Heathcote Williams
Heathcote Williams ( born 1941 in Helsby, Cheshire as John Henley Jasper Heathcote -Williams ) is a British poet, actor and playwright.
Life and work
Williams first attended private boarding school Eton College. In 1964 he wrote his first ( and so far only ) novel about the Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park.
His first full-length play, AC / DC, received in 1972 both the prestigious theater award of the London Evening Standard and the John Whiting Award. Williams was able to establish with some other equally subversive and successful pieces as a playwright.
From the late 1980s, several poems by Williams, partly in epic length appeared. In particular continent of whales (AKA Whale Nation, 1988) caused a stir because of environmental Williams moved here published a passionate call to abolish the hunting of whales. The rights for the U.S. market for the epic sold for $ 100,000, a sum that also made headlines. Williams' environmental poems were filmed by the BBC, among others, with Jeremy Irons.
In addition to his literary career Williams occurs frequently in supporting roles in film and television productions. He alternates freely between artistically challenging productions such as the film adaptation of Shakespeare's drama The Tempest by Derek Jarman on the one hand and less demanding productions such as the continuation of Basic Instinct on the other. Among other things, he played a supporting role in 1998, the U.S. sitcom Friends. Williams is friends with Al Pacino and appeared as himself in the documentary Looking For Richard fiction of 1996. Pacino, in turn, had taken a role in Williams ' first stage play The Local Stigmatic at its U.S. premiere in 1990 and realized a short film version of the fabric.
Williams has a son with his ex- girlfriend, Polly Samson. He lives in Oxford with his long-time girlfriend Diana Senior, who stood with him in 1970 in Malatesta front of the camera.
Works
Novel and poetry books
- The Speakers. Novel. Hutchinson, 1964.
- Continent of the whales. Poem. Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt aM 1988 ( Original title: Whale Nation).
- Sacred Elephant. Poem. In 1989.
- Dolphin. Poem. Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt aM 1991 ( Original title: Falling for a Dolphin, translated by Hans J. Becker).
- Car mobilization. Poem. Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt aM 1992 ( Original title: Autogeddon, translated by Hans J. Becker).
Writings
- The Lord of the drones. The President and the fly in the White House. In: Lettre International, Issue 98, Fall 2012
Plays ( selection)
- The Local Stigmatic, 1966 premiered in Edinburgh
- AC / DC (AC / DC), premiered in London in 1970
- The Immortalist (The Immortalist ), premiered in London in 1977
- Remember the Truth Dentist, 1974 premiered in London