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 by Judy Garland's role in "The Wizard Of Oz" (1939), some speculate it originated with Parker. Actress Bette Davis' performance in "Dark Victory" (1939), was dubbed by queer theorist Eve Sedgwick as "the epistemology of the closet." Davis' portrayal of the melodramatic Judith Traherne made her talent for playing someone with a secret revered and her "camp-worthy" dialog reflexive of the "flamboyant gay queen of the dramatic arts." Ed Sikov, author of "Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis", wrote that 20th century gay men developed their own subculture following Davis' example. In Marcella Althaus-Reid's "Liberation Theology and Sexuality", Marlene