The Naked Civil Servant (book) The Naked Civil Servant (book) The Naked Civil Servant is the 1968 autobiography of British gay icon Quentin Crisp, adapted into a 1975 film of the same name starring John Hurt. The book began as a 1964 radio interview with Crisp conducted by his friend and fellow eccentric Philip O'Connor. A managing director at Jonathan Cape heard the interview and commissioned the publication. Having sold only 3,500 copies when first released, the book became a success when it was republished following the television movie broadcast. The book contains many anecdotes about Crisp's life from childhood to middle age, including troubles
Gay icon being labeled a gay icon for the first time by a mutual friend. Ball was told of the adoration she received from gay men, as a bar in West Hollywood was known for routinely playing episodes of her television series "I Love Lucy" every weekend. During the late 1970s, many female comedians appeared, joining the ranks of what had stereotypically been a male profession, including Joan Rivers, who began appearing on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". Rivers gained a strong gay following after performing in Greenwich Village, an LGBT friendly area of New York, from the early days of