Kenneth Victor Campbell (December 10, 1941 - August 31, 2008 [1]) was an English writer, actor, director and comedian, known for his work in experimental theatre.
Biography
Campbell was born in Ilford, Essex, the son of Elsie (née Handley) and Anthony Colin Campbell, who was a telegrapher.[2] He was educated at Chigwell School and then studied drama at RADA before joining Colchester Repertory theatre as an understudy to Warren Mitchell. He soon began writing and directing his own productions, including working with director Lindsay Anderson. After seeing the American Living Theatre at The Roundhouse in the early 1970s he was inspired to found The Ken Campbell Roadshow, a small theatre group that performed in unconventional venues such as pubs. Members included Bob Hoskins and Sylvester McCoy. Campbell appeared with his Roadshow team in The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979).
On television he played Alf Garnett's neighbour in In Sickness and in Health, and the irritating Roger in an episode of Fawlty Towers ("The Anniversary"). On radio he played Poodoo, a part written especially for him, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Campbell's film work includes Derek Jarman's The Tempest (1979), Breaking Glass (1980) and Peter Greenaway's A Zed and Two Noughts (1985), and more recently in Saving Grace (2000) and Creep (2004).
In 1976, he and Chris Langham formed the Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool in order to stage Illuminatus!, an 8-and-a-half hour cycle of 5 plays by Campbell based on The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. As well as starring Campbell and Langham themselves, it featured David Rappaport, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy and Campbell's wife Prunella Gee. It eventually moved to the Royal National Theatre. The Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool also produced a (rather less successful) stage adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with Langham as Arthur Dent. In 1984, Campbell made plans to adapt VALIS by Philip K. Dick for the stage.
Campbell unsuccessfully auditioned for the part of the Seventh Doctor in Doctor Who in 1987, being beaten to the role by his old protegé Sylvester McCoy. The script editor of Doctor Who at the time, Andrew Cartmel, later said in an interview that Campbell's interpretation was "too dark" to put on television.
From the late eighties onwards Campbell wrote and performed a series of one-man shows. Part autobiography, part stand-up comedy, part philosophical exploration, part popular science lecture, Campbell's shows include Recollections of a Furtive Nudist, Pigspurt, Jamais Vu, Mystery Bruises and The History of Comedy part one: ventriloquism. Campbell toured these shows worldwide, and many of them have been published as scripts by Methuen books.
Campbell was later commissioned by the National's director Trevor Nunn to write The History of Comedy Part One: Ventriloquism. The two had previously fallen out when Nunn had been director of the Royal Shakespeare Company: when Campbell had distributed a fake press release, stating that after the success of their production of Nicholas Nickleby they would be changing their name to the Royal Dickens Company, Nunn had brought in the police.
In 1999, Campbell starred with Warren Mitchell and John Fortune in 'Art' in London's West End. In 2001 in his show Wol Wantok he proposed that Bislama, as spoken in the Republic of Vanuatu, should be adopted as a world language. Campbell translated Macbeth into Bislama for the show, as well popularising the Bislama for Prince Philip: "Nambawan Bigfala him blong Missus Queen" (Number one big fellow him belong Mrs Queen).
In 2007 he appeared at the Royal Festival Hall in a one-off tribute show to author Robert Anton Wilson, along with Alan Moore, Bill Drummond, Coldcut and Mixmaster Morris
Campbell was known in the UK as a commentator on both science and the paranormal, and presented the Channel 4 television shows Reality On the Rocks, Brainspotting and Six Experiments that Changed the World. He was keen on the writings of Charles Fort and often appeared at UnCon, the Fortean Times convention.
He was formerly married to the actress Prunella Gee, and they had a daughter, Daisy; after their divorce they remained close friends.
Bibliography
References
External links
Interviews
Obituaries
- Michael Billington, The Guardian, with tributes from friends and fans, 1 Sept 2008
- Michael Coveney, The Guardian, 1 Sept 2008
- The Daily Telegraph, 1 Sept 2008
- Ian Shuttleworth, The Financial Times, 3 Sept 2008
- Mark Borkowski, Chortle, UK comedy website, 1 Sept 2008
- The Independent, 3 Sept 2008
- The Times, 1 Sept 2008
- Liverpool Confidential
- Oblomovka
- BBC News
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