On This Gay Day | Playwright Joe Orton was murdered in 1967

On This Gay Day | Playwright Joe Orton was murdered in 1967

Born John Orton on New Year’s Day in 1933, Orton would adopt the name Joe and go on to become a well-known playwright for his scandalous black comedies which included Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot, Funeral Games and What the Butler Saw.  Orton’s theatrical career, and life, was cut short in August 1967 when he was murdered by his long-term boyfriend Kenneth Halliwell. Halliwell bludgeoned Orton to death before taking his own life. Orton was just …