Quentin Crisp

For the writer of supernatural fiction, seeQuentin S. Crisp.

Quentin Crisp
In New York City, 1992
Born	Denis Charles Pratt (1908-12-25)25 December 1908 Sutton,Surrey, England
Died	21 November 1999(1999-11-21)(aged 90) Manchester,England
Occupation	Writer, illustrator, actor, artist's model
Notable works	The Naked Civil Servant
Signature

Quentin Crisp(bornDenis Charles Pratt;(1908-12-25)25 December 1908 –(1999-11-21)21 November 1999) was an Englishraconteur,whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well known, he was anartist's model,hence the title of his most famous work,The Naked Civil Servant.He afterwards became a gay icon due to his flamboyant personality, fashion sense, and wit. His iconic status was occasionally controversial due to his remarks about subjects like theAIDS crisis,inviting censure fromgay activistsincludinghuman-rights campaignerPeter Tatchell.

During his teen years, he worked briefly as arent boy.He then spent thirty years as a professional model forlife classesin art colleges.The interviews he gave about his unusual life attracted great curiosity, and he was soon sought after for his personal views on social manners and the cultivation of style.

His one-man stage show was a long-running hit both in Britain and America, and he also appeared in films and on television. Crisp defied convention by criticising bothgay liberationandDiana, Princess of Wales.

Biography

Early life

Denis Charles Pratt was born inSutton,Surrey,on 25 December 1908, the fourth child ofsolicitorSpencer Charles Pratt (1871–1931) and formergovernessFrances Marion Pratt (née Phillips; 1873–1960).His elder siblings were Katherine (1901–1976), Gerald (1902–1983) and Lewis (1907–1968). He changed his name to Quentin Crisp in his twenties after leaving home, and expressed a feminine appearance to a degree that shocked contemporary Londoners and provoked gay-bashing assaults.

By his own account, Crisp was "effeminate" from an early age, resulting in his being teased while atKingswood House SchoolinEpsom,Surrey, from which he won a scholarship toDenstone College,Uttoxeter,Staffordshire, in 1922. After leaving school in 1926, Crisp studied journalism atKing's College London,but failed to graduate in 1928, going on to take art classes at theRegent Street Polytechnic.

Around this time, Crisp began visiting the cafés ofSoho,his favourite being The Black Cat inOld Compton Street,meeting other young gay men andrent boys,and experimenting with make-up andwomen's clothes.For six months, he worked as a prostitute;in a 1998 interview,he said he was looking for love, but found only degradation, a reflection he had previously expressed in the 1968World in Actioninterview, which aired on television in 1971.

Crisp left home to move to thecentre of Londonat the end of 1930, and after dwelling in a succession of flats, found abed-sittingroom in Denbigh Street,Pimlico,where he "held court with London's brightest and roughest characters."His 'outlandish' appearance—he wore bright make-up, dyed his long hair crimson, painted his fingernails and wore sandals to display his painted toe-nails—brought admiration and curiosity from some quarters, but generally attracted hostility and violence from strangers passing him in the streets.

Middle years

Crisp attempted to join theBritish armyat the outbreak of theSecond World War,but was rejected and declared exempt by the medical board on the grounds that he was "suffering from sexual perversion". He remained in London duringthe 1941 Blitz,stocked up on cosmetics, purchased five pounds ofhennaand later paraded through the streets during the black-out, picking upG.I.s.In 1940, he moved into a first-floor flat at 129 Beaufort Street,Chelsea,a bed-sitting room that he occupied until he emigrated to the United States in 1981. In the intervening years, he never attempted any housework, writing famously in his memoirThe Naked Civil Servant:"After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse."

Crisp left his job as anengineer's tracerin 1942 to become a model inlife classesin London and theHome Counties.Crisp wanted to call his bookI Reign in Hell,a reference toMilton'sParadise Lost( "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven" ), but his agent insisted onThe Naked Civil Servant,an insistence that later gave him pause when he offered the manuscript toTom MaschlerofJonathan Capeon the same day thatDesmond MorrisdeliveredThe Naked Ape.The Naked Civil Servantwas published in 1968 to generally good reviews, although it initially only sold 3,500 copies. Crisp was then approached by the documentary film makerDenis Mitchellto be the subject of a 1968 short film in which he discussed his life and lifestyle. The documentary aired on British television in 1971.

Fame

Quentin Crisp during a Q&A session for his book and the filmThe Naked Civil Servant

In 1975, the television version ofThe Naked Civil Servantwas broadcast on British and US television, making actorJohn Hurt,and Crisp, into stars. This success launched Crisp in a new direction: that of performer and tutor. He devised a one-man show and began touring the country with it. The first half of the show was an entertaining monologue loosely based on his memoirs, while the second half was a question-and-answer session with Crisp picking the audience's written questions at random and answering them in an amusing manner.

After the success of the film, his autobiography was reprinted;Gay Newscommented that it should have been published posthumously (Crisp said that this was their polite way of telling him to drop dead). Gay rights campaignerPeter Tatchellsaid he had met Crisp in 1974, and alleged that he was not sympathetic to theGay Liberationmovement of the time.Tatchell said Crisp quipped: "What do you want liberation from? What is there to be proud of? I don't believe in rights for homosexuals."

By now Crisp was a theatre-filling humourist; in 1978, his one-man show sold out London'sDuke of York's Theatre.He then took the show to New York. His first stay in theHotel Chelseacoincided with a fire, a robbery, and the death ofNancy Spungen.Crisp decided to move to New York permanently and, in 1981, found a small apartment at 46 East 3rd Street in Manhattan'sEast Village.

As he had done in London, Crisp allowed his telephone number to be listed in thetelephone directory.He saw it as his duty to converse with anyone who called him, saying "If you don't have your name in the phone book, you're stuck with your friends. How will you ever enlarge your horizons?"He answered the phone with the phrase: "Yes, Lord?", or "Oh yes?", in a querulous tone of voice.His openness to strangers extended to accepting dinner invitations from almost anyone. While he expected that the host would pay for dinner, Crisp did his best to "sing for his supper" by regaling his host with wonderful stories and yarns, much as he did in his theatrical performances.

Quentin Crisp's handwriting and signature, from a dedication on the title page ofHow to Become a Virgin(1981)

Crisp continued to perform his one-man show, published books on the importance of contemporary manners as a means of social inclusion (as opposed to etiquette, which he claimed is socially exclusive), and supported himself by accepting social invitations and writing film reviews and columns for UK and US magazines and newspapers. He said that provided one could exist on peanuts and champagne, one could quite easily live by going to everycocktail party,premiereand first night to which one was invited.

Quentin Crisp in a performance of his one-man show,An Evening With Quentin Crisp,inBirmingham,1982

Crisp also acted on television and in films. He made his debut as a film actor in theRoyal College of Art's low-budget production ofHamlet(1976). Crisp playedPoloniusin the 65-minute adaptation ofShakespeare's play, alongsideHelen Mirren,who played bothOpheliaandGertrude.He appeared in the 1985 filmThe Bride,which brought him into contact withSting,who played the lead role of BaronFrankenstein,and who in 1987 wrote the song "Englishman in New York"for and about Crisp. Crisp also appeared on the television showThe Equalizerin the 1987 episode "First Light", and as the narrator of directorRichard Kwietniowski's short filmBallad of Reading Gaol(1988), based on thepoembyOscar Wilde.Four years later, he was cast in a lead role, and got top billing, in the low-budgetindependent filmTopsy and Bunker: The Cat Killers,playing the door-man of a flea-bag hotel in a run-down neighbourhood, quite like the one he lived in. Director Thomas Massengale reportedly said that Crisp was a delight to work with.

The 1990s were his most prolific decade as an actor, as more and more directors offered him roles. In 1992 he was persuaded bySally Potterto playElizabeth Iin the filmOrlando.Although he found the role taxing, he won acclaim for a dignified and touching performance. Crisp next had an uncredited cameo in the 1993 AIDS dramaPhiladelphia.He accepted some other small bit parts and cameos, such as a pageant judge in 1995'sTo Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.Crisp's last role was in an independent film,American Mod(1999), while his last full-feature film wasHomoHeights(also released asHappy Heights,1996). He was chosen byChannel 4to deliver the firstAlternative Christmas Speech,a counterpoint to theQueen's Christmas speech,in 1993.

Last years

Crisp remained fiercely independent and unpredictable into old age. He caused controversy and confusion in the gay community by jokingly calling AIDS "a fad", and homosexuality "a terrible disease".He was continually in demand from journalists requiring a sound-bite, and throughout the 1990s his commentary was sought on any number of topics.

Crisp was a stern critic ofDiana, Princess of Wales,and her attempts to gain public sympathy following her divorce fromPrince Charles.He stated: "I always thought Diana was such trash and got what she deserved. She was Lady Diana before she was Princess Diana, so she knew the racket. She knew that royal marriages have nothing to do with love. You marry a man and you stand beside him on public occasions and you wave and for that you never have a financial worry until the day you die."Followingher death in 1997,he commented that it was perhaps her "fast and shallow" lifestyle that led to her demise: "She could have been Queen of England [sic] - and she was swanning about Paris with Arabs. What disgraceful behaviour! Going about saying she wanted to be the queen of hearts. The vulgarity of it is so overpowering. "

In 1995 he was among the many people interviewed forThe Celluloid Closet,a historical documentary addressing how Hollywood films have depicted homosexuality. In his third volume of memoirs,Resident Alien,published in the same year, Crisp stated that he was close to the end of his life, though he continued to make public appearances, and in June of that year he was one of the guest entertainers at the secondPride Scotlandfestival in Glasgow.

In 1997 Crisp was crowned king of theBeaux-Arts Ballrun by the Beaux Arts Society. He presided alongside Queen Audrey Kargere, Prince George Bettinger and Princess Annette Hunt.

In December 1998 he celebrated his ninetieth birthday, performing the opening night of his one-man show,An Evening with Quentin Crisp,at The Intar Theatre on Forty-Second Street in New York City (produced byJohn GlinesofThe Glinesorganisation).

Gender identity

In an interview with CBC in 1977, upon being queried about whether he desired to be a woman, Crisp stated: "Well, I suppose when I was a child, when I lived almost entirely in a dreamworld, I suppose I thought of myself as a woman. But, later on, you realise that you have to live in the real world, and that you arenota woman. You are only in some senses 'effeminate,' or 'feminine,' and you must learn to make this compromise - to live in a world where, statistically, you are a man, whatever you may think about yourself. "

At the age of 90 Crisp said in his bookThe Last Wordthat he had come to the conclusion that he wastransgender.

"Having labelled myself homosexual and having been labelled as such by the wider world, I have effectively lived a 'gay' life for most of my years. Consequently, I can relate to gay men because I have more or less been one for so long in spite of my actual fate being that of a woman trapped in a man's body. I refer to myself as homosexual without thinking because of how I have lived my life. If you are reading this and are gay, think of me as one of your own even though you now know the truth. If it's confusing for you, think how confusing it has been for me these past ninety years."

"The only thing in my life I have wanted and didn't get was to be a woman. It will be my life's biggest regret. If the operation had been available and cheap when I was young, say when I was twenty-five or twenty-six, I would have jumped at the chance. My life would have been much simpler as a result. I would have told nobody. Instead, I would have gone to live in a distant town and run a knitting wool shop and no one would ever have known my secret. I would have joined the real world and it would have been wonderful."

Death

Crisp died of a heart attack on 21 November 1999, at age 90, while staying at the home of a friend inChorlton-cum-Hardy,Manchester, on the eve of a nationwide revival of his one-man show.A humorous pact he had made withPenny Arcadeto live to be a century old, with a decade off for good behaviour, provedprophetic.He was cremated with a minimum of ceremony as he had requested, and his ashes were flown back to his personal assistant and travel companion Phillip Ward in New York.

He bequeathed his rights in three books to his respective collaborators: Phillip Ward for Crisp's final bookThe Last Wordand the bookAnd One More Thing(formerly titledDusty Answers); Guy Kettelhack forThe Wit and Wisdom of Quentin CrispandJohn HofsessforManners from Heaven.From his remaining literary estate (including The Naked Civil Servant), he bequeathed all future UK-only income (but not thecopyrights,which are managed by Ward, and belong to Ward, literary agent Stedman Mays, and writer Mary Tahan) to the two men he considered to have had the greatest influence on his career: his long-time agent Richard Gollner, and his first agent Donald Carroll.

Posthumously published works

In the two years before his death (1997–1999), Crisp had been compiling a work that was initially to be titledThe Dusty Answerswith Philip Ward. Crisp and Ward developed material for this book through many hours of recorded interviews, which was necessary because Crisp had lost the use of his left hand and he was unable to use a typewriter or computer. The resulting manuscript remained unpublished for eighteen years after Crisp's death, because Ward found it emotionally difficult to transcribe Crisp's words. A chance meeting with Laurence Watts, who interviewed Ward forPink News,led them to co-edit Crisp's remaining work.

On 21 November 2017, MB Books publishedThe Last Word: An Autobiography,written by Crisp's friend, Philip Ward, on the basis of tape recordings made of Crisp's dictations, and edited by Ward and Watts. WhereasThe Naked Civil Servantmade Crisp famous, andHow To Become A Virgindetailed that fame and his life in New York,The Last Wordwas written as a goodbye to the world, with Crisp knowing the end was near. In it he recounts several previously untold stories from his life, walks the reader through his journey from obscurity, reflects on his philosophy and gender identity.

In January 2019, MB Books publishedAnd One More Thing,a companion book toThe Last Word: An Autobiography,again edited by Ward and Watts. This book contains material that the editors believed did not fit intoThe Last Word.InAnd One More Thing,Crisp primarily shares his views on other people, their lives and their opinions, fromflappergirls toMonica Lewinsky,and from theBritish Royal FamilytoWalt Disney.Also included are his collected poems, the script for his Alternative Christmas Message broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 in 1993, and the script of his one-man showAn Evening With Quentin Crisp.

Influence and legacy

Quentin Crisp(oil on canvas), a portrait by American painterElla Guru.As the sculptorJohn W. Millshad done before her, Guru rendered Crisp wearing his trademark fedora.

Stingdedicated his song "Englishman in New York"(1987) to Crisp, who had jokingly remarked" that he looked forward to receiving his naturalisation papers so that he could commit a crime and not be deported. "In late 1986 Sting visited Crisp in his apartment and was told over dinner, and over the next three days, what life had been like for a homosexual man in the largely homophobic Great Britain of the 1920s to the 1960s. Sting was both shocked and fascinated and decided to write the song. It includes the lines:

It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile,
Be yourself no matter what they say.

Sting says, "Well, it's partly about me and partly about Quentin. Again, I was looking for a metaphor. Quentin is a hero of mine, someone I know very well. He is gay and he was gay at a time in history when it was dangerous to be so. He had people beating up on him on a daily basis, largely with the consent of the public."

Crisp was the subject of a photographic portrait byHerb Rittsand was also chronicled inAndy Warhol's diaries.

In his 1995 autobiographyTake It Like a Man,singerBoy Georgediscusses how he had felt an affinity towards Crisp during his childhood, as they faced similar problems as young homosexual people living in homophobic surroundings.

In 1991, a documentary about Crisp,Resident Alien,was released by Greycat Films.Crisp was then the subject of the playResident Alien,byTim Fountain,which starred his friendBette Bourne.The play opened in 1999 at theBush Theatrein London; in 2001, it transferred to theNew York Theatre Workshopwhere it won twoObies(for performance and design). In 2002, it won a Herald Angel (Best Actor) at theEdinburgh Festival;subsequent productions have been seen across the US and Australia.

The 1981synthpopsongNo G.D.Mby GermanelectrobandGina X Performanceis dedicated to Crisp. The songThe Ballad of Jack Eric Williams (and Other Three-Named Composers)fromWilliam Finn's 2003 song-cycleElegiesrefers to him.

In 2009 a television sequel toThe Naked Civil Servantwas broadcast. EntitledAn Englishman in New York,the production documented Crisp's later years in Manhattan. Thirty-four years after his first award-winning performance as Crisp,John Hurtreturned to play him again. Other co-stars includedDenis O'Hareas Phillip Steele (an amalgam character based on Crisp's friends Phillip Ward and Tom Steele),Jonathan Tuckeras artistPatrick Angus,Cynthia NixonasPenny Arcade,andSwoosie KurtzasConnie Clausen.The production was filmed in New York in August 2008 and completed in London in October 2008. The film was directed by British directorRichard Laxton,written by Brian Fillis, produced by Amanda Jenks and made its premiere at theBerlinale(the Berlin International Film Festival) in early February 2009, before being shown on television later that year.

That same year, Crisp's great-nephew, academic and film-maker Adrian Goycoolea, premiered a short documentary,Uncle Denis?,at the 23rdLondon Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.The film uses interviews with family and previously unseen home movie footage. In collaboration with Crisperanto (The Quentin Crisp Archives) curator Philip Ward, Goycoolea also created an installation entitled 'Personal Effects'at the 2010MIX NYC,New York City, which recreated Crisp's New York apartment using his personal effects and included home video footage.

In 2013, with curator Ward, theMuseum of Arts and Designin Manhattan staged a three-month retrospective on Crisp, entitledLadies and Gentlemen, Mr. Quentin Crisp.The retrospective consisted of free screenings of interviews, one man shows, documentaries and other recorded media.

In 2014 Mark Farrelly's solo performanceQuentin Crisp: Naked Hopedebuted at the Edinburgh Festival, before transferring to theSt. James's Theatrein London and subsequently touring. It depicts Crisp at his Chelsea flat in the 1960s and performing his one-man show thirty years later.

In the 2016Ghostbustersreboot,Bill Murrayexplicitly based the dress style of his character (Martin Heiss) on Crisp.

In his 2020 autobiographyConfess,Rob HalfordofJudas Priestidentifies Crisp as having been a hero of his.When the then closeted Halford had first seenThe Naked Civil Servantin 1975, he had been impressed by the film and Crisp.Halford came out, in an MTV interview, on 4 February 1998.In 1999, Halford attended San Diego Pride with his partner, Thomas. While there, Halford met Crisp, and got a book signed by him ('To Rob, from Quentin'). According to Halford, he continues to treasure the signed book.Halford views himself as a rock version of Crisp, and refers to himself as the "stately homo of heavy metal".

Works

• Lettering for Brush and Pen(1936), Quentin Crisp and A.F. Stuart, Frederick Warne Ltd. Manual on typefaces for advertising.OCLC503850262
• Colour in Display(1938) Quentin Crisp, 131 pp., The Blandford Press. Manual on the use of colour in window displays.OCLC557871368
• All This and Bevin Too(1943) Quentin Crisp, illustrated byMervyn Peake,Mervyn Peake SocietyISBN0-9506125-0-2.Parable, in verse, about an unemployed kangaroo.
• The Naked Civil Servant(1968) Quentin Crisp, 222 pp., HarperCollins,ISBN0-00-654044-9.Crisp's account of the first half of his life.
• How to Have a Life Style(1975), Quentin Crisp, 159 pp., Cecil Woolf Publ.,ISBN0-900821-83-3.Essays on charisma and personality.
• Love Made Easy(1977) Quentin Crisp, 154 pp., Duckworth,ISBN0-7156-1188-7.Fantastical, semi-autobiographical novel.
• Chog: A Gothic Fable(1979), Quentin Crisp, Methuen, London. Illustrated by Jo Lynch, Magnum (1981).
• How to Become a Virgin(1981) Quentin Crisp, 192 pp., HarperCollins,ISBN0-00-638798-5.The second instalment of autobiography, describing his experience of the fame thatThe Naked Civil Servantand its dramatisation brought.
• Doing It With Style(1981) Quentin Crisp, with Donald Carroll, illustrated by Jonathan Hills, 157 pp., Methuen,ISBN0-413-47490-9.A guide to thoughtful and stylish living.
• The Wit and Wisdom of Quentin Crisp(1984) Quentin Crisp, edited by Guy Kettelhack, Harper & Row, 140 pp.,ISBN0-06-091178-6.Compilation of Crisp's essays and quotations.
• Manners from Heaven: a divine guide to good behaviour(1984) Quentin Crisp, with John Hofsess, Hutchinson,ISBN0-09-155810-7.Instructions for compassionate living.
• How to Go to the Movies(1988) Quentin Crisp, 224 pp., St. Martin's Press,ISBN0-312-05444-0.Movie reviews and essays on film.
• Quentin Crisp's Book of Quotations,also published asThe Gay and Lesbian Quotation Book: a literary companion(1989) edited by Quentin Crisp, Hale, 185 pp.ISBN0-7090-5605-2.Anthology of gay-related quotes.
• Resident Alien: The New York Diaries(1996) Quentin Crisp, 232 pp., HarperCollins,ISBN0-00-638717-9.Diaries and recollections from 1990 to 1994.
• The Last Word: An Autobiography,(2017) Quentin Crisp, edited by Phillip Ward and Laurence Watts, MB Books, 232 pp.,ISBN978-0-692-96848-2.Quentin Crisp's final book, the third and last instalment of his autobiography, written during the last two years of his life.
• And One More Thing,(2019) Quentin Crisp, edited by Phillip Ward and Laurence Watts, MB Books, 193 pp.,ISBN978-0-692-16809-7.A companion book to Quentin Crisp'sThe Last Word: An Autobiography.Crisp shares his views on other people, their lives and their opinions. Included is the script for Quentin's Alternative Christmas Message, broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 in 1993, the script of his one-man showAn Evening With Quentin Crispand his collected poetry.

Filmography

• Captain Busby: the Even Tenour of Her Ways- (1967) - withMartina Mayne,as Marcella
• World in Action(documentary) (Broadcast 1971, filmed in 1968)...himself. Directed byDenis Mitchell.
• The Naked Civil Servant(1975) (introduction)... himself
• Hamlet(1976).... Polonius
• The Bride.... Dr. Zalhus
• The Equalizer.... Ernie Frick (episode, "First Light" ) (1987)
• Ballad of Reading Gaol(short) (1988).... Narrator
• Kojak:Flowers for Matty(TV movie) (1990)... Mr. Isabella
• Resident Alien(1990) (autobiography).... Himself
• Topsy and Bunker: The Cat Killers(1992).... Pat the Doorman
• Orlando(1992).... Queen Elizabeth I
• Philadelphia(1993) (uncredited).... Guest at Party
• Red Ribbons(1994) (Video).... Horace Nightingale III
• Aunt Fannie(1994) (Video).... Aunt Fannie
• Naked in New York(1994).... himself
• Natural Born Crazies(1994).... Narrator
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar(1995).... New York pageant judge
• Taylor MeadUnleashed,(documentary-1996) Himself. Sebastian Piras director
• Little Red Riding Hood(1997) (voice).... Narrator
• Barriers(1998)
• Famous Again(1998)

Discography

• "An Evening with Quentin Crisp" (2008).... Cherry Red Records (U.K.).... Double C.D. featuring live recordings made at Columbia Recording Studios, New York, on 22 February 1979. Also includes a 35-minute interview with Crisp byMorgan Fisher,recorded in June 1980.
• "Miniatures 1 & 2" (2008).... Cherry Red Records (U.K.).... Double C.D. of one-minute tracks by many muses, poets, etc. Produced byMorgan Fisherin 1980 (Pt.1) and 2000 (Pt. 2). Crisp's track is titled "Stop the Music for a Minute".

See also

• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of LGBT people from New York City
• NYC Pride March

Notes

• Take It Like A Man,Boy George, Sidgwick & Jackson, 490 pages,ISBN0-283-99217-4.Autobiography of Boy George.
• Coming on Strong,Joan Rhodes, Serendipity Books, 2007. Autobiography of strongwoman Joan Rhodes who was an intimate friend of Crisp's for over half a century.
• The Krays and Bette Davis,Patrick Newley, AuthorsOnline Books, 2005. Memoir by showbiz writer Patrick Newley who acted as Crisp's P.A. for some years.

Biographies

• The Stately Homo: a celebration of the life of Quentin Crisp,(2000) edited byPaul Bailey,Bantam, 251 pages,ISBN0-593-04677-3.Collection of interviews and tributes from those who knew Crisp.
• Quentin Crisp,(2002), Tim Fountain, Absolute Press, 192 pages,ISBN1-899791-48-5.Biography by dramatist who knew Crisp in the last few years of his life.
• Quentin & Philip,(2002), Andrew Barrow, Macmillan, 559 pages,ISBN0-333-78051-5.Dual biography of Crisp and his friendPhilip O'Connor.
• Quentin Crisp: The Profession of Being,(2011), Nigel Kelly, McFarland,ISBN978-0-7864-6475-3.Biography of Mr Crisp by Nigel Kelly who runs the www.quentincrisp.info website.

Further reading

• Mann, Philip.The Dandy at Dusk: Taste and Melancholy in the Twentieth Century.London: Head of Zeus, 2017.ISBN978-1-78669-517-8

Archival sources

• Robert Patrick. Letters from Quentin Crisp, 1991–1999 (.21 linear feet) are housed at theNew York Public Library.
• Donald Carroll letters received from poets, 1959–1969 (.45 cubic feet) are housedPennsylvania State University Libraries.

External links

• ObituaryinSalon
• Quentin CrispatIMDb
• 1981 interviewbyStuds Terkel
• 1997 iInterviewinSpike Magazine
• Quentin Crispdiscography atDiscogs
• Crisperanto: The Quentin Crisp Archives
• 1982 interviewonFor the Love of Music
• 1989 interviewonBob Claster's Funny Stuff