Who would live in a shithole like this?

[Neil Kulkarni]

David, it's over to you. Does anyone remember the episode of 'Through The Keyhole' where it was Quentin Crisp's pad in New York and it was just untouched bedsit grime & filth all the way? I didn't dream this did I? I just recall everyone being totally shocked by the genuine squalor & QC staying totally unflappably godlike throughout Frost's appalled questioning.

[Purves Grundy]

Who would live in a shithole like this?

I remember a thing a while ago that was filmed in Charles Shaar Murray's gaff and it looked like a squat after all the New Model Army fans had moved out because it was too much of a dump.

More celebrity squalor, please.

[Gerontophile]

Who would live in a shithole like this?

Quentin Crisp said something about if you dont EVER dust, then after 4 years, it doesnt get worse.

[ursus arctos]

Who would live in a shithole like this?

He was living in the Chelsea Hotel, wasn't he?

That level of "housekeeping" fit right in with the vibe of the whole place.

[ian.64]

Who would live in a shithole like this?

I remember a documentary on Crisp (Might have been South Bank Show), which pointed out his reluctance to dust everything and leave it to settle. It's fitting in a way - the image of Quentin Crisp is that of a genteel yet blithely waspish creature who seems to live in a world removed from ours. It just doesn't seem right imagining him getting the hoover out and giving his abode the onceover.

[Satchmo Distel]

Sorry for replying 12 years late: the doc was from Seven Men, a World In Action special series from 1971. Complete version here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wTRntQUhipc

Crisp's address was 81 Denbigh Street, Pimlico, where he moved around 1940.

The dust quote is at 2:30.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Very good. Always nice to see a local lad make good.

He would have been at Beaufort Street in Chelsea when the documentary was filmed.

[Satchmo Distel]

Apologies, yes. 129 Beaufort Street.SW3 6BS.

[MsD]

I have three friends who live in artistic squalor now, and my friend who died two years ago was King where this was concerned.
His gaff was stuffed to the gills with art/curiosities/ artistic objects he'd made, been given, found on the streets or in junk shops. In photographs, it looked like bohemian heaven. In reality, it stunk and much as I loved him, I avoided using the toilet and occasionally retched while sitting with him.
He was proud of its beauty, and invited people to stay all the time, and they'd think they were going somewhere luxurious.
Was going to describe further but I found myself retching again.