- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDenis Charles Pratt
- Height1.80 m
- Quentin Crisp was born Denis Pratt on Christmas Day, 1908, in the London suburb of Sutton. He was the youngest of four children; his father a lawyer; his mother a former nursery governess. In his autobiographical work, "The Naked Civil Servant", he describes a difficult childhood in a rigorously homophobic society. In his early twenties he decided to devote his life to "making the existence of homosexuality abundantly clear to the world's aborigines". He cross-dressed and acted intensely effeminate in public, often at great risk to himself. In London he worked as a prostitute, book illustrator and finally - the source of the title of his autobiography - as a paid nude model at government-supported art schools. A dramatization of L'homme que je suis (1975), starring John Hurt, was shown on American television to critical praise in 1976. Crisp moved to New York the following year, a move he described as his proudest achievement. He first presented "An Evening with Quentin Crisp" in 1978; it received very favorable reviews (Richard Eder, NY Times) and a special Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. He defined a style with his flashy scarves, purple eye shadow, and white hair swept up under a black fedora. He died in Manchester, England, aged 90, on the eve of opening another run of "Evening"s. When, in preparation for his move to America, he was asked at the US Embassy if he were a practicing homosexual, he replied, "I didn't practice. I was already perfect".- IMDb mini biography by: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
- Crisp was the role model (and appears in the music video) for Sting's 1988 single "Englishman in New York", which includes the lyric "be yourself no matter what they say". Sting described Crisp in an interview as "one of the most courageous men I've ever met". He and Sting worked together in La promise (1985). John Hurt portrays Crisp in An Englishman in New York (2009), a biographical movie about his life.
- After his death in the Manchester, England suburb Chorlton-cum-Hardy, he was cremated and his ashes were flown back to the United States and scattered over New York City.
- He was chosen by Channel Four to deliver the first "Alternative Christmas Speech", a counterpoint to the Queen's Christmas speech, in 1993. The Alternative Christmas Speech has been delivered every year since, by among others, cartoon character Marge Simpson.
- A distant relation of Boris Karloff (born William Henry Pratt).
- Thomas Massengale, director of the indie production Topsy and Bunker: The Cat Killers (1992), said that Crisp - who played the doorman at a fleabag hotel in a rundown New York City neighborhood quite like his own Bowery neighborhood - was delightful to work with.
- There was no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse.
- An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last chapter missing.
- Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically - for our mutual good. The lie is the basic building block of good manners. That may seem mildly shocking to a moralist - but then what isn't?
- Never keep up with the Joneses; drag them down to your level. It's cheaper.
- [when asked if he had any speaking engagements planned for his 100th birthday] "I should hope I'll be dead by then."
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