Murray Melvin, a legendary British actor died at the age of 90.
Born in London on August 10, 1932, the English actor worked alongside Joan Littlewood, Ken Russell, and Stanley Kubrick, and was best known for his roles in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood and A Taste of Honey.
Also Read| Who was Murray Melvin? Phantom of the Opera and Torchwood actor dies at 90
Of them all, A Taste of Honey made history and here’s why-
A Taste of Honey resulted in the repeal of the LGBT ban in the United Kingdom.
Geoff (Murray Melvin), a gay homeless teenager in 1960s Manchester, England, becomes acquainted with Jo (Rita Tushingham), a pregnant unmarried teenager. He appears in the narrative as an eccentric bird, yet he went on to make movie history.
The first openly LGBT movie character that baby boomers of the time could readily recognize and relate to was Geoff. With the help of Criterion’s recently released Blu-ray of the classic 1961 movie, millennial viewers should also be astounded by his outward sensitivity.
Also Read| Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello back together? Two spotted ‘making out’ at Coachella 2023 | Video
Murray has the same oval face, aquiline nose, and piercing eyes that give Geoff his remarkable appearance. His Northern diction has a beauty that makes it clear that he intentionally created his voice and was anxious to be noticed. The sad tale of A Taste of Honey, a film about the coming together of outsiders and their longing for camaraderie, is made beautiful by his will.
To play a gay character in a time when its mere depiction on screen was prohibited ought to have required courage and a love of movies and wonderful storytelling, which is exactly what made Murray a legend.
A Taste of Honey is based on a theatre play created by Manchester native Shelagh Delaney, 19, who was a theater novice at the time.
Lord Chamberlain was in charge of play licensing and censorship at the time and up until 1968. Delaney was the first playwright to effectively circumvent the long-standing censorial ban on theater productions that openly included gay characters or addressed homosexuality. Therefore, it was groundbreaking for her to represent the young, gay student sympathetically. Up until that point, playwrights used deception and innuendo to get over the censor’s veto. A Taste of Honey’s licensing application created a stir.
Brigadier Norman Gwatkin, the Lord Chamberlain’s assistant comptroller, stated, “I think it’s revolting, quite apart from the homosexual bits … To me it has no saving grace whatsoever. If we pass muck like this, it does give our critics something to go on.”
However, Charles Heriot, the primary play reader for the lord chamberlain, concluded: “It is concerned with the forbidden subject in a way that I believe no one could take exception to.” The play was authorized by the lord chamberlain, who agreed with Heriot. It is quite likely that Delaney’s portrayal of the topic and A Taste of Honey’s positive critical and popular reception contributed significantly to the lord chamberlain’s partial relaxation of his prohibition on homosexuality and gay people a few months later.
