manners from Heaven: A Divine Guide to Good Behavior (1984). He also
appeared in a number of movies and documentaries, most notably as Queen
Elizabeth I in Orlando (1993).
Though he socialized in queer
social circles, Crisp was unsympathetic to the gay rights movement and
held attitudes many younger activists regarded as homophobic. “I don’t
think you can really be proud of being gay because it isn’t something
you’ve done,” he once said. “You can only be proud of not being
ashamed.” He eschewed identity politics and queer separatism, and
thought loud demands only led to backlash.
Crisp persisted in referring to
homosexuality as an illness, and he caused a furor when he told the London
Times in 1997 that he thought it would be acceptable for a woman to abort
a fetus carrying a hypothetical gay gene. “You could have children who
are naturally suited to society,” he later explained. “They would be
happy.” He also once opined that the gay community’s obsession with
AIDS was a fad, and advised, “If you want to be sure you won’t have
AIDS, don’t have sex with anyone.”
Indeed, Crisp was celibate for the
latter half of his life. When sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer asked him
what he thought about sex, he said he thought it was a mistake. He was
also cynical about love, saying he didn’t really understand it, and he
never had an enduring romantic relationship.
Had he lived in a different era,
Crisp might have identified as transgender rather than gay. “I believe I
was born unfit for the world not because of anything to do with sex, but
because of gender,” he told one interviewer. “I have always felt like
a woman born into a man’s body. Had I the money or the opportunity early
in life, I would certainly have had a sex change.”
Though his work brought in a fair
amount of money, Crisp lived a spartan existence, subsisting on hors
d’oeuvres and champagne at parties. With a “lust for small talk,” he
held court at a local diner and devoted time to answering phone calls,
letters, and e-mails from friends and strangers alike. He loved being the
center of attention, and rarely turned down an opportunity to be
interviewed or photographed. In his final years, though beset by health
problems, he nevertheless continued to travel and perform. Crisp died of a
heart attack in Manchester, England, in November 1999, just a month shy of
his 91st birthday.
While some may find his flamboyant
style and effeminate mannerisms embarrassingly stereotypical today, Crisp
is remembered for being himself—and paying the price—at a time when
few others dared to do so. Though he avoided organized GLBT activism, his
entire life was a demonstration of gay and transgender empowerment.
Liz Highleyman can be reached at PastOut@qsyndicate.com.
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