Billy Hayes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William "Billy" Hayes (born April 3, 1947 in New York City ) is an American writer , actor and director whose arrest, conviction and imprisonment in Turkey for drug smuggling became known worldwide and who inspired the film Noon Midnight Express .

Life

During his student days he had already successfully smuggled hashish into the United States from Turkey as a passenger on three flights. In another attempt on October 6, 1970, he was arrested and imprisoned for an initial four and a half years - first in Istanbul's Sağmalcılar Prison and then in the Bakırköy asylum before he was transferred to the prison island İmralı . His sentence was probably in response to the nearing end of the adhesive initially fixed drug policy of the Nixon administration increased to a lifetime and finally determined by the court to 30 years. In 1975, assigned to dock work, he managed to escape from İmralı by rowing boat, first to Bandirma and then back to the United States via Greece, Germany and the Netherlands.

Billy Hayes wrote the book "Midnight Express" about this experience, which was filmed in 1978 under the same title. The main role and thus Hayes' cinematic alter ego was played by Brad Davis and directed by Alan Parkers based on a script by Oliver Stones .

During the 1999 Cannes Film Festival , Billy Hayes was interviewed about the film by Turkish director Alinur Velidedeoğlu. Hayes was disappointed with parts of the film and criticized the negative portrayal of all Turkish characters, while his Turkish friends played no role in the film. He also saw his stay in prison more positively than shown in the film. Hayes regretted that the western stereotype of backward and lawless Turkey might be based on the film and declared his affection for Turkey and especially for Istanbul . With Interpol suspended investigations into his escape, Hayes said he wanted to return to Turkey, but hesitated, fearing that many Turks might blame him for the negative image of their country.

Finally, in June 2007, Hayes visited Turkey on the occasion of the second “Democracy and Security Conference” in Istanbul, which was organized by the Turkish police and the Turkish Institute for Police Studies. During this visit he held a press conference at which he apologized to the Turkish people.

Hayes is in the entertainment industry and has directed various plays and several episodes of the television series Copper - Justice is brutal . In addition to lecturing at universities, Hayes has worked with traumatized young people and prison inmates and narrated the story of his own imprisonment as a one-person play. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Wendy .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Andy Webster: Correcting the Film Version of a Sensational Story. 'Riding the Midnight Express With Billy Hayes,' at St. Luke's. In: New York Times , February 6, 2014.
  2. ^ A b Susan Bluestein Davis: After Midnight. The Life and Death of Brad Davis. Simon & Schuster, New York 1997, ISBN 0-671-79673-9 , p. 58 .
  3. ^ A b Frances Romero: Imrali Island and the Midnight Express. In: Time .com , April 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Limmer: Turkish Hell. In: Der Spiegel , September 25, 1978.
  5. ↑ Billy Hayes of 'Midnight Express' Interviewed. In: LiveLeak .com , February 18, 2007. The interview can also be seen on YouTube ( Part 1 , Part 2 ).
  6. ↑ 2nd Istanbul Conference on Democracy and Global Security. ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: PakistanSocietyOfCriminology.com . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pakistansocietyofcriminology.com
  7. ↑ Stephen Handelman: Revisiting the Land of 'Midnight Express'. In: TheStar .com , June 24, 2007; Lorenzo Salvia: L'uomo che ispirò il film: "Chiedo scusa alla Turchia". Né stupri né torture in carcere. «Fuga di mezzanotte? Un bluff ». In: Corriere .it , June 20, 2007.
  8. ↑ Billy Hayes. In: American Entertainment International Speakers Bureau .
personal data
SURNAME Hayes, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hayes, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American drug smuggler, writer, actor, and director
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , USA