89-477: The Naked Civil Servant is the title of two biographical works, both based on the life of Quentin Crisp : The Naked Civil Servant (book) is Crisp's 1968 autobiographical book The Naked Civil Servant (film) is a 1975 television film based on the book Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
178-427: A Man , singer Boy George discusses how he had felt an affinity towards Crisp during his childhood, as they faced similar problems as young homosexual people living in homophobic surroundings. In 1991, a documentary about Crisp, Resident Alien , was released by Greycat Films. Crisp was then the subject of the play Resident Alien , by Tim Fountain , which starred his friend Bette Bourne . The play opened in 1999 at
267-716: A century old, with a decade off for good behaviour, proved prophetic . He was cremated with a minimum of ceremony as he had requested, and his ashes were flown back to his personal assistant and travel companion Phillip Ward in New York. He bequeathed his rights in three books to his respective collaborators: Phillip Ward for Crisp's final book The Last Word and the book And One More Thing (formerly titled Dusty Answers ); Guy Kettelhack for The Wit and Wisdom of Quentin Crisp and John Hofsess for Manners from Heaven . From his remaining literary estate (including The Naked Civil Servant), he bequeathed all future UK-only income (but not
356-488: A companion book to The Last Word: An Autobiography , again edited by Ward and Watts. This book contains material that the editors believed did not fit into The Last Word . In And One More Thing , Crisp primarily shares his views on other people, their lives and their opinions, from flapper girls to Monica Lewinsky , and from the British Royal Family to Walt Disney . Also included are his collected poems,
445-482: A distant town and run a knitting wool shop and no one would ever have known my secret. I would have joined the real world and it would have been wonderful." Crisp died of a heart attack on 21 November 1999, at age 90, while staying at the home of a friend in Chorlton-cum-Hardy , Manchester, on the eve of a nationwide revival of his one-man show. A humorous pact he had made with Penny Arcade to live to be
534-548: A feminine appearance to a degree that shocked contemporary Londoners and provoked " gay-bashing " assaults. By his own account, Crisp was "effeminate" from an early age, resulting in his being teased while at Kingswood House School in Epsom , Surrey, from which he won a scholarship to Denstone College , Uttoxeter , Staffordshire, in 1922. After leaving school in 1926, Crisp studied journalism at King's College London , but failed to graduate in 1928, going on to take art classes at
623-539: A first-floor flat at 129 Beaufort Street, Chelsea , a bed-sitting room that he occupied until he emigrated to the United States in 1981. In the intervening years, he never attempted any housework, writing famously in his memoir The Naked Civil Servant : "After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse." Crisp left his job as an engineer's tracer in 1942 to become a model in life classes in London and
712-407: A new direction: that of performer and tutor. He devised a one-man show and began touring the country with it. The first half of the show was an entertaining monologue loosely based on his memoirs, while the second half was a question-and-answer session with Crisp picking the audience's written questions at random and answering them in an amusing manner. After the success of the film, his autobiography
801-631: A plan to turn Regent Street into a tri-partite federal college by adding a new College of Architecture and Advanced Building Technology (CAABT) and also a College of Engineering and Science (CES). The existing commercial subjects would remain centred on no 309 Regent Street. CAABT was allocated the Luxborough Lodge site in Marylebone Road and CES a site in New Cavendish Street. Both schemes suffered prolonged delays and
890-557: A short documentary, Uncle Denis? , at the 23rd London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival . The film uses interviews with family and previously unseen home movie footage. In collaboration with Crisperanto (The Quentin Crisp Archives) curator Philip Ward, Goycoolea also created an installation entitled 'Personal Effects' at the 2010 MIX NYC , New York City, which recreated Crisp's New York apartment using his personal effects and included home video footage. In 2013, with curator Ward,
979-600: A television sequel to The Naked Civil Servant was broadcast. Entitled An Englishman in New York , the production documented Crisp's later years in Manhattan. Thirty-four years after his first award-winning performance as Crisp, John Hurt returned to play him again. Other co-stars included Denis O'Hare as Phillip Steele (an amalgam character based on Crisp's friends Phillip Ward and Tom Steele), Jonathan Tucker as artist Patrick Angus , Cynthia Nixon as Penny Arcade , and Swoosie Kurtz as Connie Clausen . The production
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#17327880254211068-409: A woman. But, later on, you realise that you have to live in the real world, and that you are not a woman. You are only in some senses 'effeminate,' or 'feminine,' and you must learn to make this compromise - to live in a world where, statistically, you are a man, whatever you may think about yourself." At the age of 90 Crisp said in his book The Last Word that he had come to the conclusion that he
1157-757: Is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution , it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in August 1839, and became the University of Westminster in 1992 . Westminster has its main campus in Regent Street in central London , with additional campuses in Fitzrovia , Marylebone and Harrow . It also operates
1246-552: Is close to Warren Street , Great Portland Street and Goodge Street underground stations. The Harrow Campus is in a suburb, outside Central London. It is the base for Media, Arts and Design courses. It is also home to London Gallery West which exhibits a broad mix of contemporary media, art and design work. The nearest Tube station to the Harrow campus is Northwick Park on the Metropolitan line . The University of Westminster
1335-641: Is incorporated under the Companies Act as a charity and company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. It is also an exempt charity under the Charities Act 1993. The university's governing body is the Court of Governors. It meets five times per year and is ultimately responsible for the effective conduct of the activities of the university, including its strategic development, educational character and mission, and finances. The members of
1424-501: Is regarded as a significant step towards the understanding of continental drift . In 1848, a theatre was added to the building, purpose-built to accommodate the growing audiences for the Polytechnic's optical shows. These combined magic lantern images with live performances, music, ghosts and spectres, spreading the fame of what was arguably the world's first permanent projection theatre. In 1862, inventor Henry Dircks developed
1513-457: The AIDS crisis , inviting censure from gay activists including human-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell . During his teen years, he worked briefly as a rent boy . He then spent thirty years as a professional model for life classes in art colleges. The interviews he gave about his unusual life attracted great curiosity, and he was soon sought after for his personal views on social manners and
1602-796: The Bush Theatre in London; in 2001, it transferred to the New York Theatre Workshop where it won two Obies (for performance and design). In 2002, it won a Herald Angel (Best Actor) at the Edinburgh Festival ; subsequent productions have been seen across the US and Australia. The 1981 synthpop song No G.D.M by German electro band Gina X Performance is dedicated to Crisp. The song The Ballad of Jack Eric Williams (and Other Three-Named Composers) from William Finn 's 2003 song-cycle Elegies refers to him. In 2009
1691-579: The Dircksian Phantasmagoria , where it was seen by Pepper in a booth set up by Dircks at the Polytechnic. Pepper first showed the effect during a scene of Charles Dickens's novella The Haunted Man (1848) at the Regent Street theatre to great success. However, Pepper's implementation of the effect tied his name to it permanently. Though he tried many times to give credit to Dircks, the title " Pepper's ghost " has endured. Under
1780-584: The Home Counties . Crisp wanted to call his book I Reign in Hell , a reference to Milton 's Paradise Lost ("Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven"), but his agent insisted on The Naked Civil Servant , an insistence that later gave him pause when he offered the manuscript to Tom Maschler of Jonathan Cape on the same day that Desmond Morris delivered The Naked Ape . The Naked Civil Servant
1869-726: The Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan staged a three-month retrospective on Crisp, entitled Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Quentin Crisp . The retrospective consisted of free screenings of interviews, one man shows, documentaries and other recorded media. In 2014 Mark Farrelly's solo performance Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope debuted at the Edinburgh Festival, before transferring to the St. James's Theatre in London and subsequently touring. It depicts Crisp at his Chelsea flat in
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#17327880254211958-569: The Regent Street Polytechnic . Around this time, Crisp began visiting the cafés of Soho , his favourite being The Black Cat in Old Compton Street , meeting other young gay men and rent boys , and experimenting with make-up and women's clothes . For six months, he worked as a prostitute; in a 1998 interview, he said he was looking for love, but found only degradation, a reflection he had previously expressed in
2047-777: The Westminster International University in Tashkent in Uzbekistan . The university is organised into three colleges and 12 schools, within which there are around 65 departments and centres, including the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) and the Centre for the Study of Democracy. It also has its Policy Studies Institute , Business School and Law School . The annual income of
2136-517: The copyrights , which are managed by Ward, and belong to Ward, literary agent Stedman Mays, and writer Mary Tahan) to the two men he considered to have had the greatest influence on his career: his long-time agent Richard Gollner, and his first agent Donald Carroll. In the two years before his death (1997–1999), Crisp had been compiling a work that was initially to be titled The Dusty Answers with Philip Ward. Crisp and Ward developed material for this book through many hours of recorded interviews, which
2225-426: The telephone directory . He saw it as his duty to converse with anyone who called him, saying "If you don't have your name in the phone book, you're stuck with your friends. How will you ever enlarge your horizons?" He answered the phone with the phrase: "Yes, Lord?", or "Oh yes?", in a querulous tone of voice. His openness to strangers extended to accepting dinner invitations from almost anyone. While he expected that
2314-411: The "father of aeronautical engineering", was the first chairman and the Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in August 1839. The Polytechnic housed a large exhibition hall, lecture theatre and laboratories, and public attractions included working machines and models, scientific lectures and demonstrations, rides in a diving bell and, from 1839, demonstrations of photography. Prince Albert visited
2403-468: The 1960s and performing his one-man show thirty years later. In the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot , Bill Murray explicitly based the dress style of his character (Martin Heiss) on Crisp. In his 2020 autobiography Confess , Rob Halford of Judas Priest identifies Crisp as having been a hero of his. When the then closeted Halford had first seen The Naked Civil Servant in 1975, he had been impressed by
2492-721: The 1968 World in Action interview, which aired on television in 1971. Crisp left home to move to the centre of London at the end of 1930, and after dwelling in a succession of flats, found a bed-sitting room in Denbigh Street, Pimlico , where he "held court with London's brightest and roughest characters." His 'outlandish' appearance—he wore bright make-up, dyed his long hair crimson, painted his fingernails and wore sandals to display his painted toe-nails—brought admiration and curiosity from some quarters, but generally attracted hostility and violence from strangers passing him in
2581-467: The 90-year-old Policy Studies Institute . In 2002 Westminster established the Westminster International University in Tashkent at the invitation of the government of Uzbekistan . In 2013, the university celebrated 175 years of research, teaching, and providing education for all, regardless of background or financial status. Special events were organised both at campuses in the UK, and with their teams around
2670-704: The Built Environment, Westminster Business School and the Policy Studies Institute . The P3 exhibition area, a 14,000 sq ft (1,300 m ) space located in the former concrete construction hall of the School of Engineering, was opened in 2008. The Cavendish Campus is a modern glass and steel building in New Cavendish Street ( Fitzrovia ), close to the BT Tower . It houses science, engineering and computer laboratories. The campus
2759-454: The Court of Governors are the trustees of the charity. The University of Westminster is organised into three colleges and 12 schools, within which there are around 65 departments and research centres: The University is also home to the institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture, the Centre for the Study of Democracy and the Policy Studies Institute . Westminster had an income of £205.1 million for 2017–2018, of which more than £22 million
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2848-570: The Education Department. The Education Department provided a wide range of courses, with a rapid expansion of commercial subjects alongside the original trade and technical classes. Courses ranged from post-elementary school entry for craft and technical training at 13 to degrees accredited by the University of London external degrees programme. Most teaching was in the evening and part-time, though day classes increased throughout
2937-593: The PCL. The PCL was re-designated as the University of Westminster following the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 , which created a single funding council, the Higher Education Funding Council , for England and abolished the remaining distinctions between polytechnics (degrees awarded nationally) and universities (degrees awarded by individual university). The newly established university
3026-485: The Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838 on the site of the present University's Regent Street campus. Cayley was an engineer and inventor and pioneer aviator, hence the wings added to the lion. The lion supports a book charged with a portcullis. The ram supporter comes from the arms of Quniton Hogg's grandson, Lord Hailsham, Lord High Chancellor. The Hogg family continued their association with
3115-662: The Science and Art Department (of the Board of Trade), and a scheme of technical and trade education, related to the City and Guilds of London Institute of Technical Instruction and to the London Trades Council. The building housed classrooms, a swimming bath, gymnasium, and a refreshment room. Activities included daily chapels, Parliamentary debating, a Reading Circle, music and drama societies and several sports clubs. In
3204-460: The UK, and 18th in the UK for Architecture. The Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2019, which lists the world's best under 50-year-old universities out of 351 universities, ranked Westminster 151–200 in the world. The university achieved world leading and internationally excellent status for most of their work, ranking second for Communications, Cultural and Media Studies research, 6th for Art and Design research, in addition to
3293-661: The University through four generations. The lion with a tilting spear comes from the Studd family arms. The Studds worked closely with Quintin Hogg and in the running of The Polytechnic. The Compartment depicts the situation of Westminster on the banks of the River Thames. Westminster offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees as well as certificates and diplomas at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. More than two thirds of Westminster's programmes are recognised by
3382-463: The appropriate professional bodies such as the BCS , BPS , CIOB , CABE , ICE , RICS , HPC etc. in recognition of the high standards of relevance to the professions. The university has numerous centres of research excellence and was ranked sixth in the UK and 40th globally for Media and Communications by QS World University Rankings 2018. The university was also ranked 15th for Art and Design in
3471-668: The auspices of the Charity Commissioners in 1891, when the Institute was reconstituted as The Polytechnic-Regent Street (often referred to as the Regent Street Polytechnic ), managed by a newly created governing body. On 21 February 1896, the first performance of a moving film ( Cinématographe ) to a paying UK audience was delivered by the Lumière brothers at the Regent Street Cinema. For this reason
3560-535: The basis of tape recordings made of Crisp's dictations, and edited by Ward and Watts. Whereas The Naked Civil Servant made Crisp famous, and How To Become A Virgin detailed that fame and his life in New York, The Last Word was written as a goodbye to the world, with Crisp knowing the end was near. In it he recounts several previously untold stories from his life, walks the reader through his journey from obscurity, reflects on his philosophy and gender identity. In January 2019, MB Books published And One More Thing ,
3649-479: The chairmanship of Joseph Butterworth Owen , the Royal Polytechnic Institution increased its presence in formal classes for young men traditionally denied the opportunity of higher education in the United Kingdom during the nineteenth century. Expansion gradually gave way to financial difficulty, reflecting a long-standing tension between education and the need to run a successful business. A fatal accident on
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3738-524: The cinema has been described as "the birthplace of British cinema". The building at 309 Regent Street was rebuilt in 1910–1912 to reflect the needs of a growing institution whose student members exceeded 15,000. Pioneering work in emerging professional and commercial disciplines, alongside general interest subjects, was the hallmark of the institution. When Hogg died in 1903, he was succeeded as President by Sir Kynaston Studd (1858–1944), who remained in office until his death in 1944, and did much to continue
3827-742: The cultivation of style. His one-man stage show was a long-running hit both in Britain and America, and he also appeared in films and on television. Crisp defied convention by criticising both gay liberation and Diana, Princess of Wales . Denis Charles Pratt was born in Sutton , Surrey , on 25 December 1908, the fourth child of solicitor Spencer Charles Pratt (1871–1931) and former governess Frances Marion Pratt (née Phillips; 1873–1960). His elder siblings were Katherine (1901–1976), Gerald (1902–1983) and Lewis (1907–1968). He changed his name to Quentin Crisp in his twenties after leaving home, and expressed
3916-464: The early 1880s the Institute attracted much favourable attention from the technical education lobby. Following the City of London Parochial Charities Act in 1883, it became clear that funds would be available to endow the Polytechnic and to found and support institutions on the same model across London. A public appeal was launched in 1888 to raise the required matching funding. The Scheme was finalised under
4005-536: The establishment of the Council for National Academic Awards ( CNAA ) in 1964, a number of degree courses were approved and became operational; including Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, Civil, Building, Production, and Manufacturing), Architecture, Photography (1966), Arts Administration (1967), Life Sciences (1973) and Media Studies (1975). In 1960 the London County Council announced
4094-430: The film Orlando . Although he found the role taxing, he won acclaim for a dignified and touching performance. Crisp next had an uncredited cameo in the 1993 AIDS drama Philadelphia . He accepted some other small bit parts and cameos, such as a pageant judge in 1995's To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar . Crisp's last role was in an independent film, American Mod (1999), while his last full-feature film
4183-479: The film and Crisp. Halford came out, in an MTV interview, on 4 February 1998. In 1999, Halford attended San Diego Pride with his partner, Thomas. While there, Halford met Crisp, and got a book signed by him ('To Rob, from Quentin'). According to Halford, he continues to treasure the signed book. Halford views himself as a rock version of Crisp, and refers to himself as the "stately homo of heavy metal". Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster
4272-411: The first and only encounter between Cream and Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix . The union is run by five elected Officer Trustees who are campus based. Smoke Radio is a student-run radio station at the University of Westminster. It was founded in 2004 and broadcasts online from a studio in the university's Harrow campus. Since September 2005 the station has run a 24-hour playout system and broadcast
4361-679: The host would pay for dinner, Crisp did his best to "sing for his supper" by regaling his host with wonderful stories and yarns, much as he did in his theatrical performances. Crisp continued to perform his one-man show, published books on the importance of contemporary manners as a means of social inclusion (as opposed to etiquette, which he claimed is socially exclusive), and supported himself by accepting social invitations and writing film reviews and columns for UK and US magazines and newspapers. He said that provided one could exist on peanuts and champagne, one could quite easily live by going to every cocktail party , premiere and first night to which one
4450-848: The institution for 2021–22 was £240.9 million of which £4.25 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £223.7 million. The university is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities , the Association of MBAs , EFMD , EQUIS , and the European University Association . Westminster's alumni include a Nobel laureate in Medicine , the inventor of cordite , heads of state , politicians and mayors , Olympians , scientists, BAFTA - and Oscar -winning filmmakers, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Grammy Award -winning musicians, journalists, and poets. Graduates of
4539-562: The institution in 1840, when he descended in the diving bell, and became a patron in 1841. The first public photographic portrait studio in Europe opened on the roof of the Polytechnic in March 1841. In 1847, John Henry Pepper joined the Polytechnic and oversaw the introduction of evening lectures in engineering, applied science and technical subjects for young working Londoners. Pepper wrote several important science education books, one of which
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#17327880254214628-422: The lead role of Baron Frankenstein , and who in 1987 wrote the song " Englishman in New York " for and about Crisp. Crisp also appeared on the television show The Equalizer in the 1987 episode "First Light", and as the narrator of director Richard Kwietniowski 's short film Ballad of Reading Gaol (1988), based on the poem by Oscar Wilde . Four years later, he was cast in a lead role, and got top billing, in
4717-603: The lease to the building in December 1881 for £15,000, and the premises re-opened on 25 September 1882. About 6,000 members and students – three times the anticipated number – attended during the first 1882/3 session. The institute gradually adopted the name the Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute , or simply, the Polytechnic, for short. From 1882 an expanded programme of classes began, including science, engineering and art classes held in conjunction with
4806-425: The low-budget independent film Topsy and Bunker: The Cat Killers , playing the door-man of a flea-bag hotel in a run-down neighbourhood, quite like the one he lived in. Director Thomas Massengale reportedly said that Crisp was a delight to work with. The 1990s were his most prolific decade as an actor, as more and more directors offered him roles. In 1992 he was persuaded by Sally Potter to play Elizabeth I in
4895-553: The new buildings were not finished until 1970. Holborn College of Law, Languages and Commerce was merged with Regent Street Polytechnic to form the Polytechnic of Central London (PCL). At a ceremony on 21 May 1971, the Lord Chancellor Lord Hailsham , grandson and namesake of Hogg , opened the new buildings and designated the new institution. In 1990, Harrow College of Higher Education became part of
4984-478: The opening night of his one-man show, An Evening with Quentin Crisp , at The Intar Theatre on Forty-Second Street in New York City (produced by John Glines of The Glines organisation). In an interview with CBC in 1977, upon being queried about whether he desired to be a woman, Crisp stated: "Well, I suppose when I was a child, when I lived almost entirely in a dreamworld, I suppose I thought of myself as
5073-479: The patron on the formation of the university, is represented by the Tudor rose , a royal badge. The motto of the university, "The Lord is our Strength", is influenced by Quintin Hogg and his Young Men's Christian Institute. The open book on the escutcheon contains a Latin motto which reads as " Veritas ", meaning "truth". In the crest the demi lion with battle axe comes from the arms of Sir George Cayley. He founded
5162-483: The period. Following World War Two there was a rapid growth in the demand for further education and training, which was reorganised following the White Paper on Technical Education in 1956. The variety of levels of work at Regent Street meant that it was designated a regional college rather than a college of advanced technology, after which the governors decided to reduce the proportion of lower level work. Following
5251-406: The premises in 1859 caused the first institution to be wound up and a new one formed. Various regeneration schemes were considered, but in 1879 a fire damaged the roof, precipitating the final crisis. In September 1881, the Royal Polytechnic Institution closed, marking a transition to new ownership and a new era of educational development. Christian philanthropist Quintin Hogg (1845–1903) acquired
5340-680: The public. Located nearby is the Little Titchfield Street building, which houses the library for the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, including the Westminster Law School , and the Wells Street building. The Marylebone Campus is located on Marylebone Road directly opposite Madame Tussaud's and Baker Street underground station. Built in the 1960s it is home to the Faculty of Architecture and
5429-407: The racket. She knew that royal marriages have nothing to do with love. You marry a man and you stand beside him on public occasions and you wave and for that you never have a financial worry until the day you die." Following her death in 1997 , he commented that it was perhaps her "fast and shallow" lifestyle that led to her demise: "She could have been Queen of England [ sic ] - and she
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#17327880254215518-682: The rise in costs for overseas students. After 1992, the Union was based primarily at the Marylebone site, where the SU served all students across four of its campuses. It now has offices on all campuses. The union also operates a bar, The Undercroft, and the Loft venue, located on the Harrow Campus. The union has hosted to numerous musical events and gigs including Fleetwood Mac , and most notably
5607-432: The script for his Alternative Christmas message broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 in 1993, and the script of his one-man show An Evening With Quentin Crisp . Sting dedicated his song " Englishman in New York " (1987) to Crisp, who had jokingly remarked "that he looked forward to receiving his naturalisation papers so that he could commit a crime and not be deported." In late 1986 Sting visited Crisp in his apartment and
5696-549: The streets. Crisp attempted to join the British army at the outbreak of the Second World War , but was rejected and declared exempt by the medical board on the grounds that he was "suffering from sexual perversion". He remained in London during the 1941 Blitz , stocked up on cosmetics, purchased five pounds of henna and later paraded through the streets during the black-out, picking up G.I.s . In 1940, he moved into
5785-596: The title The Naked Civil Servant . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Naked_Civil_Servant&oldid=892179468 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt ; ( 1908-12-25 ) 25 December 1908 – ( 1999-11-21 ) 21 November 1999)
5874-445: The traditions of the founder. Two major appeals were launched to support expansion, the first for the rebuilding of 309 Regent Street in 1910–1912, and the second to build the Polytechnic Extension building for the Women's Institute in Little Titchfield Street, which was formally opened in 1929. Both buildings continued to provide sporting and social facilities for members of the Institute as well as workshops and classrooms for students of
5963-468: The truth. If it's confusing for you, think how confusing it has been for me these past ninety years. The only thing in my life I have wanted and didn't get was to be a woman. It will be my life's biggest regret. If the operation had been available and cheap when I was young, say when I was twenty-five or twenty-six, I would have jumped at the chance. My life would have been much simpler as a result. I would have told nobody. Instead, I would have gone to live in
6052-511: The university are styled with the post-nominal letters Westmin , to indicate the institution. The Royal Polytechnic Institution was built by William Mountford Nurse in 1837 and opened at 309 Regent Street on 6 August 1838 to provide (in the words of its prospectus of 1837) “an institution where the Public, at little expense, may acquire practical knowledge of the various arts and branches of science connected with manufacturers, mining operations and rural economy.” Sir George Cayley (1773–1857),
6141-449: The university performing strongly in Architecture and the Built Environment, and Geography and Environmental studies. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, almost 80 per cent of Westminster's submitted research across 20 subject areas was judged to be of international quality. In 2013, Westminster was ranked joint second in the UK by the Architects’ Journal in their "AJ Top 100" special issue. A Student Representative Council (SRC)
6230-405: The university's close association with the Hogg family. Westminster's efforts in overseas expansion resulted in the university being awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2000, and again in 2005. In recent years, the university has established the Africa, Arab and China Media Centres ; the Centre for the Study of Democracy, the institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture, and absorbed
6319-414: The world. Celebrations included an interfaith service at Westminster Abbey on 30 January 2013. Westminster has four main campuses, three of which are in central London . The Regent Campus comprises a group of buildings clustered around its historic headquarters at 309 Regent Street. The Regent Street Cinema lies within the 309 Regent Street building, and serves as a fully functioning cinema, open to
6408-458: Was HomoHeights (also released as Happy Heights , 1996). He was chosen by Channel 4 to deliver the first Alternative Christmas Speech , a counterpoint to the Queen's Christmas speech , in 1993. Crisp remained fiercely independent and unpredictable into old age. He caused controversy and confusion in the gay community by jokingly calling AIDS "a fad", and homosexuality "a terrible disease". He
6497-507: Was transgender . "Having labelled myself homosexual and having been labelled as such by the wider world, I have effectively lived a 'gay' life for most of my years. Consequently, I can relate to gay men because I have more or less been one for so long in spite of my actual fate being that of a woman trapped in a man's body. I refer to myself as homosexual without thinking because of how I have lived my life. If you are reading this and are gay, think of me as one of your own even though you now know
6586-522: Was a theatre-filling humourist; in 1978, his one-man show sold out London's Duke of York's Theatre . He then took the show to New York. His first stay in the Hotel Chelsea coincided with a fire, a robbery, and the death of Nancy Spungen . Crisp decided to move to New York permanently and, in 1981, found a small apartment at 46 East 3rd Street in Manhattan's East Village . As he had done in London, Crisp allowed his telephone number to be listed in
6675-422: Was an English raconteur , whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well known, he was an artist's model , hence the title of his most famous work, The Naked Civil Servant . He afterwards became a gay icon due to his flamboyant personality, fashion sense, and wit. His iconic status was occasionally controversial due to his remarks about subjects like
6764-687: Was close to the end of his life, though he continued to make public appearances, and in June of that year he was one of the guest entertainers at the second Pride Scotland festival in Glasgow. In 1997 Crisp was crowned king of the Beaux-Arts Ball run by the Beaux Arts Society. He presided alongside Queen Audrey Kargere, Prince George Bettinger and Princess Annette Hunt. In December 1998 he celebrated his ninetieth birthday, performing
6853-425: Was continually in demand from journalists requiring a sound-bite, and throughout the 1990s his commentary was sought on any number of topics. Crisp was a stern critic of Diana, Princess of Wales , and her attempts to gain public sympathy following her divorce from Prince Charles . He stated: "I always thought Diana was such trash and got what she deserved. She was Lady Diana before she was Princess Diana, so she knew
6942-483: Was established at the polytechnic in 1933, to create a sense of unity and expand the social activities of its day students. The SRC was affiliated to the National Union of Students but initially restricted itself largely to social activities. After 1945 it began to campaign on issues such as lifting a ban on religious or political activity within the Polytechnic, and establishing a formal Students’ Union. The ban
7031-638: Was filmed in New York in August 2008 and completed in London in October 2008. The film was directed by British director Richard Laxton , written by Brian Fillis, produced by Amanda Jenks and made its premiere at the Berlinale (the Berlin International Film Festival) in early February 2009, before being shown on television later that year. That same year, Crisp's great-nephew, academic and film-maker Adrian Goycoolea, premiered
7120-440: Was from funding grants, research grants and contracts. The university's coat of arms was granted on 17 May 1993. The predecessor Polytechnic of Central London used the colours of claret and silver and this was adapted into the murrey and argent livery of the arms. The portcullis is taken from the arms of the City of Westminster whilst the open book symbolises learning. The late Queen Elizabeth II , who agreed to continue as
7209-477: Was invited. Crisp also acted on television and in films. He made his debut as a film actor in the Royal College of Art 's low-budget production of Hamlet (1976). Crisp played Polonius in the 65-minute adaptation of Shakespeare 's play, alongside Helen Mirren , who played both Ophelia and Gertrude . He appeared in the 1985 film The Bride , which brought him into contact with Sting , who played
7298-474: Was lifted in 1962 and a Union granted in 1965. University of Westminster Students' Union (UWSU) was founded in 1966 as The Polytechnic Students' Union. Its first President was Owen Spencer-Thomas (1966–1967). During the 1970s the newly formed Polytechnic of Central London Students’ Union (PCLSU) engaged in a strategy of protest and direct action. Against a backdrop of general social unrest, PCLSU campaigned against cuts in student grants, lack of accommodation and
7387-471: Was looking for a metaphor. Quentin is a hero of mine, someone I know very well. He is gay and he was gay at a time in history when it was dangerous to be so. He had people beating up on him on a daily basis, largely with the consent of the public." Crisp was the subject of a photographic portrait by Herb Ritts and was also chronicled in Andy Warhol 's diaries. In his 1995 autobiography Take It Like
7476-513: Was necessary because Crisp had lost the use of his left hand and he was unable to use a typewriter or computer. The resulting manuscript remained unpublished for eighteen years after Crisp's death, because Ward found it emotionally difficult to transcribe Crisp's words. A chance meeting with Laurence Watts, who interviewed Ward for Pink News , led them to co-edit Crisp's remaining work. On 21 November 2017, MB Books published The Last Word: An Autobiography , written by Crisp's friend, Philip Ward, on
7565-495: Was published in 1968 to generally good reviews, although it initially only sold 3,500 copies. Crisp was then approached by the documentary film maker Denis Mitchell to be the subject of a 1968 short film in which he discussed his life and lifestyle. The documentary aired on British television in 1971. In 1975, the television version of The Naked Civil Servant was broadcast on British and US television, making actor John Hurt , and Crisp, into stars. This success launched Crisp in
7654-482: Was re-dedicated at Westminster Abbey on 1 December 1992. As a university, Westminster gained the power to grant its own degrees. Dame Mary Hogg (great-granddaughter of Quintin Hogg, founder of the Regent Street Polytechnic) was awarded an honorary doctorate of law (LLD) by the University of Westminster in 1995. Hogg also became part of the court of governors at the university, thus continuing
7743-532: Was reprinted; Gay News commented that it should have been published posthumously (Crisp said that this was their polite way of telling him to drop dead). Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said he had met Crisp in 1974, and alleged that he was not sympathetic to the Gay Liberation movement of the time. Tatchell said Crisp quipped: "What do you want liberation from? What is there to be proud of? I don't believe in rights for homosexuals." By now Crisp
7832-428: Was swanning about Paris with Arabs. What disgraceful behaviour! Going about saying she wanted to be the queen of hearts. The vulgarity of it is so overpowering." In 1995 he was among the many people interviewed for The Celluloid Closet , a historical documentary addressing how Hollywood films have depicted homosexuality. In his third volume of memoirs, Resident Alien , published in the same year, Crisp stated that he
7921-419: Was told over dinner, and over the next three days, what life had been like for a homosexual man in the largely homophobic Great Britain of the 1920s to the 1960s. Sting was both shocked and fascinated and decided to write the song. It includes the lines: It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile, Be yourself no matter what they say. Sting says, "Well, it's partly about me and partly about Quentin. Again, I
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