biography
| name: |
Orton, Joe
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popular name of John Kingsley Orton
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1933–67)
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| biography:
| Playwright and actor, born in Leicester, Leicestershire, C England, UK, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. His exuberant tastelessness established him as a pioneer of a style of black farce. His play What the Butler Saw (1969) carried the farce tradition of threatened adultery into the forbidden realms of incest and sexual violence. Two years before its performance he was bloodily murdered by his male lover, who subsequently took his own life. Other works include Entertaining Mr Sloane (1963) and Loot (1964–5). The Orton Diaries contain startling revelations. |
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