Quentin Crisp interview | Good Afternoon | 1975
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Respected Journalist and host of Thames Televisions 'Good Afternoon' programme, Mavis Nicholson interviews flamboyant raconteur and professional life model Mr. Quentin Crisp.
First broadcast: 18/12/1975
Please note that this is a slightly cut-down version of the original televised interview.
If you would like to license a clip from this interview please e mail:
archive@fremantlemedia.com
Mavis was such an intelligent interviewer. Note how the show doesn’t speak down to its audience. Imagine the dreadful spectacle that would be made today by Loose Women or the like.
Very true, the narcistic presenters on Loose Women are always jockeying for camera time. It's always about them. They would have got it horribly wrong trying to interview Quentin, he would have seen straight through them.
You've got it all wrong. Loose Women is empowering.🤨
I just wanted to add, Mavis is too good to ever appear on Loose Women. Day time TV has gone backward.
I actually really like her interview style, other interviewers at the same time were not great. I also can see Gems in what Q.C had to say .
@@vordman She and her husband held court to writers and poets, and James Baldwin, Auden etc sat at her dinners. She was what they called in the past, with a straight face, an intellectual.
I see a lot of kindness in his soul. May your spirit soar.
Imagine having interviews of this quality in the afternoon. The 1970s was a golden age for TV.
we have such interview shows in norway too, like skavlan and Lindmo ;)
Quentin Crisp would despair of the politicisation of homosexuality that has happened in the last 30 years. He understood himself and society perfectly. A genuine intellect.
So was 1950s 1960s
Mavis interviewed some fascinating people , quality television.
To me day time TV can be boring but reruns give more shows
I absolutely love him, he is so poised, so wise, so humorous, so human, so real.
The word your looking for is, class!
Here, here 👏! My thoughts exactly. He was an exceptional human being.
His intellect is off the scale. He doesn't put a foot wrong. Unbelievable viewing.
Amazing fella and more balls than most straight men would ever had.You were a great guy Quentin.
🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
Nasty lol 😆
Definitely- a hero and a very brave man
( although he would have derided such observations!!!)
@@amandaknopp9032 Extremely brave. I loved him and watched him on tv every chance I had. He would be considered less outrageous now.
I’ve known of Quentin of course... but it’s taken until this past week to discover him. Such wit and comic timing, and wisdom too.
This interviewer is outstanding. Wish more were like her today.
Clearly a guy with more balls and bravery than the inadequate morons that made his life difficult.
Sir.
I know a great many people who are both inadequate, and, indeed, moronic, to boot.
They make my life difficult at every turn, therefore I intend to steal your turn of phrase, and apply it willy-nilly, as if it were my own creation.
I do hope you find this acceptable.
Kindest Regards.
DM.
Bravery is not inherently male or masculine.
@@SikanderGthat's why the expression "has balls" has become zero gender.
@@SikanderG As Queen Boudicca, Queen Elizabeth 1st and Margaret Thatcher demonstrated extremely well.
@@SikanderGI don’t think the OP is implying it is.
"Either it's a man in drag, or it's a woman who hasn't been happy since 1926." He was amazing
I know! So funneh! 😂😂❤️❤️
That was funny what Quentin Crisp said, to people who would ask; was he supposed to be a man or woman? "Why do you ask, what are you going to suggest we should do".
He had the balls to piss off anti-gay bigots AND to oppose many aspects of gay liberation. When bigots or gays called to threaten to kill him , his standard answer was , "Would you like to make an appointment. " The guy had class.
So funny! Love it!❤️🥰
Lesbians of the butch variety highjacked gay rights as well as womens rights sadly.
Sadly Quentin did not fit into the gay or straight communities, not only did gay men give him no support, they did not want to be seen with him or near him in case their secret would be revealed. He was told not to go to gay clubs, because on the face of it they could pass for gentlemen's clubs, but Quentin frequenting the place was a give away. The poor chap really was out on his own.
This is fascinating. Mavis Nicholson's questions on the one hand belong to 1975. They represent the culture of the time, enquiring of the phenomenon that was Quentin Crisp. At the same time Mavis interviews Quentin with such warmth, kindness, grace and empathy and it is impossible to miss that Quentin liked her for it. I love the conspiratorial moment..."A vamp!" Mavis Nicholson was possibly the best interviewer of that time. And Quentin Crisp was a pioneer and a genius. With nearly 50 years of hindsight we can see how prophetic and prescient many of his statements were (TV, technology and the surveillance state for instance) and how far ahead of the crowd he was in terms of existentialism, post-modernity and the courageous drive for self-authenticity. An inspiration and a hero. And an absolute treat to see Mavis and Quentin together!
"...the courageous drive for self-authenticity."
Well said.
I have known 'military' men who didn't have this kind of bravery, he faces the world with a clever comment & face powder, not a machine gun, a truly outstanding person & one of his best interviews.
A gun is a manifestation of vulnerability, not power.
@@markofsaltburn Isn't that the truth! Your comment is brief and says it all! Brilliant!
He was rock.
@@rafiqadarr6217 I wish he'd stood up for himself more, he lived by his self made mantra of I did what they told me to do & this extended to letting people abuse him. However, this may have been the only way he could survive the dangerous circumstances he got into, as he simply didn't have the physical strength to fend off attackers. I wonder what he would make of modern day mores, I have a feeling he might chuckle, as the tables seem to have turned, although in a rather odd & unhelpful way.
He would be disturbed with the woke stuff now
Quentin inspires me, I’m a white straight man. He was a man who was true to himself. You can’t ask for more than that.
Same here - read his three books as a late teenager while dating my girlfriend… I was as straight as can be - a beer drinking lad so totally different to him - but one who had an enormous love for and respect for his irreverent wit, his English eccentricity and defiance, and his out and out flair for resolute individuality.
God never did make two Quentin Crisps.
He reminded me to make sure I never forget his example.
He helped change the world , brave guy .
There was even a grudging respect for his courage from people fundamentally opposed to him.
@Mary Faulkner It's his real hair?
@Mary Faulkner Really mary...?! That's what you were focusing on...?! B please!!!
Quentin would be laughing at the entitlement on display today and would find it insulting to be given a letter as a moniker. This woke lgbtqetc is a joke.
Love him or hate him just listen to him, educated and what a voice he has, a legend.
I remember watching this when it first aired. I was a very naive 16 year old and the only experience of homosexuality I had was watching the comedic personalities of Ken Williams in the carry ons and the role of John Inman as Mr Humphries. I’d watched The naked civil servant the evening before with amazement. It affected me deeply that this incredible, sensitive and clever man had been treated so dreadfully throughout his life. It was my first real experience of being able to discuss the subject of real homosexuality with my parents. I am so proud of the both as they were so accepting of ‘difference’ in others, which wasn’t usual even in the 70’s. Imagine my amazement even more then when I discovered ladies could also be gay! I’m not gay or even curious but I’m happy the world is finally beginning to accept people for who they are and not what we want or expect them to be.
John Ingham: 'are you being served!'. It was my first introduction to gay life style and was kind of surprised in the Native Civil Servant he slept with a GI....that scene with the gum I never forgot:) I'm not gay, but we never found it odd (in my family of characters with 60s morals or none at all!)
Incredible natural philosopher .. A hero to me .. RIP Mr Crisp.
RIP, Russ442100.
@@jonhohensee3258 what do you mean by that?
a superb interview by Mavis and the most wonderful guest, a golden age of television interview.
Mavis Nicholson sadly died on Sept 8th, R.I.P. Mavis, you were as fascinating as the characters you interviewed with such genuine curiosity, tolerance and a wonderful humility as well as being a top drawer writer! Love you forever!!! X
Beautifully said Anthony.
She was brilliant.
What an extraordinarily brave and intelligent human being. We should all be so courageous as to walk our own paths.
I first saw this interview in late August of 1976 (it was a repeat)...later in a conversation over the telephone with Quentin Crisp, when he lived in New York, he revealed that he liked Mavis Nicholson saying that she was cosy and that she was his favourite interviewer...
I don't understand his comment about the nail and the plank of wood.
dlk1dlk1 he meant that gay men, effeminate gay men in particular, try to emulate women but at the same time aren’t women and always fall short of their goal or aspiration. They also can’t be “men” either - they are stuck in limbo. The real woman can do whatever she wants, nail the plank of wood, and a real man of course can do that, but the effeminate gay can’t. He’s not a woman or a “man”.
Well there was no sex change operation in those days... Really, even straight people were not free to be themselves totally and so followed a template which exaggerated their femininity or masculinity... Transgender people of that time had to exaggerate the exaggeration, simply to assuage their feelings of being the wrong sex. Quentin Crisp was not an effeminate homosexual, he was Transgender and this interview confirms it...
@@Patrick3183 Brilliant comment!
@@johncharnock6872@SikanderG And yet Quentin is male and has balls, a masculine trait. You mean females can be brave as well, and they can possess "balls" - which is a generic term for courage. There are only two genders. We are all of us in varying degrees a happy mix of unifying features. Emotional feminine homosexual men are still men, not women.
I am in awe at his intelligence and the beauty of his English
If your going to have relations with Men, you've got to, at any moment, be passed off as somebody's nephew. ..." He was so witty and brilliant.
No canned audience reactions, in depth questions, interesting, and quiet, well-modulated voices.....
I count myself fortunate to have had dinner with Quintin at Charlie's in Seattle WA back in the 80's and later to have become friends with friends of his... in LA. He really was a hero... and shall be remembered as a hero in the gay community for ages to come. Thank you dear Quintin.
immensely kind person
The thing that stuck with me for decades was what he said about housework. After 7 years the dust doesn't get any thicker. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Don't even need to wait that long! After the first four years the dust doesn't get any worse! I know someone who hasn't done house work for years and Quentin was right!
pamla motown that one has stuck in my mind as well! Thank goodness for people like Quentin.
It's 4yrs 😂😂😂
He lied! :-)
I don't know about that we had a latticed dust 35 years thick in a school desk and it was more than what had settled on his flat surfaces at least 2 inches and my joke was that dust contained dust from the last above ground nuclear test.
The casting of John Hurt was spot on.
The naked civil servant comedy drama I wish they put that for free on TH-cam or Dailymotion.
It's been on here as of three months ago . I'm in the middle of watching it.
and William Hurt was great cast in Altered States....mr non sequitur has spoken!!
Breaks my heart when he described himself as “mad”
He was before his time and such a lovely warm and spirited man. God bless you Quentin your missed. 🙏🏻
Homosexuality was considered a mental illness by the W.H.O all the way until the 90's. Quite scary really.
Mavis Nicholson, a Welsh presenter, was a bohemian example of native British Isles beauty. I see aunts in her, and the woman who gave me life. RIP.
I just discovered this man! What an amazing human being. "Would you feel better if I got off, but even people like me can't walk everywhere" wow!
He was definitely a one off was Mr Crisp.
Quentin Crisp a legend, interviewed by a legend. Mavis Nicholson had never been bettered.
Lovely NOT to have a loud clapping audience. Wonderful to have these interviews.
I was so very lucky to have seen him,while living in NYC, in a small theater. Pursuing two books. He was a wonderful witty person.
Quentin looks like Marc Almond's father.
An absolutely wonderful person and also a delightful dandy as well!! I love the way he dressed!! He really stood out, in a way people don’t nowadays. A rare treasure of a human being.
I read The Naked Civil Servant when I was 17. This man was an incredible human being. His bravery and utter defiance of society was astonishing. When I was a young man I had lots of heroes ( as all young people do ).
As an older man I have very few. Quentin Crisp SHOULD be on most people’s lists.
Same here. I guess when you're young you know sod all about the world and so latch on to entertainers, sports people and the like. It's only when you're more life savvy you see the wisdom of quieter deeper people.
I never read the book but I saw the version made for ITV in 1975 when I was only six or seven (I was earwigging because my mother and gran were watching).
I remember the scene with the sailors and thought it hilarious. And then I saw it again on TH-cam a couple of years ago (hopefully, it’s not been struck down for copyright infringement since then) and the humour was still there. But there was an air of sadness there as well which I couldn’t understand when I was so young. At times he certainly didn’t have it easy.
It was a brave move to show this when the so-called ‘queer bashing’ was rife and anyone complaining to the police after suffering an attack wasn’t likely to have a sympathetic ear.
I’m not gay but he certainly was interesting viewing and he never hurt anyone so he deserves respect for living his life not swimming with the tide but against it.
@@rafiqadarr6217 👍
@@oleggorky906You are
Amazing trail blazer and living protestor! While others talked about rights (and hated effeminate gays, esp him), he, Quentin Crisp, lived openly and in so doing, demanded and found his place and acceptance, without compromise! I have revered him since I read his books, saw met and spoke with him, many times. 💜
There is a large group of gay identified men and butch lesbians now and they are trying to hide the fact that some transsexuals are indeed homosexuals. They want gay to be the only identity that homosexuals can take on. Most of these types decry “transgenders” and act as if it’s a totally different thing, when in fact it’s feminine innate homosexuals presenting their sexuality outwardly. They are embarrassed by feminine homosexuals still after 70 years! I refuse to “man up”!
He lived in my hood in the East Village. I saw him all the time just walking on the street. What a sight he was!
LazlosPlane He had a head of hair to die for. He was extremely intelligent. A very brave Man of his time.
@@marycull3607 His "head of hair to die for" was very much a prototype Trumpover.
I saw him a lot too...even on the same bus. I wish I had spoken to him...would loved to have been his friend.
What a loss to the world. Quentin's gentleness and dignity were, for me, far more persuasive in regard to acceptance of Gay people than the aggressive attitude in forcing people to accept a point of view or way of life. Thank you Quentin. .
1st Class interview. Thank you Mavis.
I could hear him speak for hours on end.
Check out the comedy-drama the naked civil movie John hurt as Quentin crisp I think this movie even out does Quentin crisp
Me too
2023 and this is the second interview I’ve seen with Crisp. I just want to say and emphasise this man is a genuinely good example of how to be a man for all men of any proclivity.
Well said.
Loved the Comment about gay mannerisms having nothing to do with how “real women” are
Good old Quentin, always a joy to watch. An admirable man.
Sean Macleod so utterly true....I can't see anyone around today like him who give such pleasure and be like this
A lesson to us all. Be yourself. Thankyou Quentin.
Mavis Nicholson… by far the best interviewer ever
great interview, RIP Mavis, died Sept 2022 aged 92.
What a superb person. Excellent interviewer, too.
Excellent! Amazing guy! Nice quip: should I say "Im homosexual how are you?" Classic!
One of the bravest men in history.
One of the most prescient philosophers of the 20th Century...
Mavis Nicholson was one of the few British presenters/interviewers capable of relating both to the viewing public by asking their questions thus enlightening them in the process as well as empathizing with the interviewee.
Imagine having quality tv like this on a regular basis.
Strange to think television dropped the single interview for fear of losing ratings.
He is an extraordinary person - intelligent , well spoken , outspoken and full of insights - insights worth sharing to all !!
Gosh! What a personality ❤
A must see for trans activists (and their opponents). Thoughtful, and amazing how little has changed.
I'm sure Quentin with his immeasurable intellect, common sense and candour, would waste no time in destroying the fantasy that the trans activists insist on peddling. That is not to say by doing so he would be denying them or trying to obstruct their cause, moreover by asserting the truth and reassuring them that acceptance is ready and waiting for them, the second they abandon this absurd crusade of placing doubt on female characteristics and purporting that the female being is nothing but a state of mind. Disregard and abandon such nonsense and the resentment will disperse.... Quentin would quite clearly never approve of their current tactic, which has ensured university scholars and college professors are now unable (more likely afraid) to even define what a woman is - a question (up until very recently) concisely and succinctly answered by primary school children.
Absolutely. Lots of transsexuals are homosexual transsexuals. Many political groups want this hidden for various reasons. Gender identity is not real. It’s their sexuality. Butch lesbians and gay men want us all to believe they are just like regular men and women, when in fact the science says otherwise. Gay men are feminized in the brain, homosexual transsexuals are further feminized. If anyone is owning their homosexuality it would be a homosexual transsexual like April Ashley, Tula Cossey etc. Many trans now are heterosexual crossdressers.
No doubt, a wonderful human being.
He was amazing and could talk with great clarity about his life with his mask off always! He was honest to the world And completely honest with himself! How really refreshing in a world has lost its honesty about almost everything!
I had always Loved the Good Afternoon Programme from time to time throughout the 1970's and 1980's when i was off school through illness and unemployment while looking for work. But i can remember this interview i remember being of school due to circumstances possibly illness, we watched the Naked Civil Servant at the same time on that previous night. I have always Loved Highly Honoured Quentin Crisp, myself being gay for the past 56 years of my entire life, while my own early childhood years which i myself was very feminine throughout my childhood years, which i have always can relate to Quentin Crisp. He's Absolutely Genuine Genius LEGENDARY.
Thank you for sharing this Wonderful Remarkable Interview ☕💝💖🌠🌟
The same with waring these stupid face muzzle I will not do other wise
As I've grown older I have started to realise just how fortunate we were to witness TV in the 70's and 80's where we enjoyed interviews like this. The likes of Mavis, Russell Harty, Parkinson etc who always let their guests speak unhindered. We're lucky to enjoy such an archive of wonderful interviews with such glorious characters like Crisp, Williams and Everett.
@Retrobeemer .......the problem with interviewers these days is as former journalists they are also activists and have an agenda.
That man had more guts than most men I have ever met
Bless him, he had to explain every aspect of himself to all... Can you imagine this today??? Shocking...x God bless you Quentin.... Thank god times have changed in most respects...x
I like Mavis, but she sounds like she's kinda of saying, " you did actually ask for all the abuse you recieved" by being flamboyant etc...
Quentin was, what we know now "trans" 99% of homosexuals don't identify as wanting to be female!! Homosexual is a sexuality, not a gender...
I could listen to this man all day long. What an amazing person he was.
You can. There are hours and hours of video of him on TH-cam!
I feel the same, Stuart.
Q Crisp was such a trend setter. Even Donald Trump has the same kind of hair style.
But Mr Crisp, wore it so much better!
Mavis Nicholson is a good interviewer.
I don't understand the reference to the nail and plank of wood.
A wonderful human being.
I wish I had met him.
The forerunner of gay rights. He made us gays feel not only that we wanted to be seen but that we had a right to be seen. God bless him.
yes but in 2019 you dont want to be equal you want to be superior nobody on earth has less rights than white Caucasian men/boys (im 16) imagine if we asked for a straight pride parade?????? or a white police association we,d just get called racist or homophobic in an instant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
daniel whittaker Straight pride parades should be actively encouraged so that people can see how utterly dull they would be. They would only ever happen once.
I think he was more interested in freedom, style, dignity and honesty than rights. Rights can make you a ward of the state.
@@danielwhittaker695 It's obvious you're 16, dear.
Such a wise and insightful man. Mavis Nicholson is wonderful too, listening respectfully.
5:06 "I couldn't do otherwise. I never had any feeling of making a choice. Once my existence was in question, I felt it has to be stated."
A brave man in better times
I love listening to this remarkable man, so much wisdom, so much to offer, sad that he is now gone. He stood his ground with dignity ... good for him, he never stooped to the low level of his verbal and physical abusers. Just brilliant
The interviewer is simply amazing & so caniid & open in her views, what happened to her 🤔
She died recently. She did a second interview with him years later.
What a wonderfully errudite and intelligent, insightful inspiration you were and are Quentin Crisp. Mavis Nicholson is an excellent interviewer too!
Would loved to have met this fascinating man in this time.
The lesson that Quentin Crisp's life taught all of us is less about sexuality and more about individuality. It is OK to be different and we should all dare to be so. I admire the courage with which he lived his life for "merely being who he was".
Quentin was a rare and colourful bird, but an incredibly decent person who was at all times true to himself. He thankfully lived to a ripe old age and allowed us to share in his remarkable journey. Even as a child I remember people being hung up on his looks and failing to listen to those elegant, thoughtful and artfully considered words. Quentin's dare to rare attitude has left an indelibly positive mark on my life. Be true to yourself and the rest will fall into place.
It's as if Margaret Thatcher based her persona and mannerisms on him.
He was so brave, and so true to himself. Incredibly ahead of his time.
I always remember a bit from that film (The naked civil servant) where he explains that what he really wants is a 'a real man'...and then adds "but of course if he wanted to go with me...he wouldn't be a 'real' man""
So it's an impossible paradox. I always thought that was so deep and so sad.
Contrast this with the clown-style interviews he did with David Letterman a few years later. Sadly, the UK's interview shows eventually copied the American TV model. Michael Parkinson was the King of interviewing and Mavis Nicholson was the female equivalent. Post these interviews being done by journalists we entered the celebrity chat show era where the guest is secondary to the host. We've been horrifically subjected to Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton, Alan Carr and "Loose Women". The dumbing down of previous quality broadcasting has been completed and short-term shallowness has superceded it.
Fantastic interview! What a charming, convivial man of grace and humor! We could use more like him, gay or straight.
Thank you so much for posting this interview. What a thrill to see Quentin the very day after The Naked Civil Servant was first broadcast in Great Britain. He had such a positive influence on my life. The most "Punk Rock" person I ever saw. :o)
Mavis Nicolson was an amazing interviewer.
He did what he did because he knew no other way."The Naked Civil Servant" was an outrageously ground breaking piece of tele and the term "Quent" or "Quentin"was a play ground insult for many years.
Wonder if that’s where the gay and drag slang “Serving quent” comes from. Like a play on words for the C word.
It's amazing how modern the things he said then applies now. He eloquently articulates everything that people still don't understand now.
hamburgerhelperflick I think that unless you’re a homosexual, no one straight will fully understand. No more than I can understand what my husband feels. I am a woman, it would be remiss of me to assume I know what a man feels, or a gay man, or a gay woman. I can try to empathise, to try my best to understand, but I can’t ever fully understand as I am not part of the LGBT community. My mother in law is gay, has been out since my husband was seven years old.....I accept her for who she is, and don’t often think about it really, but I cannot fully understand it. So, try not to think of it as something to be understood, think of it as something to be as accepted as anything else. You get my point? 🌸
Trill 1 I wrote that we can never understand. Didn’t I? I think I made it clear...lol! 👍🏽
@@pommiebears yes absolutely get your point
If only QC had played himself across all the ages in The Naked Civil Servant - he's so wonderful to look at - and listen to. Those eyes!
R. I. P. Mavis. 😢
Katherine Hepburn in a way.
That's who he reminds me of, thanks!
It makes me furious to think this lovely gentle man was attacked purely for the way he looked.
Thank you God that times have changed now....and continue to improve 🙏
Yt suggestion
Looking at his life on YT ......mesmerising
Unique impeccable individual .....
True to himself...
He saw through & explained the real agenda.......
Very apt for today
Now it's the "mask wearing" those not complying to the lying are discriminated against.
Love to know how he would have dealt with today......id say he would not consent to the madness
He said he was not into politics, ReLEGION ~~ he said do not change for society....let society change around you.......words of wisdom.
09/03/2021
This person was fearless. Called it like is lived it.
Imagine Crisp and Dame Edith Sitwell at lunch.
Or Dame Edith Evans
I love Angela Lansbury 😊
Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; 25 December 1908 -
21 November 1999) was an English writer, raconteur and actor.
Ultimate respect for this guy, I struggled with the deception of pretending to be other than who I was, Knowing that many would reject me if they knew I was gay.
Honestly most people just don’t care
:(