|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Orton, Joe
Orton, Joe (1933–67), playwright and novelist, born in Leicester, left school at 16 to train as an actor. His comedies, which include Entertaining Mr Sloane (1964), Loot (1965), and the posthumously performed What the Butler Saw (1969), are black, stylish, satirical, and violent, and their emphasis on corruption and sexual perversion made them a succès de scandale. Orton was battered to death in his Islington home by his friend and companion, Kenneth Halliwell, who then committed suicide. Orton's novel Between Us Girls, written in 1957, was published in 1998.
|
|
|
Cite this article
MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Orton, Joe." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Orton, Joe." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-OrtonJoe.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Orton, Joe." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-OrtonJoe.html |
|
Joe Orton
Joe Orton 1933–67, English playwright, b. John Kingsley. After studying acting, he wrote farcical comedies noted for their cynical humor. His plays include The Ruffian on the Stair (1963), Entertaining Mr. Sloan (1964), Loot (1966), and What the Butler Saw (1969). He was murdered by his lover, Kenneth Halliwell, who then committed suicide. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Joe Orton." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Joe Orton." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Orton-Jo.html "Joe Orton." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Orton-Jo.html |
|