Denham Fouts
Encyclopedia
Denham Fouts was an American
male prostitute, socialite
and literary
muse
. He served as the inspiration for characters by Truman Capote
, Gore Vidal
, Christopher Isherwood
and Gavin Lambert
.
, he was born Louis Denham Fouts, a son of Yale
graduate Edwin Fouts, who was the president of a broom factory, and his wife, the former Mary E. Denham (1890-1970). He had two siblings, Ellen (born 1916) and Frederic (1918-1994).
In 1926, 12-year-old Fouts submitted a letter to Time Magazine, protesting the abuse of animals in the making of movies. In his teens, Fouts worked as a clerk at an ice-cream company in Jacksonville. Later he was sent north by his father to Washington, D.C.
, having asked a relative, who was the president of Safeway Inc.
, to give him a job. Fouts left for Manhattan
, working for a time as a stock boy and attracting a good deal of attention for his looks, which were described as "thin as a hieroglyph, he had dark hair, light brown eyes, and a cleft chin." Writer Glenway Wescott
considered him "absolutely enchanting and ridiculously good-looking."
He was taken up by a series of wealthy male and female patrons. His friends, who called him Denny, included Christopher Isherwood
, Brion Gysin
, Glenway Wescott
, Truman Capote
, George Platt Lynes
, Jane and Paul Bowles
, Jean and Cyril Connolly
and Michael Wishart. Isherwood described him as a mythic figure, "the most expensive male prostitute in the world" and Capote considered him the "Best-Kept Boy in the World". Fouts was an opium addict, and at one time boyfriend of artist Peter Watson
.
In 1938, Fouts introduced Brion Gysin to Paul
and Jane Bowles
, later shocking them by "shooting flaming arrows from his hotel window onto the busy Champs Élysées below", having spent some time in Tibet
, learning archery. Fouts' occasionally outrageous behavior made some uncomfortable. Michael Shelden remarked that Fouts' "'Deep South' charm masked a volatile, sometimes nasty temper. There were rumours about his past and tales of erratic, dangerous behavior."
During World War II
, Watson sent Fouts to the US for his safety. He met Isherwood in Hollywood in August 1940. Isherwood's guru, Swami Prabhavananda
, refused to accept Fouts as a disciple despite his interest in Vedanta
. Isherwood, nonetheless, had Fouts move in with him in the summer of 1941 to "lead a life of meditation". This period is described in Isherwood's Down There on a Visit
, where Fouts is represented as the character Paul. Some time into the war, Fouts, who was a conscientious objector, was drafted for the Civilian Public Service Camp. He later completed his high school diploma, studied medicine at UCLA and then settled in Europe. While in Paris, he sent a blank check to Truman Capote with only the word "come" written on it, after becoming enamored of the Harold Halma photograph of Capote on the original back dust jacket of Other Voices, Other Rooms
. Capote rejected the check, but accepted his offer to visit, and would spend hours with the Fouts in his dark apartment on the Rue de Bac, talking and listening to Fouts' stories.
Fouts was allegedly the lover of numerous notable figures, including Prince Paul of Greece
(later King), and French actor Jean Marais
. Another of his lovers was Evan Morgan, 2nd Earl of Tredegar. Capote, in exaggeration of his prowess, claimed that "had Denham Fouts yielded to Hitler's advances there would have been no World War Two." Katherine Bucknell
, the editor of Christopher Isherwood
's diaries, noted "Myth surrounds Denham Fouts", and one of his friends, John B. L. Goodwin said of Fouts, "He invented himself. If people didn't know his background he would make it up."
Fouts spent much of his later life dissolute, spending time "in bed like a corpse, sheet to his chin, a cigarette between his lips turning to ash. His lover [Anthony Watson-Gandy (1919–1952), a writer and translator] would remove the cigarette just before it burned his lips." Fouts died in 1948, at the Pensione Foggetti, in Rome
, at the age of 35 of a "hypoplastic aorta and hypertrophy of left ventricle". His body was buried in the first zone, 11th row, of the city's Protestant Cemetery
. A friend, John Goodwin, told Christopher Isherwood that Fouts was found dead in his bathroom.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
male prostitute, socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
and literary
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
. He served as the inspiration for characters by Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
, Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
and Gavin Lambert
Gavin Lambert
Gavin Lambert was a British-born screenwriter, novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood...
.
Biography
From Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, he was born Louis Denham Fouts, a son of Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
graduate Edwin Fouts, who was the president of a broom factory, and his wife, the former Mary E. Denham (1890-1970). He had two siblings, Ellen (born 1916) and Frederic (1918-1994).
In 1926, 12-year-old Fouts submitted a letter to Time Magazine, protesting the abuse of animals in the making of movies. In his teens, Fouts worked as a clerk at an ice-cream company in Jacksonville. Later he was sent north by his father to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, having asked a relative, who was the president of Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
, to give him a job. Fouts left for Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, working for a time as a stock boy and attracting a good deal of attention for his looks, which were described as "thin as a hieroglyph, he had dark hair, light brown eyes, and a cleft chin." Writer Glenway Wescott
Glenway Wescott
Glenway Wescott was a major American novelist during the 1920-1940 period and a figure in the American expatriate literary community in Paris during the 1920s. Wescott was gay. His relationship with longtime companion Monroe Wheeler lasted from 1919 until Wescott's death.-Biography:Wescott was...
considered him "absolutely enchanting and ridiculously good-looking."
He was taken up by a series of wealthy male and female patrons. His friends, who called him Denny, included Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
, Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...
, Glenway Wescott
Glenway Wescott
Glenway Wescott was a major American novelist during the 1920-1940 period and a figure in the American expatriate literary community in Paris during the 1920s. Wescott was gay. His relationship with longtime companion Monroe Wheeler lasted from 1919 until Wescott's death.-Biography:Wescott was...
, Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
, George Platt Lynes
George Platt Lynes
George Platt Lynes was an American fashion and commercial photographer.Born in East Orange, New Jersey to Adelaide and Joseph Russell Lynes he spent his childhood in New Jersey but attended the Berkshire School in Massachusetts. He was sent to Paris in 1925 with the idea of better preparing him...
, Jane and Paul Bowles
Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
, Jean and Cyril Connolly
Cyril Connolly
Cyril Vernon Connolly was an English intellectual, literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine Horizon and wrote Enemies of Promise , which combined literary criticism with an autobiographical exploration of why he failed to become the successful author of...
and Michael Wishart. Isherwood described him as a mythic figure, "the most expensive male prostitute in the world" and Capote considered him the "Best-Kept Boy in the World". Fouts was an opium addict, and at one time boyfriend of artist Peter Watson
Peter Watson (arts benefactor)
Victor William Watson was a wealthy English art collector and benefactor. He funded the literary magazine, Horizon, edited by Cyril Connolly.-Life and work:...
.
In 1938, Fouts introduced Brion Gysin to Paul
Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
and Jane Bowles
Jane Bowles
Jane Bowles, born Jane Sydney Auer , was an American writer and playwright.-Early life:Born into a Jewish family in New York, Jane Bowles spent her childhood in Woodmere, New York, on Long Island. She developed tuberculous arthritis of the knee as a teenager and her mother took her to Switzerland...
, later shocking them by "shooting flaming arrows from his hotel window onto the busy Champs Élysées below", having spent some time in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, learning archery. Fouts' occasionally outrageous behavior made some uncomfortable. Michael Shelden remarked that Fouts' "'Deep South' charm masked a volatile, sometimes nasty temper. There were rumours about his past and tales of erratic, dangerous behavior."
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Watson sent Fouts to the US for his safety. He met Isherwood in Hollywood in August 1940. Isherwood's guru, Swami Prabhavananda
Swami Prabhavananda
Swami Prabhavananda was an Indian philosopher, monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and religious teacher.-Biography:...
, refused to accept Fouts as a disciple despite his interest in Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
. Isherwood, nonetheless, had Fouts move in with him in the summer of 1941 to "lead a life of meditation". This period is described in Isherwood's Down There on a Visit
Down There on a Visit
Down There on a visit is the 1962 novel from English author Christopher Isherwood.Through his political advocacy and the literary success of his friends, Auden and Spender, Christopher Isherwood became something of a literary rockstar...
, where Fouts is represented as the character Paul. Some time into the war, Fouts, who was a conscientious objector, was drafted for the Civilian Public Service Camp. He later completed his high school diploma, studied medicine at UCLA and then settled in Europe. While in Paris, he sent a blank check to Truman Capote with only the word "come" written on it, after becoming enamored of the Harold Halma photograph of Capote on the original back dust jacket of Other Voices, Other Rooms
Other Voices, Other Rooms (novel)
Other Voices, Other Rooms is a novel written by Truman Capote published in January 1948. Other Voices, Other Rooms is written in the Southern Gothic style and is notable for its atmosphere of isolation and decadence....
. Capote rejected the check, but accepted his offer to visit, and would spend hours with the Fouts in his dark apartment on the Rue de Bac, talking and listening to Fouts' stories.
Fouts was allegedly the lover of numerous notable figures, including Prince Paul of Greece
Paul of Greece
Paul reigned as King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.-Family and early life:Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer....
(later King), and French actor Jean Marais
Jean Marais
-Biography:A native of Cherbourg, France, Marais starred in several movies directed by Jean Cocteau, for a time his lover, most famously Beauty and the Beast and Orphée ....
. Another of his lovers was Evan Morgan, 2nd Earl of Tredegar. Capote, in exaggeration of his prowess, claimed that "had Denham Fouts yielded to Hitler's advances there would have been no World War Two." Katherine Bucknell
Katherine Bucknell
Katherine Bucknell, American scholar and novelist who resides in England.Katherine Bucknell is the editor of W. H. Auden's Juvenilia and of three volumes of the diaries of Christopher Isherwood....
, the editor of Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
's diaries, noted "Myth surrounds Denham Fouts", and one of his friends, John B. L. Goodwin said of Fouts, "He invented himself. If people didn't know his background he would make it up."
Fouts spent much of his later life dissolute, spending time "in bed like a corpse, sheet to his chin, a cigarette between his lips turning to ash. His lover [Anthony Watson-Gandy (1919–1952), a writer and translator] would remove the cigarette just before it burned his lips." Fouts died in 1948, at the Pensione Foggetti, in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, at the age of 35 of a "hypoplastic aorta and hypertrophy of left ventricle". His body was buried in the first zone, 11th row, of the city's Protestant Cemetery
Protestant Cemetery, Rome
The Protestant Cemetery , now officially called the Cimitero acattolico and often referred to as the Cimitero degli Inglesi is a cemetery in Rome, located near Porta San Paolo alongside the Pyramid of Cestius, a small-scale Egyptian-style pyramid built in 30 BC as a tomb and later incorporated...
. A friend, John Goodwin, told Christopher Isherwood that Fouts was found dead in his bathroom.
Literary references
- Gavin LambertGavin LambertGavin Lambert was a British-born screenwriter, novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood...
's roman-à-clef Norman's Letter is about Fouts. - Truman CapoteTruman CapoteTruman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
's "Unspoiled Monsters", contained in his Answered Prayers: The Unfinished NovelAnswered Prayers: The Unfinished NovelAnswered Prayers is an unfinished novel by American author Truman Capote, published posthumously in 1986 in England and in 1987 in the United States.- History :...
, is based on Capote's conception of Fouts' life. - Gore VidalGore VidalGore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
's short story "Pages from an Abandoned Journal", contained in his 1956 volume, A Thirsty Evil: Seven Short Stories, is based on Fouts' life. Vidal was introduced to Fouts by John LehmannJohn LehmannRudolf John Frederick Lehmann was an English poet and man of letters, and one of the foremost literary editors of the twentieth century, founding the periodicals New Writing and The London Magazine.The fourth child of journalist Rudolph Lehmann, and brother of Helen Lehmann, novelist Rosamond...
. - Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
's Down There on a VisitDown There on a VisitDown There on a visit is the 1962 novel from English author Christopher Isherwood.Through his political advocacy and the literary success of his friends, Auden and Spender, Christopher Isherwood became something of a literary rockstar...
contains the novella Paul, whose titular character is based on Fouts. - Michael Wishart, the painter, had an affair with Fouts, which his autobiography High Diver details.