THE QUENTIN CRISP ARCHIVES
BOOKS | TRANSLATIONS | STAGEPLAYS | FILMS/VIDEOS
TELEVISION | RECORDINGS
BOOKS
LETTERING FOR BRUSH AND PEN [with A.F. Stuart]. F. Warne & Company, London and New York, 1936. Fourth edition, 1976. COLOUR IN DISPLAY. Illustrated and written by Quentin Crisp, with five color plates. Blandford Press, Ltd., London, 1938. Chemical Publishing Company, New York. 1938. ALL THIS AND BEVIN TOO. Nicholson & Watson, London, 1943 (illustrated by Mervyn Peake). Mervyn Peake Society, London, 1978. THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT. J. Cape, London, 1968. Preface by Michael Holroyd. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1977. Duckworth, London, 1977. Fontana, London, 1977. New American Library, New York, 1983. Plume, 1983. Penquin Books, 1997. On September 18, 1977, The Naked Civil Servant went on sale in the United States, nine years after appearing in bookstores in Great Britain. LOVE MADE EASY. Duckworth, London, 1977. HOW TO HAVE A LIFE-STYLE. Illustrated by William Vaughan. Cecil Woolf, London, 1975. Methuen, New York, 1979. Alyson Books, Los Angeles, 1997. CHOG: A GOTHIC FABLE. Illustrated by Gahan Wilson. Methuen, London, 1979; illustrated by Jo Lynch, Magnum, 1981. HOW TO BECOME A VIRGIN. Duckworth, London, 1981. Fontana, London, 1981. St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1983. DOING IT WITH STYLE [with Donald Carroll]. Watts, New York, 1981. THE WIT AND WISDOM OF QUENTIN CRISP [edited by Guy Kettelhack]. Harper & Row, New York, 1984. Alyson Books, Los Angeles, 1998. MANNERS FROM HEAVEN: A DIVINE GUIDE TO GOOD BEHAVIOR [with John Hofsess]. Hutchinson, London, 1984. Harper & Row, New York, 1984. HOW TO GO TO THE MOVIES. St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1988. QUENTIN CRISP’S BOOK OF QUOTATIONS. (Also known as The Gay and Lesbian Quotation Book: A literary companion) Macmillan, Blue Cliff Editions, Inc, New York, 1989. RESIDENT ALIEN: THE NEW YORK DIARIES. Alyson Publications Inc, Los Angeles, 1996. Flamingo, HarperCollins, London, 1997. Alyson Books, Los Angeles, 1997. QUENTIN CRISP OMNIBUS. Quality Paperback Book Club, New York, 2000. ISBN 0-965-012745. Contains Mr. Crisp's three published autobiographies: The Naked Civil Servant, How to Become a Virgin, and Resident Alien. A lively Preface and a poignant Afterword, which Mr. Crisp wrote especially for this omnibus volume shortly before his death, offers a behind-the-scene context for his self-described "curious misadventures." QUENTIN CRISP: I’M AN ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK [edited by Richard Connolly]. Rogner & Bernhard bei Zweitausendeins, Hamburg, in collaboration with Circumstantial Productions Publishing, Nyack, New York, 2003. In German only and with selected photographs from the Quentin Crisp Archives. THE THING AND I. Unpublished original play manuscript, copyright © Quentin Crisp. All rights reserved. THE LAST WORD: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [edited by Phillip Ward and Laurence Watts]. MB Books, San Diego, CA, 2017. A collection of original writings, commentary, and recollections of his long life. Whereas The Naked Civil Servant made Crisp famous and How To Become A Virgin detailed that fame and his move to and living in New York, The Last Word was written by a man who knew the end was near. The Last Word is Crisp’s goodbye to the world, an opportunity for him to have the last word. AND ONE MORE THING BY QUENTIN CRISP [edited by Phillip Ward and Laurence Watts]. MB Books, San Diego, CA, 2017. Composed of available material for not used in The Last Word: An Autobiography, in And One More Thing, Quentin primarily shares his views on other people, their lives and their opinions. Included for the first time the collected poetry of Quentin Crisp, as well as the manuscripts of the final version of his one-man show, An Evening with Quentin Crisp, and the original Queen’s Speech from 1993. |
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TRANSLATIONS
CHOG. 1979. Japanese translation by Siro Mochizuki and Hiroshi Funaki. Hayakawa Publishing, Inc., in arrangement with Eyre Methuen Limited. 1982. CRISPERANTO. German translation of The Naked Civil Servant, by Jorg Trobitius. Ammnnverlag, Zurick, 1988. FONCTIONNAIRE DU NU; CÉCIT. French translation of The Naked Civil Servant, by Jacqueline Remillet; preface by Jacques de Ricaumont. R.Laffont, Paris, 1969. HO GYMNOS DEMOSIOS HYPALLELOS. Greek translation of The Naked Civil Servant. Kaktos, Athens. 1985. RAZGOLICENI DRZAVNI SLUZBENIK. Serbian translation of The Naked Civil Servant. Rende, 2005. |
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STAGEPLAYS
AN EVENING WITH QUENTIN CRISP This one-man show was written and performed by Quentin Crisp; first devised in 1975 by Mr. Crisp and Richard Gollner, Mr. Crisp's London literary agent at the time. The published text of the 1999 edition of An Evening with Quentin Crisp is available in Mr. Crisp's posthumous book AND ONE MORE THING, published by MB Books, 2019. Also available as audio and video recordings. CARVED IN STONE Presented by San Francisco's Eureka Theatre Company in 2002, Carved In Stone, a play by Jeffrey Hargraves, features Quentin Crisp as a character in an afterlife group that includes Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote. In this comedy/drama, Capote, Wilde, Crisp, and Williams await you in an "afterlife lounge" for the ultimate after party, where truth is subjective, reality is debatable, and death might just be a good career move. CIVIL In 1996 Robert Pacitti traveled to New York to meet and spend time with Quentin Crisp. Pacitti's ambition was to produce a new theatre work that took Mr. Crisp's infamous autobiography The Naked Civil Servant as its starting point, while exploring issues of liberty and disobedience. Civil explores notions of lineage, and becomes a process about letting go—of ownership, of origin, and ultimately of Quentin Crisp. Civil premiered in Manchester in 1996. QUENTIN & I A mini-musical written and performed by David Leddick, Quentin & I is about Mr. Leddick's twenty-year friendship with Quentin Crisp. Out of this friendship comes this musical that tells the whole funny, touching story in words, song and dance. With libretto and lyrics by David Leddick, and music by Andrew Sargent, the Quentin & I has ten original songs, ranging from English music hall to romantic ballad in style. The show debuted in Miami Beach in April 2005 to benefit the South Beach Gay Men’s Chorus. RESIDENT ALIEN: QUENTIN CRISP EXPLAINS IT ALL. Nick Hern Books Limited, London, 1999, ISBN 1-85459-469-9. A one-man play created for and performed by Bette Bourne, Resident Alien is a stage adaptation of Mr. Crisp's writings composed in 1999 by Tim Fountain and Quentin Crisp. Premiered in 2000 at the Bush Theatre, London, and has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. TEA 'N CRISP. This one-man show written and first performed by Richard Louis James during 2007 National Gay Pride week in Berkeley and presented by the Shotgun Players. Tea 'N Crisp is an unauthorized adaptation of Quentin Crisp's one-man show An Evening with Quentin Crisp, which is one element of Mr. Crisp's posthumous book AND ONE MORE THING, published by MB Books, 2019. |
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FILMS/VIDEOS
THE ALTERNATIVE QUEEN'S MESSAGE 1993. BBC Channel 4. The first Alternative Queen's Message delivered by Quentin Crisp. A program directly targeted against and an amusing alternative to Queen Elizabeth's Christmastime message to the people. AMERICAN MOD 1999, 18 minutes. Kolton Lee, director. Starring Dave Elliot, Chantal Claret, Stian Nilson, Celeste Octavia, Brett Berg, and Quentin Crisp. This is a stylish, affectionate look at the New York subculture of Mods. The film highlights the clothes, the music, the scooters and club scene of a lifestyle which originated in England in the 1960s, but is alive and well in contemporary New York. Using a positive narrative about the value of friendship, the film is cast from the actual scene that inspired the film. AN ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK 1987, 4 minutes. Written and performed by Sting. A jazzy rock video, with a hauntingly beautiful melody, honoring and depicting the life of Quentin Crisp in New York City. AN EVENING WITH QUENTIN CRISP 1980, 91 minutes, Family Home Entertainment. James Cady and Arthur Mele, directors. Starring Quentin Crisp. Taped before a live and responsive audience in Los Angeles, the inimitable Crisp provides the viewer with an entertaining example of his eccentric wit and wisdom. His observations on life, style, and personality development are truly unique. AN EVENING WITH PENNY ARCADE AND QUENTIN CRISP 1995. Penny Arcade, director. Vienna Festival performance of Penny Arcade and Quentin Crisp. Also contains Sunday Tea with Quentin Crisp, performed at New York's PS122 during September—October 1993. More information to come. AUNT FANNIE 1994, 23 minutes. Neil Ira Needleman, director. A comedy where Quentin Crisp plays the ghost of a 90-year-old lesbian who visits her gay nephew. Also with The Divine Mr. Crisp, a priceless 15-minute documentary film on Quentin Crisp, lecturing before a small audience in 1994 at the Gay & Lesbian Community Center (New York), on death and recovery. See information on RED RIBBONS (below). THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL 1988, 12 minutes. Richard Kwietniowski, director. Quentin Crisp as narrator. An erotic, modern-day twist on Oscar Wilde’s famous speech in defense of "the love that dare not speak its name" and about his life behind the bars of a Victorian prison. BARRIERS 2000, 90 minutes. Alan Baxter, director. Starring Quentin Crisp. An urban tragedy surrounding a teenage boy from the Upper West Side searching for friendship. Shot on location throughout Manhattan, this feature centers around the unlikely friendship between a pampered and sheltered teen and a street-wise delinquent who helps him in a schoolyard fight. Winner of the Shirley Clark Award at the Hunnington Film Festival. BECOMING QUENTIN 2006. This documentary, Becoming Quentin, follows David Leddick in the process of creating his one-man musical stage show about his twenty-year friendship with Quentin Crisp: "Quentin & I." Also included on this recording is rare footage of Quentin Crisp performing his own one-man show, "An Evening with Quentin Crisp." THE BRIDE 1985, 118 minutes. Franc Roddam, director. Starring Sting, Jennifer Beals, Clancy Brown, David Rappaport, Geraldine Page, Cary Elwes, and Quentin Crisp as Dr. Zalhus. A revisionist remake of The Bride of Frankenstein. CAMP CHRISTMAS 1993, 51 minutes, BBC Channel 4, Film Four International. Caz Gordon, Frances Dickenson, and Alasdair McMillan, directors. A comedy aiming to be a genuinely sincere gather-round-the-fireplace sort of thing, with a unique summit of gay and lesbian talent. Melissa Etheridge and Andy Bell hosts a lineup that includes Armistead Maupin, Quentin Crisp, Pierrre et Gilles, Col. Margrethe Cammermeyer, Sir Ian McKellen, and Lea DeLaria. CAPTAIN BUSBY 1967, 15 minutes. Ann Wolf, director. A rare incursion into British surrealistic cinema written by Philip O'Connor and starring Quentin Crisp in an early acting role, based on a surrealist poem. CELLULOID CLOSET 1995, 102 minutes, HBO Films. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, directors. Starring Lily Tomlin, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Shirley MacLaine, Tony Curtis, Tom Hanks, Gore Vidal, and Quentin Crisp. An enchanting and entertaining documentary that trawls through the annals of cinema and makes the hidden obvious. It is a celebration of that which the Legion of Decency tried to destroy: gays on film. Liberally mixed with celebrity interviews, providing an essential and interesting perspective on all the fascinating celluloid snippets. Quentin Crisp memorably mentions, "Conservatives don't like watching gays have sex because then they project themselves into that position and they don't like that!" The DVD has outtakes of the Quentin Crisp interview. DEJU VU WITH QUENTIN CRISP. A short video with Quentin Crisp and his observations on British and American Culture. This appears as an extra on the 2007 American DVD release of The Naked Civil Servant. The DVD also includes commentary by John Hurt, director Jack Gold, and executive producer Verity Lambert. DOMESTIC STRANGERS 2005 release, filmed in 1999. Jeffrey Arsenault, writer and director. Stars Quentin Crisp, Anthony Albanese, Patrick Askin and Harriet Atkins. Considered the last film in which Mr. Crisp performed. DESOLATION ANGELS 1995, 90 minutes, Independent American Cinema. Tim McCann, director. Starring Michael Rodrick, Peter Bassett, Jennifer Thomas, Glenn Schuld, Cheryl Clifford, Shannon Gold, Frank Olivier, Mike Alpert, Linda Moran. Quentin Crisp wryly plays himself as a drunken beggar. An intense emotional drama of a young man's desperate attempt to avenge the apparent rape of his girlfriend. The oddly-paced drama is about young people at odds with one another and life in New York. There is a hard edge to this film about intelligent, educated young people struggling through every aspect of their daily lives. Winner of 4 Indy awards. THE DIVINE MR. CRISP 1994, 15 minutes. Neil Ira Needleman, director. A priceless 15-minute documentary film on Quentin Crisp lecturing, before a small audience in 1994 at the Gay & Lesbian Community Center (New York), on death and recovery. THE ELECTRIC URN 1997, 75 minutes. Dean Bivins, director. An East Village fairy tale, in the spirit of 60's hipster films like Psych-Out and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. The movie boasts a tripped-out neo-psychedelic style and a cast of past and current downtown personalities, including Caron Bernstein, drag performers Lily of the Valley, Sherry Vine and Miss Guy, and Quentin Crisp. The story unfolds through the eyes of a drifter/poet who travels through a surreal world of musicians, artists, drag queens, has-beens, showgirls, feminist filmmakers, hustlers of every stripe, and local minstrels in hopes of becoming the next Dionysian Rock and Roll poet, a new Lizard King. FAMOUS AGAIN 1998. Neil Ira Needleman, director. Starring Johnathan Brownlee, Georgina Spelvin, Stephen Geoffreys, and Quentin Crisp. A film about an older gentleman who used to be a famous movie star. He decides to get back into the limelight. He writes a false book about abusing his son, the book becomes a sensational best seller, and ends up on a talk show. FAREWELL TO THE DEUCE 1997. June Lang, director. Interviews about Times Square with David Friedman, Jess Franco and Lina Romay, Quentin Crisp and Allen Ginsberg. FATAL ATTRACTION 1987, 140 minutes, Malofilm Group. Adrian Lyne, director. Starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Fred Gwynne, Stuart Pankin. A spellbinding psychological thriller involving a married man who gets some loving on the side with a woman who wants a lot, lot more than he wants to give up. Crisp's scene was cut from the movie. FLORA ANN FAUNA 2005, an adult cartoon in traditional cel animation style created by animation artist Johanna Spoerri. A JMS Productions / A Comely Cartoon. It is a tale about a young naked wood nymph and her various animal friends, voiced by Quentin Crisp and Rev. Gen, with music composed and performed by Larry Seven. Shot on Master Oxberry camera; shot first as the original pencil tests on a video lunchbox, and then again as final, fully painted, color cel art on 35mm film. HAMLET 1976, 67 minutes. Celestino Coronada, director. Starring Helen Mirren, Vladek Sheybal, Anthony Meyer, David Meyer, Lindsay Kemp, Barry Stanton, and Quentin Crisp. This film is unique in its use of role splitting, especially with several different people playing Hamlet; Helen Mirren plays both Ophelia and Gertrude. This is definitely a film that all theatre/drama producers should watch in order to see another creative way a text can be reinterpreted. Young Prince Hamlet, played by identical twins Anthony and David Meyer, is portrayed as a schizophrenic who is tormented by what he believes is the ghost of his father, who wants revenge for his murder. Quentin Crisp plays Polonius. HOMO HEIGHTS 1996, 92 minutes. Sara Moore, director. Starring Quentin Crisp, Lee Delaria, and Stephen Sorrentino. A feature-length narrative film that weaves farce and satire with romance and comedy. Presents gay life in cartoon dimensions, with completely recognizable characters and situations pushed to their limits. The Donna, Maria Callous, head of the gay mafia, desperately tries to maintain control of his empire while his ancient companion Malcolm (Quentin Crisp) hungers to be free of the Donna's demands; Blanche and Stella grapple with a relationship that is going nowhere fast; Tootsie and Cruise find a new addition to their wedded bliss; and thirty something lesbian romeo Clementine realizes there could be more to life than one night stands. Everyone is desperate to find where they belong, where "home" is, and to help their beloved Malcolm get the one thing he wants most, his freedom. THE KISSING BOOTH 1988, 28 minutes, New Television/WGBH Educational Foundation. Merrill Aldighieri and Joe Jripician, directors. Starring, Emily XYZ, Joe Morton, Spider, Will Hammerstein, Windy McGlinsky, Steve Linsley, Ellen Colon Lugo, John Burke, Jill Susan Margolis, and Quentin Crisp. Documentary-style piece in which four celebrities playfully and provocatively provide dialogue on sexual philosophy, seduction, romance, love, and the perfect kiss in the U.S., England, and South Africa. Speakers muse about the subjects and talk about their own personal experiences. Film interweaves computer animation, stylized drama, and the frank disclosures of four on-camera interviews. Also displays a daring narrative range as it jumps from outrageous non-sequitur to brave emotional honesty. The boundaries of morality, dignity and personal freedom are exposed in a humorous and visually striking program that won a Grand Prize at the 1988 Mill Valley Film Festival in California. THE LAST DANDY MEETS DORIAN GRAY 2000. Michael Dreschler, director. A television profile about Quentin Crisp and Oscar Wilde. Footage with Mr. Crisp was taped at The National Arts Club. THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF QUENTIN CRISP 1999, 90 minutes. Penny Arcade, director. Conversation between Penny Arcade and Quentin Crisp at The Knitting Factory on 26 September 1999. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD 1997, 12 minutes. David Kaplan, director. A short black-and-white film starring Christina Ricci, Timour Bourtasenkov, Evelynn Solann, and Quentin Crisp as Narrator. An interestingly provocative adult version of the retelling of the classic fairy tale revisited and re-stylized with hauntingly beautiful black and white imagery and dance. It is not your typical cautionary tale, but a gripping, unruly story of playful sexuality, fantasy and scatological humor. LOVE IN TOW 1999, 11 minutes, Reve Entertainment and Filmwerk Media. Lisa France, director. Starring Zach Braff, Karen Bergreen, Joe Baldwin, Lisa France, featuring Quentin Crisp with the one-line cameo crafted just for him, "I don't think Mr. Klien ever quite had the knack for women's panty hose." Best Comedy at Filmstock 2000, UK. MADE FOR TV: The Collected Works of Tom Rubnitz 1983–91, 74 minutes. Tom Rubnitz, director. Fourteen short, humorous videos featuring some of New York's most outrageously talented baby boomers and Lower East Side celebrities. Rubnitz crafted parodies that celebrate pop culture's bountiful energy and inventiveness. Included in the series are two videos which Quentin Crisp appears: Summer of Love and Wigstock: The Movie! http://www.thekitchen.org/collection.html MAVIS CATCHES UP WITH…QUENTIN CRISP 1989, 25 minutes, Thames TV. Talk show host Mavis Nicholson works her magic interviewing Quentin Crisp. MEETING WITH MR. CRISP 1999, 13 minutes. Nathan Evans, director. Tim Fountain and Bette Bourne travel from London to New York City to interview Quentin Crisp in his East Third Street apartment in preparation for the stage adaptation of Resident Alien, commissioned by The Bush Theatre in London. This is the first time Fountain meets Quentin Crisp. Footage later incorporated into The Significant Death of Quentin Crisp. MEN UNDER WATER 1996. Douglas Morse, director. Starring Quentin Crisp. Story about a slumlord who yearns to make movies and a beleaguered Brooklyn plumber who works for him. Aspirations and reality comically collide until the unexpected ending. It is more than a buddy movie and explores how a friendship can foster not only understanding, but also creativity. It is entertaining, jazzy, charming and has an unerring sense of the ridiculous, and a very subtle tenderness. MY LUNCH WITH QUENTIN CRISP 1994, Tigress Productions. June Lang, director. Starring Quentin Crisp and June Lang. Lunch with Mr. Crisp, hosted by Ms. Lang in her New York City apartment. THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT 1975/1980, 80 minutes. Thames Television, Thorn EMI Video, VHS 306. Jack Gold, director. Starring John Hurt, introduced by Quentin Crisp. Based on the autobiography of Quentin Crisp, this is a witty examination of the process of growing up gay in the repressive England of the 1930s and 1940s. The movie dramatizes Quentin Crisp's life of the flamboyant homosexual, his youth in the 1930s, his friendships, and his encounters with authority. John Hurt's portrayal of Crisp is nothing less than superb as he fits back against society's intolerance, ostracism and violence with pointed, razor-sharp humor. NAKED IN NEW YORK 1994, 91 minutes. Daniel Algrant, director. Starring Kathleen Turner, Tony Curtis, Eric Stoltz, Marie-Louise Parker, Timothy Dalton, Jill Clayburgh, Whoopi Goldberg, Quentin Crisp, Ralph Macchio, and Eric Bogosian. A romantic comedy with a New York attitude; it's a likable, intimate look at a young couple who meet in college and slowly see their lives pull apart. NATURAL BORN CRAZIES 1992. George Baluzy, director. Starring Quentin Crisp as Narrator. A gang of extremely violent crazies escape from an insane asylum. THE 100 GREATEST TV ADS 2000, 165 minutes. The greatest advertisements ever shown in Britain. Commercials by Graham Norton, Mark Arden, Leslie Ash, Lynda Bellingham, Terence Brook, Lorraine Chase, George Cole, Joan Collins, Elvis Costello, Quentin Crisp, Leslie Crowther, Hugh Dennis, Gregor Fisher, William Franklyn, Clement Freud, Stephen Frost , Ricky Gervais, Tony Hancock, Anthony Head, Chas Hodges, Paul Hogan, Peter Kay, Penelope Keith, Victor Kiam, Gary Lineker, Maureen Lipman, Ross MacManus, Sharon Maughan, Henry McGee, Bob Mortimer, Frank Muir, Nick Park, Alan Parker, Dave Peacock, Gail Porter, Vic Reeves, Griff Rhys Jones, Leonard Rossiter, Alexei Sayle, David Seaman, Peter Sellers, Estelle Skornik, Melanie Sykes, Kate Thornton, Paul Weiland, Fay Weldon, Alan Whicker, Ian Wright, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. ORLANDO 1993, 93 minutes, Columbia TriStar Home Video. Sally Potter, director. Starring Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, Quentin Crisp, Lothaire Bluteau, Charlotte Valandrey, John Wood, Heathcote Williams, and Jimmy Somerville. Based on the 1928 fantastical novel by Virginia Woolf. Orlando, an English nobleman, defies the laws of nature with surprising results. Immortal and highly imaginative, he undergoes a series of extraordinary transformations that humorously, hauntingly illustrate the eternal war between the sexes. Orlando starts life as an Elizabethan nobleman and transforms over 300 years into a woman poet of vast social insight. Richly filmed and interpreted by Director Potter. Two Academy Award nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction. PHILADELPHIA 1993, 120 minutes. Johnathan Demme, director. Starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, Antonio Banderas, and Joanne Woodward. A successful gay lawyer, recently promoted to junior partner, is fired from a prestigious Philadelphia law firm because it is discovered that he has AIDS. He files a discrimination suit against his employers. He secures a well-dressed, ambulance-chasing attorney who finds himself confronted not only with the lawyer's bigoted bosses but also with his own fear of AIDS and homosexuality. Quentin Crisp appears as a party guest. PHOTOGRAPHING THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT 2001, 53 minutes. Edward St. Marc and George Osai, directors. Cat Perry assists Quentin Crisp during a photo shoot, filmed by Osai at St. Marc's studio on 111 West 14th Street in New York City on 17 March 1998. Contains Mr. Crisp's typical musings on his various photographic and cinematic experiences throughout his event-filled life. QUENTIN 2000, 3 minutes. Adrian Goycoolea, director. A tribute film made especially for the memorial celebration, An Evening for Quentin Crisp, held at Cooper Union's Great Hall on Friday, 03 March 2000. Mr. Goycoolea is a great-nephew of Quentin Crisp. QUENTIN CRISP 1990, 25 minutes, black and white, German. No other information available at this time. QUENTIN CRISP: FINAL ENCORE 2011. A documentary film of Quentin Crisp in performance in July 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia, by filmmakers Cheryl Whitestone and Diana Cardea, plus never-before-seen, in-depth interview of Mr. Crisp. QUENTIN CRISP: WORLD IN ACTION 1970, 30 minutes, Granada TV. Denis Mitchell, director. A revealing early portrait of Quentin Crisp in his legendary Chelsea bedsit. QUEER REALITIES AND CULTURAL AMNESIA 2005, 30 minutes, per personality. Presented by The Lower East Side Biography Project on Manhattan Cable Television; co-directed by Penny Arcade, Steve Zehentner, and Anna Margarita Albelo, with music by Chris Rael. Culled from the Project’s extensive video archive, Miss Arcade has created a series of half-hour biographies representing an oral history of New York’s bohemian culture from the 1950s to the present. Other names included in the series are: Taylor Mead, Betty Dodson, Jack Waters, Sarah Schulman, Holly Woodlawn, Jayne County, Gary Indiana, John Vaccaro, Harold Stevenson, and others. RED RIBBONS 1995, 90 minutes, Water Bearer Films, Inc. Neil Ira Needleman, director. Starring Christopher Cappiello, Robert Parker, Lee Sharmat, Collen O'Neill, Princess Sandin, Victor Burgess, Georgina Spelvin, and Quentin Crisp as Horace Nightingale III. Part drama, part "video diary," this is the story of a group of friends gathered to pay tribute to theater impresario Frank David Niles (founder of the agitprop "In Your Face" performance troupe) as he succumbs to AIDS. Former porn star Spelvin steals the spotlight as the honoree's mother. On the home video release, following the film are two shorts also directed by Needleman titled The Divine Mr. Crisp, a 15-minute lecture in filmed at the Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center (New York) in 1994; and Aunt Fannie, the story of a gay man who is visited by the ghost of his 90-year-old lesbian, played by Quentin Crisp. RESIDENT ALIEN: QUENTIN CRISP IN AMERICA 1991, 85 minutes, Greycat Films, Cinevista Video. Directed by Jonathan Nossiter. Documentary. Jonathan Nossiter, director. Starring Quentin Crisp, John Hurt, Sting, Tom Steele, Fran Leibowitz, Holly Woodlawn, Robert Patrick, Penny Arcade and others. Gay celebrity and writer Quentin Crisp is the central attraction of this British quasi-documentary television production. Following Crisp's move to New York, the action is filmed in his apartment, about the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and features many of Mr. Crisp's friends. ROMEO AND JULIET 1990. Armando Acosta, director. Stars John Hurt with voiceovers by Ben Kingsley, Maggie Smith and Quentin Crisp. This movie's cast members are all cats, with the exception of John Hurt, performing William Shakespear's play of the same title. THE SIGNIFICANT DEATH OF QUENTIN CRISP 2000, 24 minutes, BBC Channel 4. Nathan Evans, director. Short documentary with Tim Fountain interviewing family and friends about the last days of Quentin Crisp. Incorporates footage from Meeting with Mr. Crisp. STONEWALL 25—GLOBAL VOICES OF PRIDE & PROTEST 1994, 90 minutes, WNYC TV/BBC Channel 4/Wolfe Video/Facets Video. Vic Nasile and John Scagliotti, directors. Documentary coverage of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, including coverage of the gay Games and an overview of gay and lesbian history. Past and present join in this celebration that includes political, sporting, and entertainment events, while being the most comprehensive and intriguing chronicle of gay and lesbian history, from the legendary 1969 riots at Stonewall which were the catalyst for the Lesbian and Gay human rights movement. Special guests include Sir Ian McKellan, Kate Borstein, Chita Rivera, Joan Rivers, Charles Busch, Lee Grant, Quentin Crisp and more. SUMMER OF LOVE 1989, 30 seconds. Tom Rubnitz, director. Produced in collaboration with MICA-TV, this is Rubnitz's public service announcement produced for the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Featuring the B-52's, David Byrne, Allen Ginsberg, Quentin Crisp, John Kelly and others. See Made for TV. SUNDAY TEA WITH QUENTIN CRISP 1993. Penny Arcade, director. Performances of Quentin Crisp with Penny Arcade at New York's PS122 during September—October 1993. See An Evening with Penny Arcade and Quentin Crisp. More information to come. TAYLOR MEAD UNLEASED 1996, documentary. Sebastian Piras, director. TOPSY AND BUNKER: THE CAT KILLERS. 1992, 87 minutes. Thomas Massengale, director. A mystery/drama film released by Top Bunk Films. TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR 1995, 108 minutes. Beeban Nidron, director. Starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner, Arliss Howard, Chris Penn, Jason London, Robin Williams, and Quentin Crisp as a New York Pageant Judge. Three New York drag queens on the way to Hollywood for a beauty pageant have their car break down in a small Midwestern town, stranding the flamboyant trio for the weekend. Waiting for parts for their Cadillac convertible, the "ladies" show the locals that appearing different doesn't mean they don't have humanity in common. THE 28TH INSTANCE OF JUNE 1914, 10:50 A.M. 1994, 56 minutes, First Run Feature Home Video. Barbara Politsch, director. Starring David McDermott, Peter McGough, and Quentin Crisp. Documentary and profile of eccentric gay artists McDermott and McGough, who create Victorian-style homoerotic art while living without electricity or modern plumbing. THE WEDNESDAY TAPE 1986–89, 60 minutes. Nelson Sullivan, director. A series of short films by Sullivan: At the Jane-West Hotel (1986); Teenage Ru Paul & Co. move in Susanne Bartsch’s Love Ball (1989), ultra-glitzy-meets-ultra-trashy AIDS benefit at Roseland Ballroom; Sister Dimension (1986), Nelson wanders to the Pyramid Club on a warm summer night; Celebrity Club’s Funtone USA party (1988), a very funky performance from Deee-Lite, and Atlanta’s indescribable Singing Peek Sisters; Flaunt It TV taping (1986), waiting in the wings at the legendary underground TV show with Quentin Crisp; Christina at the Chelsea (1989), Nelson visits his trannie friend. UNDERTOW 1992, 30 minutes. Written and directed by Robert Withers, This short film traces the tracks of the Underman (Monty Cantsin/Istvan Kantor) as he threads a graffiti-marked urban maze of spooky simulacra. With Quentin Crisp and Monty Montalalou. Music by Joseph Jarman and Basilio Georges. Oberhausen International Film Festival, 1993 Houston International Film Festival, 1993. WIGSTOCK: THE MOVIE! 1987, 21 minutes, Video Data Bank. Tom Rubnitz, director. A hilarious send-up of D.A. Pennebaker's Monterey Pop (a must-see for Joni Mitchell fans). The quintessential New York underground film/video artiste, Tom Rubnitz takes a bite out of the Big Apple and spits it out in a wild kaleidoscope of unequivocal camp and hallucinogenic color. John Sex, Happi Phace (the superintendent of the New York City rooming house where Mr. Crisp lived), The B-52s, Lypsinka, Ann Magnuson, Quentin Crisp, Michael Clark, and Lady Bunny are but a few of the stars that shine oh-so-brightly in Rubnitz's glittering oeuvre. Part of the Tom Rubnitz Marathon (A Dozen Tapes, Wigs Included). See MADE FOR TV (above). |
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"The Equalizer" (1985, television) playing "Ernie Frick" in episode: "First Light" (Episode # 2.20) 13 May 1987. Quentin Crisp made various appearances on the Jay Leno Show, David Letterman Show, Dick Cavett, Joan Rivers, Sally Jesse Raphael, Lou Maletta, Gay Cable Network, Diana Montford Show, Barry Z Show, Al Goldstein, WNET-TV, In The Life, Metropolitan Gender Network, Kojak, Nightwatch, CBS's Good Morning, America, NBC's The Real Story, MTV, Australia's 60 Minutes, National Public Radio and countless other television and radio programs throughout the world. Mr. Crisp also appeared on The South Bank Show, Britain's longest running arts program, hosted by Melvyn Bragg, on 18 February 1978. Also appeared on BBC's Late Night Line-Up. He performed in commercials and print advertisements for: Calvin Klein, Levi's, Impulse perfume, Paul Stuart and many others. |
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RECORDINGS
AN EVENING WITH QUENTIN CRISP. DRG Records S2L 5188, 1979 (vinyl, compact disc, audiocassette). Mr. Crisp's one-man show opened at the Players Theatre, New York on 20 December 1978 after engagements in New Haven, Toronto and Washington, D.C. During the first part of the show, Mr. Crisp explains how he obtained his secrets for surviving and prospering in society. He also discusses his recommendations on how it is possible for everyone to develop a lifestyle. Mr. Crisp also answers questions written by members of the audience before the second part commenced. Recorded at Columbia Recording Studios, New York, on 22 February 1979. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" and "Sweet Toxic Love," Boy George and Culture Club, EC CD (BGSP1). Spoken word intros and outros recorded by the legendary Quentin Crisp reading "Popularity Breeds Contempt" and used on the greatest hits release. HEADWAY ADVANCED: STUDENT'S BOOK Oxford University Press, ISBN: 0-19-433563-1 (audiocassette). Advanced level textbook interwoven with discussion point, then accuracy and fluency-based activities, with emphasis on vocabulary to help enrich powers of expression. A wide variety of authentic texts, including literary extracts and interviews with famous people. Highlights include interviews with Graham Greene, Quentin Crisp, and Dr Carl Sagan. HOW TO BE HAPPY 10:56 minutes, from Education in Infestation, Cthula for AIDS/Deprogrammed Productions, DPRG-CFA-0005, 1997. Recorded live from New York via telephone on 12 December 1997 at Studio 216 in Seattle. This is Mr. Crisp's condensed version of AN EVENING WITH QUENTIN CRISP. Proceeds from this compilation benefit AIDS awareness organizations across United States that concentrate their efforts toward education and research. HOW TO DIE WITH STYLE From Ambition Volumes 1&2, Cherry Red CDBRED 140. Previously released separately, the Ambitions titles are now together in one double CD package. Among the many highlights are rare tracks by Matt Johnson, Andy Partridge, Robert Wyatt, Everything But The Girl, and Quentin Crisp delivering "How to Die With Style." The package comes complete with a booklet containing the story of Cherry Red written by label founder Iain McNay and notes on all artists involved. STOP THE MUSIC FOR A MINUTE From Miniatures, 1980, Cherry Red/1995, Morgan Fisher, Voiceprint VP 159. This recording is edited by Morgan Fisher and features one-minute songs by Ollie Halsall and John Halsey, The Residents, Roger McGough, Morgan-Fisher, John Otway, Pete Challis and Phil Diplock, Robert Wyatt, Stinky Winkles, Mary Langford, Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman, David Bedford, Fred Frith, Maggie Nicols, Joseph Racaille, The Work, Neil Innes and Son, Herbert Distel, Lol Coxhill, Ken Ellis, Steve Miller, Norman Lovett, Patrick Portella, George Melly, Robert Fripp, Andy Partridge, Phantom Captain, Ron Geesin, Alejandro Vinao, Quentin Crisp, Simon Desorgher, Ralph Steadman, R. D. Laing and Son, Trevor Wishart, John White, Ivor Cutler, Zazou, Michael Bass & Ellen Tenenbaum, Martin Chambers, Bob Cobbing & Henri Chopin, Dave Vanian, Metabolist, Gavin Bryars, 1/2 Japanese, Simon Jeffes, Mark Perry, Michael Nyman, David Cunningham, Kevin Coyne, Etron Fou Leloublan, Neil Oram and Ken Campbell and Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool, Pete Seeger. Quentin Crisp presents "Stop the Music for a Minute." Volume also pressed as Pillows & Prayers Cherry Red CDMRED 169. THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT Penguin Audiobooks, abridged, PEN161, 1995. Quentin Crisp reads his autobiography describing his unhappy childhood, along with the stresses of adolescence that led him to London. He speaks about the bedsits and cafes, a world of brutality and comedy, and various short-lived jobs and precarious relationships—all of which Crisp faced with humor and intelligence. QUENTIN CRISP: MEMORIAL RECORDING (compact disc). Highlights of the memorial celebration, An Evening for Quentin Crisp, held at Cooper Union's Great Hall. Produced for Pacifica Radio Archives by Brian DeShazor and Mark Torres, 2000. QUENTIN CRISP: MEMORIAL RECORDING (audio tapes). Three audio tapes consisting of highlights from the memorial celebration, An Evening for Quentin Crisp, held at Cooper Union's Great Hall in March 2000; Voices of Pacifica: Holding Hands with Quentin Crisp, April 1999 interview with Brian DeShazor; excerpt from a 1978 performance of An Evening with Quentin Crisp recorded at London's Ambassador auditorium; and 1978 Interview with Jessica Schuman. Produced for Pacifica Radio Archives by Brian DeShazor and Mark Torres, 2000. RESIDENT ALIEN. Penguin Books. ISBN: 0140861882 audiocassette, May 1997. Read by Quentin Crisp, who exiled himself from England to Manhattan in 1982. Here he captures the spirit of the city and a life in which extraordinary things happen. Whether he is writing about politics, human nature, prejudice, or the Big Apple, his ranconteurial flair, analytical bent, and supreme tolerance for the follies and evils of the age make him witty and profound in the same breath. |
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BOOKS ABOUT QUENTIN CRISP
THE STATELY HOMO: A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF QUENTIN CRISP Bantam. ISBN 0-593-04677-3, 2000. Edited by Paul Bailey. Collection of interviews and tributes from those who knew Crisp. OUTLINES: QUENTIN CRISP Absolute Press. ISBN 1-899791-48-5, 2002. Biography by dramatist Tim Fountain. QUENTIN & PHILIP Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-78051-5, 2002. Dual biography of Crisp and his friend Philip O'Connor by Andrew Barrow. QUENTIN CRISP: THE PROFESSION OF BEING McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6475-3, 2011. Biography of Quentin Crisp by Nigel Kelly. |
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And the Quentin Crisp Archives, in pure Mr. Crisp's fashion, says: "And I thank you."
"Girl at a Window" illustration by Quentin Crisp.
Provided by Frances and Peter Ramsay of Devon, England.
Mrs. Ramsay is a niece of Quentin Crisp.
With much pride and an expression of their continued support for the Quentin Crisp Archives,
Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay have graciously contributed this image exclusively to www.crisperanto.org
Photographs of Mr. Crisp's family can be seen at An Evening for Quentin Crisp: The Memorial.
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All rights reserved.