Kenneth Halliwell

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Kenneth Leith Halliwell (born June 23, 1926 , † August 9, 1967 in London ) was a British actor and author . He was the mentor, partner, and eventual killer of playwright Joe Orton .

childhood

Kenneth Halliwell had a traumatic childhood. He was ignored by his father and spoiled by his mother. At the age of 11, he watched helplessly as his mother died of a wasp sting .

He attended the Wirral Grammar School for Boys in Bebington and graduated in 1943. When Halliwell was to be drafted into the military in 1944, he refused military service and did alternative service as a miner . After his release in 1946 he worked as an actor, first in Scotland and then in his hometown of Birkenhead . In 1949 his father committed suicide by sticking his head in a gas stove; Halliwell found the body the next morning. The inherited family fortune enabled him to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London .

Relationship with Orton

In 1951 he met Joe Orton, a fellow student at RADA. Both men were "actors who gnawed the hunger cloth" and became "writers who gnawed the hunger cloth". Eventually, their common interests resulted in a long-lasting relationship. In the early years Halliwell was a kind of teacher for Orton, who had only a very superficial education, and helped this in the development of his writing style, which would later be called "Ortonesque". The two men worked together on several novels, including The Boy Hairdresser , which were published after their deaths.

In 1962, Halliwell was serving a six-month prison sentence with Orton, to which they had been sentenced for stealing and tainting library books. After his release from prison, Orton's success as a writer began. This created a distance between the two men that Halliwell found difficult to cope with. Towards the end of his life he took antidepressants regularly .

murder

On August 9, 1967, Halliwell killed Orton with nine hammer blows to the head and then took an overdose of Nembutal . Halliwell was the first to die. Their bodies were found the next morning by a chauffeur who had come to their apartment on Noel Road in Islington to take Orton to a meeting with the Beatles . Orton had written a film script for them.

Halliwell left a suicide note citing the contents of Orton's diary as an explanation for his actions:

"If you read his diary, all will be explained. KH PS: Especially the latter part ".

“When you read this journal everything will be explained. KH PS: Especially the last part ”.

It is believed that this relates to Orton's description of his promiscuity . The diary contains numerous fleeting adventures in public toilets as well as other sexual relationships.

Halliwell and Orton were in the Golders Green Crematorium in London cremated , where her ashes is located.

Others

In 1987 Stephen Frears filmed Orton's life story under the title Prick Up your Ears (German title: The stormy life of Joe Orton ) with Alfred Molina in the role of Halliwell.

In Fantabulosa! , a biographical film about Kenneth Williams (2006), Halliwell was portrayed by Ewan Bailey .

Coil , a British experimental music group led by John Balance and Peter Christopherson , recorded three tracks entitled "The Halliwell Hammers" for their album Worship The Glitch in 1995 .

Works

Published

  • Lord Cucumber , co-authored short story with Orton, published in 2001
  • The Boy Hairdresser , co-authored short story with Orton, published in 2001

Unpublished

  • The Protagonist (around 1949), unpublished piece about Edmund Kean
  • The Silver Bucket (1953)
  • The Mechanical Womb (1955)
  • The Last Days of Sodom (1955), lost stories co-authored with Orton
  • Priapus in the Shrubbery (1959), lost story

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hardenberg Acting Guide . Hardenberg Verlag, Dortmund 1997, personal article on Orton.
  2. ↑ a b Joe Orton, John Lahr (Ed.): The Orton Diaries . Da Capo Press, New York 1996, ISBN 0-306-80733-5 , p. 24 (English)
  3. ^ John Lahr: Prick Up Your Ears. The Biography of Joe Orton . Penguin, Harmondsworth 1980, ISBN 0-14-010067-9 , p. 109. (English)
  4. ↑ Sheridan Morley: Theater's Strangest Acts. Extraordinary But True Tales from the History of Theater . Robson, 2006, ISBN 1-861-05674-5 , p. 133. (English)
  5. ↑ Joe Orton, John Lahr: The Complete Plays: The Ruffian on the Stair, Entertaining Mr. Sloan, The Good and Faithful Servant, Loot, The Erpingham Camp, Funeral Games, What the Butler Saw . Grove Press, New York 1990, ISBN 0-802-13215-4 , pp. 13, 14. (English)
  6. ↑ Simon Shepard: Because We're Queers. The Life and Crimes of Kenneth Halliwell and Joe Orton . GMP, London 1989, ISBN 0-854-49090-6 , p. 88. (English)
  7. ↑ Gabriele Griffin: Who's who in Lesbian and Gay Writing . Routledge, London 2002, ISBN 0-415-15984-9 , p. 149. (English)
  8. ↑ Steven H. Gale: Encyclopedia of British Humorists. Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese . Taylor & Francis, London 1996, ISBN 0-824-05990-5 , p. 803. (English)
  9. ^ John Lahr: Prick Up Your Ears. The Biography of Joe Orton . University of California Press, Berkeley 2000, ISBN 0-520-22666-6 , p. 33. (English)
  10. ↑ Joe Orton, John Lahr (Eds.): The Orton Diaries . Da Capo Press, New York 1996, ISBN 0-306-80733-5 , p. 266 (English)
  11. ^ A b Francesca Coppa: Joe Orton. A casebook . Routledge, London 2002, ISBN 0-815-33627-6 , p. 2. (English)
personal data
SURNAME Halliwell, Kenneth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Halliwell, Kenneth Leith
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British author and actor, partner of Joe Orton
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1926
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 1967
Place of death London