Heathcote Williams
This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2017) |
Heathcote Williams | |
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Born | John Henley Heathcote-Williams 15 November 1941 Helsby, Cheshire, England |
Died | 1 July 2017 Oxford, England | (aged 75)
Occupation(s) | Poet, actor, playwright |
Years active | 1964–2017 |
Children | 3 |
John Henley Heathcote-Williams (15 November 1941 – 1 July 2017), known as Heathcote Williams, was an English poet, actor, political activist and dramatist.
As well as being a playwright and screenwriter, Williams appeared in a number of independent and Hollywood films and was among the celebrity guests in the last episode of season 4 of
Williams was a keen naturalist and discovered a new species of honey-producing wasp in the Argentine pampas, an event he recorded in a book of poems called Forbidden Fruit.[5] Williams was a magician and a member of The Magic Circle. He wrote a TV play called What the Dickens! about Charles Dickens's penchant for performing magic shows. Bob Hoskins taught him fire eating. When he went to demonstrate his newfound talent to then girlfriend Jean Shrimpton, he accidentally set himself alight on her doorstep.
Williams was a leading activist in the London squatting scene in the 1970s and ran a squatters "estate agency" called the "Ruff Tuff Cream Puff". In 1977 he and a couple of hundred fellow squatters established the "state" of Frestonia in Notting Hill and declared independence from Britain. The then Shadow Chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, wrote to express his support and Williams was appointed UK Ambassador. Frestonia lasted almost a decade and had its own institutions and postage stamps.
Williams spray-painted graffiti on the walls of
Early life and career
John Henley Heathcote-Williams was born in
His first full-length play, AC/DC (1970), first staged at the
Other plays include the one-act monologue Hancock's Last Half Hour, The Local Stigmatic, The Immortalist and the impossible to categorise Remember The Truth Dentist – an early effort, again at the Royal Court, directed by Ken Campbell.
The inaugural issue of the
Poetry
Williams had often been reluctant to co-operate in the promotion of his work commercially, refusing, for example, to go to the US to promote AC/DC, to the despair of his publishers. The only book signing tour he ever did – "enough," he complained, "to cripple a rock-star" – was the result of relentless pressure from Jonathan Cape's PR department.
Energetic publicity efforts on Williams' behalf, the responsibility of Cape's Polly Samson, enabled him to reach a wider audience for his trilogy of book-length poems on environmental themes. Each of them was the result of detailed research and featured many photographs. Written some years earlier as visionary propaganda, they had otherwise been gathering dust in a corner of his then agent's office. The North American rights for the poem Whale Nation (1988) were sold at the Frankfurt Book Fair for $100,000; Williams donated his share of the advance to environmental organizations. According to another writer on this subject, Philip Hoare in 2008, it is an "epic plea for the future of the whale, a hymn to the beauty, majesty and intelligence of the largest mammals on earth, as well as a prayer for their protection... Whale Nation became the most powerful argument for the newly instigated worldwide ban on whaling, and for a moment, back in 1988, it seemed as if a shameful chapter in human history might finally be drawing to a close.".[2]
Whale Nation was followed by Sacred Elephant (1989), which deals with the devastation of the natural environment, and Autogeddon (1991), which characterises the motor car's global death toll as, "A humdrum holocaust, the third world war nobody bothered to declare."
In 2011, Williams began a new collaboration with Roy Hutchins, who had performed Whale Nation, Autogeddon and Falling for a Dolphin in the 1980s. The result was Zanzibar Cats, a performance of recent short poems. In What's on Stage, the reviewer Michael Coveney wrote: "These wonderful poems seize on political absurdity, planetary destruction and social injustice with relish and delight, as well as great erudition and verbal dexterity."[12]
In December 2011, Huxley Scientific Press published a collection of poems by Williams on science and nature entitled Forbidden Fruit.
Williams regularly published new work on the digital, resurrected
In June 2015, 'Badshah Khan: Islamic Peace Warrior' was published by
Williams's riposte to the election of President Donald Trump, American Porn, was published by Thin Man Press on 20 January, Trump's inauguration day.[1][16]
Political pamphlets
In 2016, Williams responded to contemporary political events with a pamphlet in the Swiftean tradition, an excoriating commentary on Boris Johnson entitled 'The Blond Beast of Brexit: a Study in Depravity'. The pamphlet was described by a review as "a 20,000-word collage of the most maniacal, hypocritical, and cruel things the former mayor has ever said or done".[17]
Later that year, an updated and expanded version, 'Brexit Boris: From Mayor to Nightmare', was published by Public Reading Rooms.[1][18]
Bibliography
- The Speakers, Hutchinson, 1964 (e-book Thin Man Press, 2017)
- The Local Stigmatic, Penguin: Traverse Plays,
- Film script: Malatesta, 1970, Germany dir. Peter Lilienthal
- AC/DC, Calder & Boyars, 1970
- Manifestoes/Manifesten, Cold Turkey Press, 1974
- Hancock's Last Half Hour, 1976
- Television: Channel 4: What the Dickens, 1983
- Whale Nation, Jonathan Cape, 1988
- Sacred Elephant, Jonathan Cape, 1989,
- Falling for a Dolphin, Jonathan Cape, 1991
- Autogeddon, Jonathan Cape, 1992
- Forbidden Fruit, Huxley Scientific Press, 20
- Royal Babylon, Skyscraper Books, 2015
- Badshah Khan: Islamic Peace Warrior, Thin Man Press, 2016
- The Last Dodo, New River Press, 2016
- Brexit Boris: From Mayor to Nightmare, Public Reading Rooms, 2016
- American Porn, Thin Man Press, 2017
Painting and sculpture
Williams's second bout of fame caused him to cease writing in effect, and turn to painting and sculpture full-time. Leading the life of a would-be recluse, he received prolonged tuition from the 'New Ruralist' and others. He also produced a number of sculptures of great piles of books, tottering and damp-swollen, elaborately hand-carved in wood.
Song-writing
Williams's occasional but typically anarchistic forays into the realm of lyric-writing include the uncategorisable and unreleased "Wrinkly Bonk", and "Why D'Ya Do It?", a sexually explicit exploration of carnal jealousy, for Marianne Faithfull's 1979 classic album Broken English.[20] Williams's words were enough to cause a walk-out by the female workers on EMI's production line.
Magazines
Williams was for a time associate editor of the literary journal
An anthology of his tracts and manifestos from this period, Severe Joy, was announced by his then publisher but for some reason never actually appeared. A sampling did appear in a bi-lingual, limited edition titled Manifestoes from the Rotterdam-based Cold Turkey Press as well as in the Manchester literary magazine Wordworks in 1975.
Film
The theme of Williams' early one-act play The Local Stigmatic is fame and its adverse consequences, performed by
Williams' own film performances include
Television
Williams' contact with television overlapped with his activity in community politics. In a 1970s experiment by the BBC in public access television Williams, in the guise of a tree, spoke for fifteen minutes on the virtues of life unencumbered by the rule of
Williams later applied his abilities as a conjurer – he was a member of
In July 1988 Williams made an
and others.In March 1993, Williams was the subject of a half-hour spoof arts documentary, a meditation on fame and fandom titled Every Time I Cross the Tamar I Get into Trouble. Screened by Channel Four in its Without Walls slot, the BFI film database characterises the film thus: "An account of Heathcote William's work, and Al Pacino's obsession with his writing. Includes an interview with Harold Pinter and footage from Pacino's film The Local Stigmatic."[24][25] The half-hour film was presented by the comedian and musician John Dowie, an avid collector of Williams memorabilia.
Personal life
Williams's personal life was always turbulent. An affair with the model Jean Shrimpton resulted in the writer setting himself alight on her doorstep. Whether this was intentional or the upshot of a magic stunt gone wrong – Williams at the time was an ardent fire-eater – is unknown. Although at the time, it was assumed Shrimpton had ended the relationship, in her autobiography published in the early 1990s, Shrimpton asserted that it was Williams who walked out on her.
Williams had a son, Charlie, born in 1989, from a relationship with novelist and journalist Polly Samson. In 1994 Samson married Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who became Charlie's adoptive father.[26]
Williams and Samson had become involved with each other during the publication of Whale Nation, which Samson publicised and succeeded in turning into a best-selling volume despite its author's reluctance to promote his work (see §Poetry).[27]
Williams lived in Oxford with longterm partner Diana Senior. They had two daughters and three grandchildren.[28]
Illness and death
Williams died on 1 July 2017 in Oxford, of kidney failure after a long stay in hospital for a chest infection.
See also
- Autogeddon, an album by Julian Cope "inspired by Heathcote Williams' epic poem of the same name..."
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Harding, Luke (2 July 2017). "Heathcote Williams: radical poet, playwright and actor, dies aged 75". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ a b Hoare, Philip (20 September 2008). "Troubled waters: Did we really save the whale?". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ Harding, Luke (2 July 2017). "Heathcote Williams, radical poet, playwright and actor, dies aged 75". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
- ^ Paul Rogers (27 May 2015). "Islam and non-violence: Badshah Khan's example". Open Democracy. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ^ "Huxley Scientific Press". Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
- ^ "PFF 2005". Portobellofilmfestival.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ Grimes, William (5 July 2017). "Heathcote Williams, Radical British Poet Who Helped Form Anarchist Nation, Dies at 75". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
- ^ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (7 July 2017). "Heathcote Williams, poet and playwright, 1941-2017". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ "Heathcote Williams obituary". The Guardian. 2 July 2017. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ "Audio recording". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2005.
- ^ "Heathcote Williams- Bio, Albums, Pictures – Naxos Classical Music". Naxos.com. 25 June 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Michael Coveney (13 August 2011). "Zanzibar Cats by Heathcote Williams Reviews at Gilded Balloon Teviot – Edinburgh". Whatsonstage.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ "Forbidden Fruit". Huxley Scientific Press. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
- ^ "Shelley at Oxford". Huxley Scientific Press. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
- ^ "Badshah Khan: Islamic Peace Warrior by Heathcote Williams". 1 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ^ Miaow, Madam (24 February 2017). "Madam Miaow Says: Heathcote Williams' American Porn poetry collection: balancing passion and disgust on a razor's edge — review". Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- Independent.co.uk. 29 May 2016. Archivedfrom the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "Brexit Boris – From Mayor to Nightmare - IT". internationaltimes.it. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "The Brotherhood of Ruralists Information Website – Homepage". Ruralists.com. 18 September 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- YouTube[dead link]
- ^ "Pacino on Local Stigmatic and Heathcote Williams". bombsite.com. Fall 1990. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ "Buy Movies at Movies Unlimited – The Movie Collector's Site". Moviesunlimited.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ "The A-Z of TV Hell Part 2". YouTube. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | EVERY TIME I CROSS THE TAMAR I GET INTO TROUBLE (1993)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | WITHOUT WALLS". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ "BBC News – Charlie Gilmour admits student fees protest violence". Bbc.co.uk. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ "'Please don't call me Mrs Gilmour'". Guardian.co.uk. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ Coveney, Michael (2 July 2017). "Heathcote Williams obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
Further reading
- Whale Nation, London, Jonathan Cape; New York, Harmony Books, 1988. ISBN 978-0-517-56932-0
- Sacred Elephant, London, Jonathan Cape; New York, Harmony Books, 1989. ISBN 0-517-57320-2
- Falling for a Dolphin, London, Jonathan Cape, 1990. ISBN 0-224-02789-1
- Autogeddon, London, Jonathan Cape; New York, Arcade, 1991. ISBN 1-55970-176-5
External links
- List of stage works on doollee.com – The Playwrights' Database
- Heathcote Williams at IMDb
- Film appearances; list of writings
- Mini-profile, The Independent, 15 August 1995
- Comedian John Dowie on directing Whale Nation
- The Australian stage version of Autogeddon
- Webpage on Pacino's version of The Local Stigmatic
- Pacino speaks at length about The Local Stigmatic Archived 28 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- Zanzibar Cats, performed by Roy Hutchins (2011)
- Interview with Heathcote Williams in Herald Scotland, August 2011
- Interview with Heathcote Williams in The Rebel, August 2016
- Guardian Obit July 2, 2017.
Audio
- WILLIAMS: Sacred Elephant – NA209712 clip read by Heathcote Williams
- YouTube – "Tell me all the swear words you know" Williams in movie Wish You Were Here