Tim Fountain
Encyclopedia
Tim Fountain is a British writer.
, West Yorkshire
, where he lived with his parents and two goats, one of which had only three legs. He attended Batley Grammar School
, before leaving to go to Hull University in 1987.
, starring Bette Bourne
and directed by Mike Bradwell
, the show opened at the Bush Theatre, London, in November 1999, transferring to New York Theatre Workshop
in 2001 where it played a three month sell-out season and won two OBIE Award
s (performance and design). The show subsequently won a Herald Angel at the Edinburgh Festival and toured across America, Australia and the UK. It has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
In 2001 he directed the West End Production of Puppetry of the Penis
. During this time he began an affair with the then-lesbian comedienne Jackie Clune
who later went on to star in one of his plays. In the same year he was also a principal writer on Bob and Margaret
(Channel Four/Comedy Central, USA).
Fountain hit the headlines when his one man show, Sex Addict opened at the Edinburgh Festival
in 2004 before transferring to the Royal Court in 2005, and later the Schaubuehne, Berlin. During the show he solicited sexual partners on-line and the audience got to choose who he had sex with. The Daily Mail
devoted an entire page to the show under the headline "Curtain Up on Depravity".
Fountain's other plays include Julie Burchill
Is Away, starring Jackie Clune, Hotboi (or Deep Rimming in Poplar as it was called in Scotland) starring Bette Bourne, and the stage adaptation of Toby Young
's book, How To Lose Friends and Alienate People starring Jack Davenport
. In 2006 Fountain adapted the Oscar winning movie Midnight Cowboy
for the stage starring Con O Neil and Charles Aitken. in 2008 his play about Rock Hudson
and his agent Henry Willson
, Rock, opened at the Oval House Theatre
in London starring Bette Bourne as Hudson's agent Henry Willson
and Michael Xavier as Hudson.
He has also written books. Quentin Crisp
: a biography was published in 2002 by Absolute Press. So You Want to Be a Playwright?, his book on playwriting, was published by Nick Hern in 2007 and Rude Britannia, his book about the sex lives of the British was published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in 2008. He has also written for numerous publications including The Guardian
, The Sunday Times
, "The Daily Mail", The Scotsman
, Scotland on Sunday
, The New Statesman
and Attitude
. Tim has appeared on Newsnight
, Woman's Hour
, Saturday Review and Loose Ends
on BBC Radio Four and Weekender on BBC Radio 2. He has also presented a documentary about the death of Quentin Crisp for Channel Four.
He is a regular teacher of playwriting and has tutored for many organisations including The Central School of Speech and Drama, The Arvon Foundation
and Dartmouth College in the USA. He was Literary Manager of the Bush Theatre
from 1997 – 2001, and was Lecturer in Creative Writing at Strathclyde University from 2006-2009
Tim delights in political debate. In early April 2010 this resulted in a heated but ultimately amicable exchange in a London (Kings Cross) curry house with the former Liberal party election campaign manager.
Life
An only child, Tim Fountain was brought up in a pub in the village of West ArdsleyWest Ardsley
West Ardsley is commonly used to refer to an area on the south-west edge of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, possessing a WF postcode in the WF3 postcode area while the village telephone numbers are "0113", the Leeds prefix.. It roughly approximates to an amalgamation of Tingley, Woodkirk,...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, where he lived with his parents and two goats, one of which had only three legs. He attended Batley Grammar School
Batley Grammar School
Batley Grammar School is a co-educational school located at Carlinghow Hill in Upper Batley, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded in 1612 by the Rev. William Lee...
, before leaving to go to Hull University in 1987.
Career
Tim Fountain's first major success was Resident Alien. Based on the life and writings of Quentin CrispQuentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp , was an English writer and raconteur. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant.- Early life :...
, starring Bette Bourne
Bette Bourne
Bette Bourne is a British actor, drag queen and equal rights activist.-Early life:Born Peter Bourne in Hackney, east London, he made his stage debut at the age of four as one of the members of Madame Behenna and her Dancing Children...
and directed by Mike Bradwell
Mike Bradwell
Mike Bradwell is a Canadian football wide receiver for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted in the second round of the 2008 CFL Draft by the Toronto Argonauts...
, the show opened at the Bush Theatre, London, in November 1999, transferring to New York Theatre Workshop
New York Theatre Workshop
__notoc__New York Theatre Workshop is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a...
in 2001 where it played a three month sell-out season and won two OBIE Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
s (performance and design). The show subsequently won a Herald Angel at the Edinburgh Festival and toured across America, Australia and the UK. It has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
In 2001 he directed the West End Production of Puppetry of the Penis
Puppetry of the Penis
Puppetry of the Penis is a performance show. The show was initially conceived by Australian Simon Morley as the title of an art calendar, showcasing 12 of his favourite penis installations...
. During this time he began an affair with the then-lesbian comedienne Jackie Clune
Jackie Clune
Jackie Clune is a British entertainer, noted as a woman journalist, actress, voiceover artiste and radio/TV broadcaster. She performs cabaret, and is known for her one-woman shows and late Karen Carpenter tribute act...
who later went on to star in one of his plays. In the same year he was also a principal writer on Bob and Margaret
Bob and Margaret
Bob and Margaret was a Canadian/UK animated television series that was also shown in the United States and all over the world. The series was produced by Nelvana, a Toronto animation studio, and created by Canadian David Fine and Brit Alison Snowden...
(Channel Four/Comedy Central, USA).
Fountain hit the headlines when his one man show, Sex Addict opened at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
in 2004 before transferring to the Royal Court in 2005, and later the Schaubuehne, Berlin. During the show he solicited sexual partners on-line and the audience got to choose who he had sex with. The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
devoted an entire page to the show under the headline "Curtain Up on Depravity".
Fountain's other plays include Julie Burchill
Julie Burchill
Julie Burchill is an English writer and journalist. Beginning as a writer for the New Musical Express at the age of 17, she has written for newspapers such as The Sunday Times and The Guardian. She is a self-declared "militant feminist". She has several times been involved in legal action...
Is Away, starring Jackie Clune, Hotboi (or Deep Rimming in Poplar as it was called in Scotland) starring Bette Bourne, and the stage adaptation of Toby Young
Toby Young
Toby Young, MA, FRSA is a British journalist and the author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, the tale of his stint in New York as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine...
's book, How To Lose Friends and Alienate People starring Jack Davenport
Jack Davenport
Jack Davenport is an English actor, best known for his roles in the television series This Life, Coupling and as James Norrington in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He has also appeared in many other Hollywood films such as The Talented Mr. Ripley...
. In 2006 Fountain adapted the Oscar winning movie Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and newcomer Jon Voight in the title role. Notable smaller roles are filled by Sylvia Miles, John...
for the stage starring Con O Neil and Charles Aitken. in 2008 his play about Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
and his agent Henry Willson
Henry Willson
Henry Willson was an American Hollywood talent agent who played a large role in popularizing the beefcake craze of the 1950s. He was known for his stable of young, attractive clients, including Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Robert Wagner, Nick Adams, Guy Madison, Troy Donahue, Rory Calhoun, Clint...
, Rock, opened at the Oval House Theatre
Oval House Theatre
Ovalhouse formerly called Oval House Theatre is an Off-Westend theatre led by joint Directors of Theatre Rebecca Atkinson-Lord and Rachel Briscoe in the London Borough of Lambeth...
in London starring Bette Bourne as Hudson's agent Henry Willson
Henry Willson
Henry Willson was an American Hollywood talent agent who played a large role in popularizing the beefcake craze of the 1950s. He was known for his stable of young, attractive clients, including Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Robert Wagner, Nick Adams, Guy Madison, Troy Donahue, Rory Calhoun, Clint...
and Michael Xavier as Hudson.
He has also written books. Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp , was an English writer and raconteur. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant.- Early life :...
: a biography was published in 2002 by Absolute Press. So You Want to Be a Playwright?, his book on playwriting, was published by Nick Hern in 2007 and Rude Britannia, his book about the sex lives of the British was published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in 2008. He has also written for numerous publications including The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, "The Daily Mail", The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...
, The New Statesman
The New Statesman
The New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...
and Attitude
Attitude (magazine)
Attitude is a British gay lifestyle magazine owned by Vitality Publishing. It is sold worldwide as a physical magazine and a digital download for the iPad and iPhone via the App Store. The first issue appeared in May 1994....
. Tim has appeared on Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
, Woman's Hour
Woman's Hour
Woman's Hour is a radio magazine programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom.-History:Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by Alan Ivimey the programme was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the BBC's Light Programme . It was transferred to its current home in 1973...
, Saturday Review and Loose Ends
Loose Ends (radio)
Loose Ends is a British radio programme originally broadcast on Saturday mornings, and then transmitted early Saturday evenings from 1998 by BBC Radio 4. It was hosted by Ned Sherrin until he became ill in late 2006 with a reported throat infection, and later throat cancer...
on BBC Radio Four and Weekender on BBC Radio 2. He has also presented a documentary about the death of Quentin Crisp for Channel Four.
He is a regular teacher of playwriting and has tutored for many organisations including The Central School of Speech and Drama, The Arvon Foundation
Arvon Foundation
The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which promotes creative writing. It is based in the Free Word Centre for literature, literacy and free expression in London.-History:...
and Dartmouth College in the USA. He was Literary Manager of the Bush Theatre
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...
from 1997 – 2001, and was Lecturer in Creative Writing at Strathclyde University from 2006-2009
Tim delights in political debate. In early April 2010 this resulted in a heated but ultimately amicable exchange in a London (Kings Cross) curry house with the former Liberal party election campaign manager.
External links
- www.timfountain.co.uk - His Homepage