The Naked Civil Servant is a 1975 TV film based on the 1968
autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
by the
gay iconA gay icon is a public figure who is embraced by many within :lesbian, :gay, :bisexual and :transgender communities...
Quentin CrispQuentin Crisp , was an English writer and raconteur. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant.- Early life :...
, also titled
The Naked Civil ServantThe Naked Civil Servant is the first volume of an autobiography by the gay icon Quentin Crisp. It was later turned into a TV movie starring John Hurt, which was also titled The Naked Civil Servant....
. It stars
John HurtJohn Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
in the title role.
The film was produced by
Thames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
for the British Television channel
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. It was 90 minutes long with John Hurt playing Crisp from youth to middle age. It was directed by
Jack GoldJack Gold is a British film and television director. He was part of the British Realist Tradition that followed Free Cinema.-Career:...
, written by
Philip MackiePhilip Mackie was a British film and television screenwriter. He was born in Salford in Lancashire, England...
and produced by
Verity LambertVerity Ann Lambert, OBE was an English television and film producer. She is best known as the founding producer of the science-fiction series Doctor Who, a programme which has become a part of British popular culture, and for her association with Thames Television...
, and was originally transmitted on 17 December 1975. In 1976 it was shown on US television channel
WOR-TVWWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
and later PBS when Thames Television and WOR-TV exchanged programming for one week.
For his performance, Hurt won the BAFTA for Best Actor in 1976. The production also won the 1976
Prix ItaliaThe Prix Italia is an international Italian television, radio-broadcasting and Website award. It was established in 1948 by RAI - Radiotelevisione Italiana in Capri...
and in 2000 it was placed fourth in a poll by industry professionals to find the BFI TV 100 of the 20th century. The film was released on DVD in 2005.
In 2009 Hurt reprised the role of Quentin Crisp in
An Englishman in New YorkAn Englishman in New York is a 2009 biographical drama film that chronicles the English gay writer Quentin Crisp's later years spent in New York City. It is a follow-up to the 1975 TV movie The Naked Civil Servant with John Hurt reprising his role as Crisp...
, which covered the latter years of Crisp's life in New York.
External links