Kenneth Tynan

Kenneth Peacock Tynan (April 2, 1927 - July 26, 1980), was an influential (and occasionally controversial) British theatre critic and author.

Related Topics:
April 2 - 1927 - July 26 - 1980 - British - Theatre - Critic - Author

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was born in Birmingham, England to Peter Tynan and Letitia Rose Tynan. As a child, he stammered, but early on was in possession of a high degree of articulate intelligence, and by the age of six, was already keeping a diary. At King Edward's School, Birmingham, he had already taken up his lifelong smoking habit.

Related Topics:
Birmingham - England - Diary - King Edward's School, Birmingham

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was 12 when World War II broke out; by the time the war ended, he had earned a scholarship to the University of Oxford. Well before then, he had already adopted a fairly colorful set of views (and wardrobe items). During grammar school debates, he advocated repealing laws against homosexuality, legalizing abortion, and once gave a speech on the pleasures of masturbation entitled This House Thinks The Present Generation Has Lost The Ability To Entertain Itself. In Oxford, he developed a flamboyant lifestyle, but was already beginning to suffer from the effects of his heavy smoking.

Related Topics:
World War II - University of Oxford - Homosexuality - Abortion - Masturbation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1948, he received a nasty shock when his father died, and he discovered that his father was not "Peter Tynan" after all: he was Sir Peter Peacock, the former mayor of Warrington, who had been successfully leading a double life for more than 20 years. Sir Peter's body was returned to Warrington for burial, and Tynan found himself unable to trust anyone for years thereafter.

Related Topics:
1948 - Mayor - Warrington

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three years later, on January 25, 1951, he married the author Elaine Dundy (official site) after a three-month whirlwind romance. They had a daughter the following year, who was named Tracy after Spencer Tracy, and asked Katharine Hepburn to be godmother, which she accepted. (Tracy is currently a costumer designer for the film industry; see her IMDB entry.)

Related Topics:
January 25 - 1951 - Elaine Dundy - Spencer Tracy - Katharine Hepburn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His career began taking off in 1952 when he was hired as a theatre critic for the London Evening Standard. Two years later, he left for The Observer, and it was there that he rose to prominence. The timing for a witty, eloquent theatre critic was perfect, as the 1955-1956 theatre season in Britain was almost revolutionary. Plays such as John Osborne's Look Back in Anger and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot premiered that year, for example. He espoused a new theatrical realism best exemplified in the works of the Angry Young Men.

Related Topics:
Evening Standard - The Observer - 1955 - 1956 - Britain - John Osborne - Look Back in Anger - Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot - Theatrical realism - Angry Young Men

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His marriage was increasingly strained in spite of his success (and Elaine's: she successfully published her first novel in 1958). Both had extramarital affairs (though his were much more blatant than hers), and he developed a dependence on alcohol. In addition, his sexual tastes started ranging towards sadomasochism, and this didn't help their marriage much either.

Related Topics:
1958 - Sadomasochism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Francis Bacon, a painter whose works were renowned for their grotesque (and often gory) quality, once smiled warmly at his daughter Tracy and declared her to be "as pretty as a picture". He goes down in history as one of the few people who ever managed to shock Tynan into silence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1963, Laurence Olivier became the Royal National Theatre's first artistic director and started looking for a literary adviser. Tynan recommended himself for the role. Olivier, possibly fearing critical savagery in the face of disappointment, accepted, and Tynan left The Observer to become the National Theatre's full-time literary manager.

Related Topics:
Laurence Olivier - Royal National Theatre - The Observer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tynan's marriage ended in divorce the next year.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On 13 November 1965, during a live debate broadcast as part of the BBC's satirical show BBC3, Tynan, commenting on the subject of censorship, said "I doubt if there are any rational people to whom the word "fuck" would be particularly diabolical, revolting or totally forbidden." The occasion marked the first time the word fuck was used on television. In response, the BBC produced a formal apology. The House of Commons signed four separate motions signed by 133 Labour Party and Tory backbenchers. And most amusingly, Mary Whitehouse, a frequent critic of the BBC over issues of "morals and decency," wrote a letter to the Queen, suggesting that Tynan "ought to have his bottom spanked". The episode further encouraged Whitehouse's campaign against the BBC and summarily cut short Tynan's television career.

Related Topics:
13 November - 1965 - BBC - Fuck - Television - House of Commons - Labour Party - Tory - Backbencher - Mary Whitehouse - Queen

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By 1967, his career had suffered further. His left-wing tendencies, his lifestyle, and his failing health made him something of a poster-boy for Sixties decadence in London. That year, he married Kathleen Halton, a journalist who gave up her career to support him politically and socially. Her writing fell by the wayside during these years, as their home became a sort of focus of left-wing personalities in London.

Related Topics:
Poster-boy - Sixties - Decadence - London - Kathleen Halton - Journalist

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tynan was fiercely against censorship and determined to break taboos that he considered arbitrary. Among his efforts was the erotic revue he wrote (in collaboration with notables such as Samuel Beckett and John Lennon) called Oh! Calcutta!, which debuted in 1969.

Related Topics:
Censorship - Samuel Beckett - John Lennon - Oh! Calcutta! - 1969

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He cowrote the script of an unusually grim and violent screen adaptation of Macbeth with Roman Polanski in 1971.

Related Topics:
Macbeth - Roman Polanski - 1971

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He took up his childhood habit of keeping a journal in 1971, detailing his last few months as literary manager of the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, which he left in 1972. Virtually a pariah of the mainstream at this point, he lingered in London for another four years and moved with his family to California in 1976. His diaries, which he kept until the end of his life, are a combination of direct self-examination, and blatant gossip, frequently hilarious but tinged with disappointment and coloured by a mixture of wisdom, passion, and the occasional foolish notion. He also wrote several books.

Related Topics:
1971 - Royal National Theatre - 1972 - London - California - 1976

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his last years, he wrote articles, most notably for The New Yorker. His second marriage began falling apart with Kathleen finding success as a screenwriter and author (see her IMDB entry), and they lived a strained relationship for the last few years. Their marriage produced two children, Matthew and Roxana.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tynan died in Santa Monica, California, of pulmonary emphysema.

Related Topics:
Santa Monica, California - Pulmonary emphysema

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tynan's influence on the theatre scene (particularly London's) was great, though his criticisms were often controversial and stinging. Some considered his influence mildly frightening. Nevertheless, he deserves part of the credit for the theatrical revolution of the mid-Fifties, and the continued popularity of such playwrights as Samuel Beckett.

Related Topics:
Fifties - Playwright - Samuel Beckett

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~