The Birth of Joe Orton
January 1st 1933 saw the birth of English playwright Joe Orton. Orton would go on to become a well known playwright for his scandalous black comedies which included Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot, Funeral Games and What The Butler Saw.
Orton’s theatrical career, and life, was cut short in August 1967 when he was murdered by his long term boyfriend Kenneth Halliwell. Halliwell bludgeoned Orton to death before taking his own life. Orton was just 38 years old when he was killed.
The pair met as students at the Royal Institute of Dramatic Art in London in the 1950’s. They moved into together and lived off Halliwell’s inheritance. They pair lived on a tight budget and spent most of their time writing novels together or playing pranks.
Orton created an alter-ego Mrs Edna Welthorpe, and he often wrote letters into newspapers claiming to be outraged about the moral decay of society. When he began to find success as a playwright, he often wrote in letters of complaint about his own works under this guise.
Over a period of three years Orton and Halliwell began defacing books at two local libraries, often pasting provocative images from arts works into the books dust jackets. When they were caught the pair were sentenced to six months in prison. The books they damaged are now held in high regard by the library.
Orton’s life came to a tragic end when Halliwell murdered him, repeatedly hitting him with a hammer. Shortly afterwards Halliwell took his own life. Friends later reported that Orton had been planning to break-up with his long term partner.
After their deaths, Orton’s diaries were published given an insight into their lives, battles and celebrations.
A film Prick Up Your Ears was made about their lives. Based on a biography of the same name by John Lahr, the screenplay was written by Alan Bennett and it was directed by Stephen Frears. Gary Oldman played Orton, while Alfred Molina depicted Halliwell.
Sir Ian McKellen was offered the part of Halliwell and turned it down, saying he needed a break, later he said he greatly regretted the decision.
The Death of Caesar Romero
During his career actor Caesar Romero was described as a ‘confirmed bachelor’. At public appearances the actor, singer and dancer was often accompanied by some of Hollywood’s leading ladies including Ginger Rogers, Joan Crawford, Lucille Ball and Jane Wyman.
It was only after his death on January 1st 1994 that an interview was posthumously published where he spoke about his homosexuaity and Hollwood’s “gilded cage”.
His death at 86 brought the curtain down on a Hollywood career than spanned decades, and hundreds of appearances in films and on television. While he is remembered for his camp performances playing The Joker on the 1960’s Batman TV series, Romero played lots of other roles in his long career.
He the 1950’s played Latin lovers, and cowboy The Cisco Kid in a series of films, he danced opposite Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda. In the 1960’s he appeared on TV shows including The Man From U.N.K.L.E and Batman. Later in his career he made a guest appearance on The Golden Girls and had a role on soap opera Falcon’s Crest.
Also on this day in history
In 1971 Hawaii decriminalized homosexuality, on this day in 1979 musical movie star Ethel Merman released her disco album, and in 1995 Sweden began officially registering same sex relationships.
This post was first published in 2020 and has been subsequently updated.
