Joe Orton

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Joe Orton, killed by a series of hammer blows from his lover Kenneth Halliwell, who then promptly took an overdose. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has an excellent entry on Orton, penned by Michael Arditti, no mean slouch himself as an author. That link, by the way, will only work for this week, as the ODNB only allows permanent access to its entries for subscribers, so get it while it’s hot. Alternatively, if you want a longer biography, then pick up a copy of John Lahr’s excellent Prick Up Your Ears, or see the film of Alan Bennett’s adaptation of the book (also called Prick Up Your Ears).

 

And on the subject of six degrees of separation, I met Elena Salvoni and her husband, Aldo, a couple of times when I dined at the L’Escargot restaurant in Soho many years ago. Elena was the formidable manageress of the restaurant at the time, and a great Soho character. The Salvonis were the immediate neighbours of Orton and Halliwell. As Lahr writes: "Orton was killed between two and four in the morning. The Salvonis, whose bedroom was adjacent and who were awake, heard no struggle or argument".