1. Jack Birkett was a British dancer, mime artist, actor and singer, best known for his work on stage as a member of Lindsay Kemp's theatre company, and in the films of Derek Jarman.
15 Facts About Jack Birkett
1. 2.
Jack Birkett was often billed as Orlando or The Incredible Orlando.
3.
Jack Birkett's mother came from a Romani family, his father left home when he was six.
4.
Jack Birkett attended Coldcotes School in Gipton until the age of 14, developing a passion for ballet.
5.
Jack Birkett worked as an art model for David Hockney and others before finding work at the Grand Theatre in Leeds in 1950 as a stage hand and lighting technician.
6.
In 1956, Birkett met Lindsay Kemp, when they were both doing ballet classes with Marie Rambert at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate.
7.
Jack Birkett made his West End theatre debut in Bye Bye Birdie in 1961, and worked with Kemp's company from the early 1960s, taking part in the first Lindsay Kemp Dance Mime Company performances in 1965 that culminated in Illuminations.
8.
Jack Birkett nevertheless became entirely blind, but responded by growing more extreme in his performances and his persona.
9.
Jack Birkett played the part of Blackbird in Kemp's production of Flowers, based on Jean Genet's Our Lady of the Flowers, which briefly transferred from London to Broadway in 1974, and he continued to tour worldwide with Kemp until the late 1980s.
10.
Jack Birkett made a number of TV and film appearances, notably in the work of Derek Jarman.
11.
Jack Birkett played the Pope in Jarman's Caravaggio, and Pontius in The Garden.
12.
Jack Birkett appeared in the Spanish films El vent de l'illa and El nino de la luna.
13.
Jack Birkett later retired from performing, living in Barcelona and finally in London.
14.
Jack Birkett was supported by long-time partner Nyako Nakar, a Spanish writer and artist.
15.
Jack Birkett died in London in 2010 at the age of 75.