Jake Arnott
Encyclopedia
Jake Arnott is a British
novelist, author of The Long Firm and other novels. Most of his works are crime novels, and include homosexual characters. In 2005 Arnott was ranked one of Britain's 100 most influential gay and lesbian people; but since 2005 he has been in a heterosexual relationship with the formerly lesbian writer and novelist, Stephanie Theobald.
. Having left Aylesbury Grammar School at 17, he drifted through various jobs including a labourer, mortuary technician, artist's model and theatrical agency assistant - he finally became an actor
with the Red Ladder Company in Leeds
and appeared as a mummy
in the film The Mummy
. He came out as bisexual in his twenties. His sister, Deborah Arnott, is Chief Executive of the campaigning charity Action on Smoking and Health, ASH
.
, Thomas Kelly
and David Peace
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
novelist, author of The Long Firm and other novels. Most of his works are crime novels, and include homosexual characters. In 2005 Arnott was ranked one of Britain's 100 most influential gay and lesbian people; but since 2005 he has been in a heterosexual relationship with the formerly lesbian writer and novelist, Stephanie Theobald.
Life
Arnott was born in BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. Having left Aylesbury Grammar School at 17, he drifted through various jobs including a labourer, mortuary technician, artist's model and theatrical agency assistant - he finally became an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
with the Red Ladder Company in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and appeared as a mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
in the film The Mummy
The Mummy (1999 film)
The Mummy is a 1999 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor, with Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film features substantial dialogue in ancient Egyptian language, spoken...
. He came out as bisexual in his twenties. His sister, Deborah Arnott, is Chief Executive of the campaigning charity Action on Smoking and Health, ASH
ASH
ASH can refer to:* Austin State Hospital* Archaic Sealed Heat, a Nintendo game* Asymmetric septal hypertrophy, a classification for forms of heart disease* Action on Smoking and Health, opposition to tobacco-smoking...
.
Works
Arnott's hardboiled crime writings are similar to those of Nicholas BlincoeNicholas Blincoe
Nicholas Blincoe is an English author, critic and screenwriter. He is the author of six novels, Acid Casuals , Jello Salad , Manchester Slingback , The Dope Priest , White Mice , Burning Paris...
, Thomas Kelly
Thomas Kelly
-Public officials and political activists:*Thomas Kelly , Conservative from Prince Edward Island*Thomas J. Kelly , leader in Irish Republican Brotherhood, came to America in 1851 and served on Union side in Civil War*Thomas Kelly , , one of Sinn Féin founding members who represented Dublin...
and David Peace
David Peace
David Peace is an English author. Known for his novels GB84, The Damned Utd, and Red Riding Quartet, Peace was named one of the Best of Young British Novelists by Granta in their 2003 list...
.
- His first novel The Long Firm was published in 1999 and tells of Harry Starks, a homosexual East End gangster in the 1960s based on the Kray twinsKray twinsReginald "Reggie" Kray and his twin brother Ronald "Ronnie" Kray were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in London's East End during the 1950s and 1960s...
. A notable feature is that the story is told from five different points of view. It was later serialised on BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television starring Derek JacobiDerek JacobiSir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
, Phil DanielsPhil DanielsPhilip W. "Phil" Daniels is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as "cockneys" such as Jimmy in Quadrophenia, Richards in Scum, Stewart in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Mark in Meantime, Kevin Wicks in EastEnders, DCS Frank Patterson in New Tricks and Edward Kitchener "Ted"...
and Mark StrongMark StrongMark Strong is an English actor, with a body of work in both films and television. He has performed in films as varied as Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Stardust, and Kick-Ass...
, and broadcast in July 2004.
- His second novel He Kills Coppers was published in 2001 and tells of a criminal on the run, based on real life cop killer Harry RobertsHarry Roberts (murderer)Harry Maurice Roberts is a career criminal who instigated the Shepherd's Bush Murders in which three police officers were shot dead in 1966. The killings happened after the plain-clothed officers approached the van which Roberts and two other men were sitting in, in Braybrook Street, near Wormwood...
, the tale starting in 1966, the year of England's World Cup triumph, through to the Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
era, the Greenham Common protests of the 1980s and the Poll Tax RiotsPoll Tax RiotsThe UK Poll Tax Riots were a series of mass disturbances, or riots, in British towns and cities during protests against the Community Charge , introduced by the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher...
. It was later adapted for television, appearing on ITV1ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
in the UK in March and April 2008.
- His third novel truecrime (2003) takes up the story of a gangster found dead at Starks' Spanish villa at the end of The Long Firm. The dead man's daughter wants to flush out Harry Starks, whom she suspects of the murder (she is an actress and uses the making of a film about old time British gangsters as a means of tempting his appearance).
- His fourth novel Johnny Come Home (2006) shifts from a focus on the criminal underworld to the early 1970s with a plot involving The Angry BrigadeThe Angry BrigadeThe Angry Brigade was a small British militant group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in Britain between 1970 and 1972.-History:During the summer of 1968 there were a number of demonstrations in London against the American involvement in the Vietnam War, centred on the American Embassy in...
and a glam rockGlam rockGlam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
star inspired by Gary GlitterGary GlitterGary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
. Johnny Come Home had been withdrawn from sale in the UK due to the presence of a villainous former bandleader named Tony Rocco; there is a real former bandleader of that name, who objected to the character's name. The book has now been reissued with the character's name changed to Timothy Royal.
- His fifth novel, The Devil's Paintbrush (2009) is set in Paris in 1903, and deals with an encounter between disgraced homosexual former British Army officer Sir Hector MacdonaldHector MacDonaldMajor-General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, also known as Fighting Mac , was a distinguished Victorian soldier....
and the occultist Aleister CrowleyAleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
.
External links
- Biography
- article on Arnott - Big Gay Read
- Arnott swaps slammer for glamour - BBC News, 4 August 2006