Once in a while a book or article throws up a little-known Derbyshire link which cries out for further investigation.

One such was a surprise index entry in art historian John Fineran's splendid history of Derby Schools of Art, Science and Technology, published in 2006.

The surprise was the English writer, actor, raconteur and one-time artist's life model Quentin Crisp, known for his outrageous appearance, insightful witticisms, and overt homosexuality, who in the 1970s and beyond became a gay icon.

He was born Denis Charles Pratt in Sutton, Surrey, on 25 December 1908. At the age of 14 he won a scholarship to Denstone College, near Uttoxeter, and was educated there from 1922 to 1926.

He then studied at King's College, London, but failed to gain his degree there. Already displaying 'distinctive' behaviour, he changed his name to Quentin Crisp when in his twenties.

In 1939 at the outbreak of war he tried to join the army but was rejected on 'behavioural grounds'. He settled long-term in London, moving into the bed-sitting room in 1940 which would become his permanent abode for over 40 years, until he emigrated to the United States in 1981.

In 1942 Crisp gave up his job as an engineer's 'tracer' to become a life model in London and the Home Counties. He described the job in his 1968 autobiography as 'like being a civil servant, except that you are naked', hence the book's title - The Naked Civil Servant.

And that is where Derby School of Art on Green Lane comes in, for here is what John Fineran says in his history of that celebrated Derby institution:

'The flamboyant homosexual Quentin Crisp was a life model at Green Lane during the war years. Former Junior Art School pupil Sidney Keeling, who was at Green Lane from 1942 to 1944, described Crisp as 'always wearing a black cloak down to the ground, open-toed sandals showing painted toe-nails, and a large-brimmed green fedora hat.' Another 'witness' said that 'Crisp cut quite a figure around Derby town in his waisted jackets of female cut'.

So there we have it. Quentin Crisp did model at Derby Art School sometime between 1942 and 1944. Perhaps it was merely for a day, or on a number of flying visits. Or perhaps he lived in Derby for a short period.

Can anyone give the definitive run-down on Quentin Crisp in Derby? If so, you can make a comment here by clicking on 'edit' or 'discussion'.

One much clearer Derbyshire link arose through the 1975 television adaptation of The Naked Civil Servant. The man who played Quentin Crisp was the Derbyshire-born actor John Hurt.

John Vincent Hurt, the son of a clergyman, was born on 22 January 1940 in Shirebrook, near Chesterfield. He spent the first five years of his life there, and the next seven in Woodville, South Derbyshire, before the family moved to Grimsby when he was twelve years old.

Playing the part of Quentin Crisp on television brought fame to John Hurt, and he never looked back from that moment. It also made a real celebrity of Crisp himself.

After Crisp emigrated to the USA he was regularly in the news and on television, and appeared in a variety of acting roles, as well as touring the world presenting his one man show.

It was during one such tour in England that Quentin Crisp died in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, near Manchester, on 21 November 1999, at the age of 90.

Crisp's life has been exhaustively written about, but there is always more to discover. Like how long did the twentieth century's most celebrated gay icon really spend in Derby?

---

Pages linking here

• James Bond Meets Sherlock Holmes - Derbyshire's Literary Heritage

Other tags that are relevant to Crisp, Quentin - Did gay icon live in Derby? Help us to improve Bygone Derbyshire by adding more tags to this article. Simply edit this page, find this area and add the words in a list separated by commas next to the *. To find out more about tagging please click here.

Talk:Crisp, Quentin - Did gay icon live in Derby?

Share this page: del.icio.us | digg | Fark | Furl | BlogMarks