Men In The Arts: Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp was a British writer, actor and raconteur.  Crisp was born Denis Charles Pratt, in Sutton, South London in 1908 on Christmas Day.  From an early age, by his own account, Crisp was effeminate in his behavior and enjoyed playing with makeup and women’s clothing. By the time he was in his twenties, he had perfected an effeminate appearance that crossed gender roles.
Crisp moved to Central London and caused quite a stir with his appearance. He wore bright makeup, painted nails and let his hair grow long and dyed it red. Â His boldness drew the admiration of some but generally caused shock as he walked the streets of London. It also made him the target of homophobic hate crimes.
Crisp worked for a period of time as rent boy and later as a model for art classes, a job that he continued for the next thirty years.  At the start of the Second World War, he attempted to join the army but was classified as exempt from serving because, according to the medical board, he suffered from “sexual perversion”. He went back to modeling.
While modeling, he began writing “The Naked Civil Servant” a book that would eventually place him in the spotlight. The book, a memoir of Crisp’s younger years discovering his sexuality and London’s gay subculture, was published in 1968 and received good reviews.  Crisp was approached by documentary film maker, Denis Mitchell, and asked to be the subject of a film where he would talk about his life and give his opinions of the world.  In 1975 the television version of The Naked Civil Servant was broadcast and launched a new career for Crisp, that of actor/raconteur.
Crisp developed a one man show in which he would give a monologue based on his memoir and then answer questions from the audience in his usual witty and sometimes biting manner. His wit and charm drew sold out houses to his show. Crisp would go on to write a number of other books based on his life experiences and his views and opinions. He was never short of either. Â
In 1981, Crisp moved to New York City and continued to author books and do his one man shows. He also had some roles in television and movies, one of which was portraying Elizabeth I in the film, Orlando.
One interesting eccentricity that Crisp had was that even after becoming famous, he still kept his telephone number listed in the New York phone directory. He felt it was his duty to converse with whoever might want to call and speak to him. He also would accept dinner and party invitations from strangers who called and he would regale them with some of his many amusing stories and anecdotes.
In 1999, Crisp died of a heart attack at age 90. He once made a joking remark to a performance artist, Penny Arcade, that he expected to live to be 100 with ten years off for good behavior.
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