Skip to content
EntityQ282787· pop 30· linked from 609 articles

Derek Jarman

Sign in to save

Also known as Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman

British film director and artist (1942-1994)

OverviewAI-generated

Derek Jarman was born on 31 January 1942. He was based in the United Kingdom throughout his working life, which began in 1970. His output during that working life has been associated with the tags experimental, electronic, spoken word, soundtrack and avant-garde. Derek Jarman died on 19 February 1994, bringing that working life to a close.

Synthesized by Vinony from 9 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Last.fm, MusicBrainz. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Key facts

Born
( 1942-01-31 ) 31 January 1942, Northwood , Middlesex , England
Died
19 February 1994 (1994-02-19) (aged 52), St Bartholomew's Hospital , London, England
Resting place
St Clement Churchyard, Old Romney , Kent
Education
Canford School , Dorset
Alma mater
King's College London , Slade School of Fine Art ( UCL )
Occupations
Film director gay rights activist gardener set designer
Years active
1970–1994
Notable work
Sebastiane (1976) , Jubilee (1977) , The Tempest (1979) , Caravaggio (1986) , The Last of England (1988) , War Requiem (1989) , Edward II (1991) , Wittgenstein (1993) , Blue (1993)
Style
New Queer Cinema
Partner s
Keith Collins , (1987–1994; his death)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
male
Citizenship
United Kingdom
Place of birth
Northwood
Occupation
director
Languages spoken
English language
Religion
atheism
Field of work
scenography
Image
Derek Jarman (cropped).jpg
Show 10 more facts
Commons category
Derek Jarman
date of birth
1942-01-31
manner of death
natural causes
start of work period
1970-00-00
date of death
1994-02-19
name in native language
Derek Jarman
medical condition
HIV/AIDS
sexual orientation
homosexuality
Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~28 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, stage designer, writer, gardener, and gay rights activist, regarded as one of the most influential figures associated with the new queer cinema. Trained originally as a painter, he moved into stage and production design in the late 1960s, including work on Ken Russell's controversial historical 1971 film The Devils, before turning to filmmaking as a director.

Jarman made his directorial debut with Sebastiane (1976), a Latin-language film depicting the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian through overt homoerotic imagery. The film established many of the characteristics of his work: an openly queer perspective, historical and literary source material treated anachronistically, and a willingness to court controversy. He went on to direct a body of unconventional films including the punk-inflected Jubilee (1978), the stylised biographical drama Caravaggio (1986), and the politically charged adaptation Edward II (1991).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Derek Jarman” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.