Kenneth Halliwell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Kenneth Halliwell (23 June 1926 – 9 August 1967) was a British actor and writer. He was the mentor, partner and eventual murderer of playwright Joe Orton.
Contents |
[edit] Childhood
Halliwell was raised in a somewhat split household. In general, he was ignored by his father and pampered by his mother. His mother's death, which occurred when he was a young boy, was a great negative turning point in his life. Halliwell was a classics scholar at Wirral Grammar School, where he gained a Higher School Certificate in 1944. Becoming liable for military service that year, he registered as a conscientious objector, and was exempted conditional upon going down the pits as a coalminer. After discharge in 1946, he acted for a time in Scotland and then returned home to act in Birkenhead. His father died in 1949 (suicide), whereupon Kenneth moved to London to study drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), having inherited the family fortune.
[edit] Early years
It was at RADA in 1951 that he met Joe Orton, the man who was to make Halliwell's name almost as recognisable as his own. Both men were struggling actors without great talent who became struggling writers. However, their common interests led to a lengthy relationship. Halliwell, in the early years, seems to have been something of a tutor to Orton, who had had a rather cursory education, and helped to mold the writing style that would later be called "Ortonesque". The two men collaborated on several novels, including The Boy Hairdresser, which were not published until after their deaths.
In 1962, along with Orton, Halliwell was imprisoned for six months for the theft and defacement of books in Islington Library. Orton's emerging success as a writer, following their release from prison, put a distance between the two men that Halliwell found difficult to handle. Towards the end of his life, Halliwell was on regular courses of anti-depressants.
[edit] Murder
On 9 August 1967, Halliwell killed Orton with nine hammer blows to the head and then overdosed on Nembutal sleeping pills. Despite the violence of the murder, it was Halliwell who died first. The bodies of the two men were discovered late the following morning, when a chauffeur arrived at the door of their Noel Road flat in Islington to collect Orton for a meeting with The Beatles regarding a screenplay he had written for them.
Halliwell's suicide note referred to 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." This is presumed to be a reference to Orton's description of his promiscuity; the diary contains numerous incidents of cottaging in public lavatories and other sexual relationships.
[edit] In popular culture
In Prick Up Your Ears, the 1987 film based on Orton's life, Halliwell was portrayed by Alfred Molina.
In Fantabulosa!, the 2006 biopic about Kenneth Williams, he was portrayed by Ewan Bailey.
British experimental music group Coil recorded three tracks titled "The Halliwell Hammers" for their 1995 album Worship The Glitch. The two primary members of Coil, John Balance and Peter Christopherson, were romantic partners through most of the band's existence, and much of their work was inspired by or dedicated to gay icons and personalities of the past.
[edit] Works
- The Protagonist (circa 1949), unproduced and unpublished play about Edmund Kean.
- The Silver Bucket (1953), The Mechanical Womb (1955), The Last Days of Sodom (1955), novels co-written with Orton, all unpublished and now lost.
- Priapus in the Shrubbery (1959), solo novel, unpublished and now lost.
- Lord Cucumber and The Boy Hairdresser, novels co-written with Orton, published in 2001.
