Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial
EnglishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
theatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
criticA critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
and
writerA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Early life
He was born in
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
to Letitia Rose Tynan and (as he was led to believe) "Peter Tynan" (though see below). As a child, he stammered but possessed early on a high degree of articulate intelligence. By the age of six, he was already keeping a
diaryA diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
. At
King Edward's School, BirminghamKing Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
, he was a brilliant student of whom one of his masters said, "He was the only boy I could never teach anything." Always clothed foppishly in that all-boy public school, he played the lead as Doctor Parpalaid in an English translation of
Jules RomainsJules Romains, born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule , was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement...
' farce
Knock. While at school he began smoking, which became a lifelong habit.
Tynan was 12 when
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out. By the time the war ended, he had earned a scholarship to
OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. Well before then he had adopted a fairly colourful set of views (and wardrobe items). During school debates he advocated repealing laws against
homosexualityHomosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and
abortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. During a school debate on the motion, "This House Thinks The Present Generation Has Lost The Ability To Entertain Itself" Tynan gave a speech on the pleasures of
masturbationMasturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
.
At
Magdalen College, OxfordMagdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
he lived flamboyantly but was already beginning to suffer from the effects of his heavy smoking. He did not discover until much too late that he had been born with a rare lung condition, which increased the damage done by smoking by a factor of 300.
The writer Paul Johnson, who was "an awestruck freshman-witness to his arrival at the Magdalen lodge" described Tynan as a "tall, beautiful,
epiceneEpicene is an adjective for loss of gender distinction, often specific loss of masculinity. It includes:* effeminacy — a man with characteristics that are traditionally feminine...
youth, with pale yellow locks,
BeardsleyAubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His drawings, done in black ink and influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A....
cheekbones, fashionable stammer, plum-coloured suit, lavender tie and ruby signet-ring." Unlike Johnson and Tynan, most undergraduates at the university had been through World War II, but were nevertheless "struck speechless" by Tynan's extravagant style.
Hated by some, Tynan was nevertheless an intellectual and social leader among Oxford undergraduates, often made a splash ("during the whole of his time there he was easily the most talked-of person in the city") and had groupies ("a court of young women and admiring dons"), and gave sensational parties sometimes attended by London entertainment celebrities, Johnson wrote.
He also produced and acted in plays, spoke "brilliantly" at the
Oxford UnionThe Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
, wrote for and edited college magazines. He retained a life-long admiration for his tutor at Oxford,
C. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
, in spite of their marked differences in outlook.
In 1948, upon the death of Tynan's father -- the man he had known as Peter Tynan -- Tynan learned to his surprise that Peter Tynan was in reality an alias of Sir Peter Peacock, a former
mayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of
WarringtonWarrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, who had been successfully leading a double life for more than 20 years, and who had a wife and another family back in Warrington. Tynan's mother was obliged to return Sir Peter's body to his wife and family in Warrington for burial. Tynan's discovery of his father's deception (and his mother's collusion) did long-term damage to his ability to trust others.
When Tynan was called up for
National ServiceNational service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, he put on an act of appearing outrageously
campCamp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
including wearing a floppy hat, velvet coat, painted fingernails and a great deal of
YardleyYardley of London is a traditional British cosmetics brand and is one of the oldest in the world. Established in 1770, Yardley was a major producer of soap and perfumery by the beginning of the 20th century. By 1910, it moved to London's Bond Street, and in 1921 Yardley received its first Royal...
scent. As a result he was rejected as 'medically unfit' for service.
Early adulthood
Three years later, on 25 January 1951, he married the author
Elaine DundyElaine Dundy was an American novelist, biographer, journalist, actress and playwright.-Early life:Born Elaine Rita Brimberg in New York City, of Latvian maternal descent, her Polish father was an office furniture manufacturer and a violent bully...
after a three-month romance. In the following year they had a daughter, Tracy (born 12 May 1952,
WestminsterThe City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
,
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
), after
Spencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
, and asked
Katharine HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
to be godmother, which she accepted.
Tynan's career took off in 1952 when he was hired as a theatre critic for the London
Evening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
. According to Johnson, Tynan "quickly established himself as the most audacious literary journalist in London. His motto was: 'Write heresy, pure heresy.' He pinned to his desk the exhilarating slogan: 'Rouse tempers, goad and lacerate, raise whirlwinds.'" Two years later he left for
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, and it was there that he rose to prominence.
The timing for a witty, eloquent theatre critic was perfect. Tynan was highly critical of what he called 'the Loamshire play', a genre of English middle-class country-house drama which he felt dominated the early 1950s British stage, and was wasting the talents of playwrights and actors. But there was a significant development in the 1955-1956 British theatre season during which
John OsborneJohn James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
's
Look Back in AngerLook Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
and
Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's
Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
premiered. Tynan championed Osborne's play, turning it into a hit, according to Johnson. Tynan espoused a new theatrical realism, best exemplified in the works of the playwrights who became known as the "
Angry Young MenThe "angry young men" were a group of mostly working and middle class British playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950s. The group's leading members included John Osborne and Kingsley Amis.The phrase was originally coined by the Royal Court Theatre's press officer to promote John...
".
"He became a power in the London theatre, which regarded him with awe, fear and hatred", Johnson wrote. The reviewer "seemed to know all world literature" and studded his articles with such words as "esurient", "cateran", "cisisbeism" and "eretheism". From 1958 to 1960 he became known in the United States by contributing "some superb reviews" to
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
. Following this, he returned to
The Observer where he remained its theatre critic until mid-1963 when he joined the National Theatre.
His marriage had become increasingly difficult in spite of his success (and Dundy's: she had published her first novel in 1958). Both had extramarital affairs (though his were much more blatant than hers) and he had developed a dependence on alcohol. His sexual tastes had always favored sadomasochism, which strained the marriage as well. Dundy wrote "To cane a woman on her bare buttocks, to hurt and humiliate her, was what gave him his greatest sexual satisfaction." Johnson wrote that "women seem to have objected less to his sadism, which took only a mild form, than to his vanity and authoritarianism. [...] He treated women as possessions. [...] Tynan, while reserving the unqualified right to be unfaithful himself, expected loyalty from his spouse." On one occasion, he returned from a meeting with his mistress to find a naked man in the kitchen with his wife. He threw the man's clothes down an elevator shaft.
Francis BaconFrancis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
, a painter renowned for his grotesque (and often gory) works, once smiled warmly at Tynan's daughter Tracy and declared her to be "as pretty as a picture". This was said to be one of the few times Tynan was ever shocked into silence.
Tynan co-wrote with
Harold LangHarold Lang was an American dancer and actor.-Biography:Lang began his professional career as a ballet dancer, making his professional debut with the San Francisco Ballet in 1938 and then going on to perform with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo two years later and American Ballet Theatre in 1943...
, the actor, a radio play
The Quest for Corbett (1956), which was broadcast at least twice in The BBC Third Programme in the mid-fifties. From 1956 -1958, Tynan was the script editor for
Ealing StudiosEaling Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
, and co-wrote with
Seth HoltSeth Holt was a British film director, producer and editor.Originally a film editor, he worked on a number of Ealing comedies before directing a number of features for Hammer Studios...
the film
Nowhere to GoNowhere to Go is a 1958 British crime film directed by Seth Holt and starring George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee, Harry H. Corbett and Lionel Jeffries. It was Maggie Smith's first film....
. Tynan commissioned a film adaptation of
William GoldingSir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
's
Lord of the FliesLord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding about a group of British boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results...
from
Nigel KnealeNigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
, but Ealing Studios closed in 1959 before it could be produced.
At the National Theatre
In 1963
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
became the British
Royal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
's first artistic director. Tynan had been highly dismissive of Olivier’s achievements as artistic director of the
Chichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
, which had opened in 1962, but he recommended himself for the role of literary manager. Olivier was initially outraged by Tynan’s presumption but Olivier’s wife,
Joan PlowrightJoan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
, convinced him that Tynan would be an asset at the National Theatre. When he became the National Theatre's literary manager, Tynan finished as
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
theatre critic but would stay for several more years as its film reviewer.
At the National Theatre Tynan established for himself a global reputation, Johnson wrote: "Indeed at times in the 1960s he probably had more influence than anyone else in world theatre." Tynan in particular played an important role in the National's choice of plays, pushing Olivier into more adventurous selections than his own instincts might have led him to. Altogether, some 79 plays were performed during Tynan’s period at the National Theate; 32 were his idea, and another 20 chosen with his collaboration. He also persuaded Olivier to play the title role in Shakespeare's
OthelloThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, something the actor had always been reluctant to do: Olivier's Othello opened at the National Theatre in 1964 to glowing reviews, and was filmed in 1965.
On 13 November 1965, Tynan participated in a live TV debate, broadcast as part of the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's late-night satirical show
BBC-3BBC-3 was a BBC television programme, devised and produced by Ned Sherrin and hosted by Robert Robinson, which aired for twenty-four hour-long editions during the winter of 1965-1966....
. He was asked whether he would allow a play to be staged in which sexual intercourse was represented on the stage, and replied: “Well, I think so, certainly. I doubt if there are any rational people to whom the word 'fuck' would be particularly diabolical, revolting or totally forbidden. I think that anything which can be printed or said can also be seen." No recording survives of the programme, but
Private EyePrivate Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
always maintained that Tynan’s stammer made it the first 3 syllable 4 letter word. This was the first time the word "fuck" had been spoken on British television. Johnson later called Tynan's use of the word "his masterpiece of calculated self-publicity", adding "for a time it made him the most notorious man in the country".
In response to public outcry, the BBC was forced to issue a formal apology. In the
House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, four separate censuring motions were signed by a total of 133
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
and
ToryToryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
backbencherIn Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
s.
Mary WhitehouseMary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
, a frequent critic of the BBC over issues of "morals and decency", wrote a letter to the
QueenElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, suggesting that Tynan should be reprimanded by having "his bottom spanked". The irony of Whitehouse's comment has been noted, given the later revelations of Tynan's fetish for
flagellationFlagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
. The episode further encouraged Whitehouse in her campaign against the BBC; it also cut short Tynan's television career. Comedian
Billy ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
would later commemorate this event in his song "A Four-Letter Word".
The controversy was part of a larger, longstanding aim of Tynan's "of breaking down linguistic inhibitions on the stage and in print. No one in Britain played a bigger role in destroying the old system of censorship, formal and informal." In 1960 "after much manoeuvering", Tynan got the four-letter word into
The Observer in an article about the Lady Chatterley Trial. His organization of
Oh! Calcutta!Oh! Calcutta! is an avant-garde theatrical revue, created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in London in 1970. It ran in London for over 3,900 performances, and in New York initially for 1,314...
in 1969 was another important victory in that campaign. Tynan was fiercely against
censorshipthumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
and was determined to break taboos that he considered arbitrary.
Tynan's left-wing politics and lifestyle made him something of a poster boy for Sixties
Radical ChicRadical chic is a term coined by journalist Tom Wolfe in his 1970 essay "Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's," to describe the adoption and promotion of radical political causes by celebrities, socialites, and high society...
/
Champagne SocialismChampagne socialist is a pejorative political term originating in the United Kingdom. The phrase is used to describe self identified socialists whose comfortable upper middle class lifestyles are perceived to be incompatible with their professed political convictions...
in London. He suffered a notable defeat in the National's internal battles over his support for the
Rolf HochhuthRolf Hochhuth is a German author and playwright. He is best known for his 1963 drama The Deputy and remains a controversial figure for his plays and other public comments, such as his insinuation of Pope Pius XII's sympathies for Hitler's extermination of the Jews in the 1963 play The Deputy and...
play
Soldiers, a controversial work highly critical of Winston Churchill, whose production at the National Theatre was eventually cancelled.
Meanwhile, Tynan's first marriage deteriorated to the point where he was living apart from Dundy, and they finally divorced in May 1964. In December 1962 he had met
Kathleen HaltonKathleen Jeannette Halton Tynan was a Canadian-British journalist, author and screenwriter. The daughter of Canadian war correspondent Matthew Halton and the sister of television journalist David Halton, she gave up her journalism career in 1967 to marry theatre critic Kenneth Tynan...
, the daughter of famed wartime CBC correspondent
Matthew HaltonMatthew Henry Halton was a Canadian television journalist, most famous as a foreign correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during World War II....
and sister of contemporary CBC journalist
David HaltonDavid Halton is a Canadian reporter. Until his retirement in June 2005, he was the senior correspondent in Washington for CBC News....
. Tynan convinced her to leave her husband and live with him. On June 30, 1967, before a New York Justice of the Peace, he married a 6 month pregnant Halton, with
Marlene DietrichMarlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
as witness. During the ceremony, Dietrich backed towards some doors to close them; the judge interrupted his oration, and without change in tone or pace said: "And do you, Kenneth, take Kathleen for your lawful-wedded--I wouldn't stand with your ass to an open door in
this office lady--wife to have and to hold?"
Halton gave up her career to support Tynan politically and socially. Her writing fell by the wayside during these years as the Tynan home became something of a focus for left-wing personalities in London.
An erotic revue which Tynan co-ordinated and partially wrote, called
Oh! Calcutta!Oh! Calcutta! is an avant-garde theatrical revue, created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in London in 1970. It ran in London for over 3,900 performances, and in New York initially for 1,314...
, debuted in 1969 and became one of the most successful theatre hits of all time. It included scenes written by various authors, including
Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
,
John LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, and
Edna O'BrienEdna O'Brien is an Irish novelist and short story writer whose works often revolve around the inner feelings of women, and their problems in relating to men and to society as a whole.-Life and career:...
, as well as music, and featured frequent nudity. Tynan was a poor businessman, however, and the contracts he signed for the show brought him in only $250,000 out of the many millions it earned.
In 1971, Tynan co-wrote with
Roman PolanskiRoman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
the script of an unusually grim and violent screen adaptation of
Macbeth. In that same year he returned to his childhood habit of keeping a journal, detailing his last few months at the Royal National Theatre, which he finally left at the end of 1973 after being out-manoeuvred by the incoming Peter Hall.
Later career
In the mid-1970s he made various failed efforts to explore serious sexual themes. He researched and wrote half a book on
Wilhelm ReichWilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
. His attempts to compile an anthology of masturbation fantasies foundered after being rebuffed by
Vladimir NabokovVladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
,
Graham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
,
Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
and others, and he couldn't raise enough money to finance a film about a sexual triangle. Sexual obsession and physical debility marked his last years, according to Johnson.
His diaries, which he continued until the end of his life, are a mixture of self-examination and gossip; frequently hilarious and passionate, filled with wisdom and occasional folly, they reflect a growing sense of disappointment. Tynan moved with his family to California in 1976, in hopes of easing his emphysema and to write a series of lengthy articles for
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.
As his second wife found success as a screenwriter and author, they had an uneasy relationship for the last few years. This marriage produced two children: Matthew, named for Kathleen's father, and Roxana. His second marriage began falling apart, largely because of "Tynan's insistence on total sexual latitude for himself, fidelity for his wife". He formed a relationship with a woman to enact sado-masochistic fantasies, sometimes involving both of them cross-dressing, sometimes hiring prostitutes as "extras" in elaborate scenes. He told his wife he intended to continue with the sessions weekly "although all common sense and reason and kindness and even camaraderie are against it. ... It is my choice, my thing, my need ... It is fairly comic and slightly nasty. But it is shaking me like an infection and I cannot do anything but be shaken until the fit has passed."
Death
Tynan died in
Santa Monica, CaliforniaSanta Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, of
pulmonary emphysemaEmphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
, aged 53. He was buried in
Holywell CemeteryHolywell Cemetery is next to St Cross Church in Oxford, England. The cemetery is behind the church in St Cross Road, north of Longwall Street.-History:...
,
OxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
Influence
Tynan's influence on the theatre scene (particularly in London) was great, though his criticisms were often controversial and stinging. Many actors were frightened of incurring his wrath. Nevertheless, he deserves part of the credit for the theatrical revolution of the mid-1950s.
Works
Books:
- He That Plays The King, 1950
- Persona Grata (photographs by Cecil Beaton), 1953
- Alec Guinness, 1953
- Bull Fever, Longmans, 1955
- Quest for Corbett, Gaberbocchus, 1960
- Curtains, 1961
- Tynan Right and Left: Plays, Films, People, Places and Events. Kenneth Tynan. 1967. ISBN 0-689-10271-2.
- The Sound of Two Hands Clapping, 1975
- Show People: Profiles in Entertainment. 1980. ISBN 0-671-25012-4.
- Kenneth Tynan: Letters. Kathleen Tynan [ed]. ISBN 0-517-39926-1.
- The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan. Kenneth Tynan (ed. John Lahr
John Lahr is an American theater critic, and the son of actor Bert Lahr. Since 1992, he has been the senior drama critic at The New Yorker magazine.-Biography:...
). 2001. ISBN 0-7475-5418-8, ISBN 1-58234-160-5.
Selections:
- A View of the English Stage, dramatic criticism selected by Kenneth Tynan, 1975
- Profiles. Edited by Kathleen Tynan and Ernie Eban. 1990. Various editions: ISBN 0-06-039123-5.
- Kenneth Tynan: Theatre Writings, selected by Dominic Shellard, 2007
Biographies
- The Life of Kenneth Tynan. Kathleen Tynan. 1987, called by Paul Johnson "a tender and sorrowing biography, a model of its kind" (Intellectuals, page 325) ISBN 0-688-05080-8, ISBN 0-688-08906-2, ISBN 0-413-18590-7.
- Man They Loved to Hate. William Triplett. 1995. A biography of Kenneth Tynan. ISBN 0-340-59240-0.
- Life Itself!. Elaine Dundy
Elaine Dundy was an American novelist, biographer, journalist, actress and playwright.-Early life:Born Elaine Rita Brimberg in New York City, of Latvian maternal descent, her Polish father was an office furniture manufacturer and a violent bully...
. 2001. Contains an autobiographical account of Tynan's first marriage as written by his first wife. ISBN 1-86049-513-3.
- Kenneth Tynan, A Life. Dominic Shellard
Professor Dominic Marcus Shellard was born on 24 April 1966 in Orpington, Kent, and is an English academic and educationalist who has written extensively on post-war British theatre. He is currently Vice Chancellor of De Montfort University.-Early life:...
. 2003. ISBN 0-300-09919-3.
External links
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/critic/feature/0,1169,567652,00.htmlObituary in The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
]
- "When Kenneth met Lulu", The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, "Saturday Review", p. 4 (November 21, 1998). Discusses the story (told by Kathleen Tynan) of Kenneth Tynan's obsession with Louise BrooksMary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
. Kathleen produced a screenplay, the rights to which were bought by Martin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
in 1998.
- Tynan's biography on the National Theatre's website
- The Girl With the Black Helmet, Tynan's article from a 1979 issue of The New Yorker about silent film star Louise Brooks
- Some Plays—a List Compiled for The National Theatre. Kenneth Tynan. Referred to in the National Theatre biography mentioned above, his list is available from the National Theatre website as a Microsoft Word 97 document. Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
also has a cached version of the text.
- The History of the National Theatre. John Elsom
John Elsom is a director of English association football club Grimsby Town and former chairman of Leicester City F.C. He served on the board of the Football League and is a member of the Football Association Council....
and Nicholas TomalinNicholas Osborne Tomalin was an English journalist and writer.Tomalin was the son of Miles Tomalin, a Communist poet and veteran of the Spanish Civil War. He studied English literature at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. As a student he was President of the Cambridge Union and editor of the prestigious...
. 1978. ISBN 0-224-01340-8
- 1956 and All That: The Making of Modern British Drama. Dan Rebellato
Dan Rebellato is an English dramatist and academic born in South London.He is Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London and has written extensively for radio and the stage. He has twice been nominated for a Sony Award, and writes regularly for The Guardian Theatre...
. 1999. ISBN 0-415-18939-X
- http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,573364,00.html"Tynan the vulgarian should be a lesson to us all", in The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
by Peter ConradPeter Conrad is an Australian-born academic specializing in English literature, currently teaching at Christ Church at Oxford University....
. October 14, 2001. Review of The Diaries, and a critical synopsis of Tynan's life]
- Review of The Diaries and a critical synopsis of Tynan's life
- archive of reviews and essays about Kenneth Tynan and journalism by Tynan himself for The New York Times