R.I.P. Billie Whitelaw

Billie Whitelaw.  Photo: Jane Brown, Bromide Print, 1969, Collection Of
 National Portrait Gallery, London

I was saddened to hear of the recent death of the respected actress, Billie Whitelaw.  She had a long and varied career, whose cinematic work ranged from working with director, Alfred Hitchcock on the film ‘Frenzy’ [1.], and in the influential 1970s horror movie, ‘The Omen’ [2.], - to the more recent knockabout of the Simon Pegg vehicle, ‘Hot Fuzz’ [3.].

However, she was  most highly regarded for her stage performances, and in particular, - for her work with playwright, Samuel Beckett.  That’s certainly where I first became aware of her work, and where it made the deepest impression on me.  Like anyone with a penchant for a little light Existentialism, I’ve always been drawn to Beckett’s drama, and have vivid memories of the powerful influence it exerted over me at an early age.

Billie Whitelaw Working In Production With Samuel Beckett, 1979.
Photo: John Haynes/Lebrecht

Back in the mid 1970’s, just as I was becoming a receptive teenager with a burgeoning, self-conscious taste for the strange and experimental, it wasn’t too unusual for serious stuff, like productions of Beckett plays, to still turn up on TV, - often on BBC2 on a Sunday evening.  My - how times (and our culture), have changed!  Enjoying the status of Beckett’s ‘muse’, and most favoured dramatic interpreter, Billie Whitelaw often featured in these.  At that age, my appreciation was undoubtedly as much for the overall visual impact of such productions as for the text, and I have particular memories of her performance in ‘Footfalls’ [4.], in which her shadowing figure repeatedly paces a narrow strip of light, on a darkened, empty stage.

Beckett’s work is associated with the darkness of existential despair, but there are, of course, strong elements of absurdity and (admittedly bleak), humour in there too.  Whitelaw proved herself adept at extracting multiple nuances from the often-limited dramatic material, highly stylised text, and bizarre staging he gave her to work with.  This might include performing whilst incarcerated within a large funerary urn, in ‘Play’ [5.], or whilst buried up to the waist, in ‘Happy Days’ [6.], or, most famously, as an isolated, spot-lit mouth emerging from the surrounding blackness in ‘Not I’ [7.].  That last example is one of the most arresting images in all of theatre, (or any other art form, for that matter), whilst Whitelaw's performance is a vocal tour de force.

The numerous photos of Billie Whitelaw over the years demonstrate her striking good looks, and it’s always impressive when such an actress is able to leave behind any reliance on outward appearance or the glamourous image, to become fully engaged with the truth of the ‘Human Condition’ - however unflattering or undignified the demands of the part.  It’s testament to her creative integrity that she should embrace the challenges that Beckett set her, repeatedly and with alacrity.  In the process, she became integral, (even essential), to some of the most important artistic expressions of the 20th century.

[1.]:  Alfred Hitchcock, ‘Frenzy’ (Dir. & Prod.), 1972

[2.]:  Richard Donner (Dir.), ‘The Omen’, Harvey Bernard (Prod.), 1976

[3.]:  Edgar Wright (Dir.), ‘Hot Fuzz’, Studio Canal/Working Title Films/Big Talk Productions, 2007.  Although undeniably, an enjoyable romp, there is a darker side even to this piece, - as with so much of the work Whitelaw became associated with.

[4.]:  Samuel Beckett, ‘Footfalls’, Play, Written: 1975.  This piece was written specifically for Billie Whitelaw.

[5.]:  Samuel Beckett, ‘Play’, Play, Written: 1963-63

[6.]:  Samuel Beckett, ‘Happy Days’, Play, Written: 1961

[7.]:  Samuel Beckett, ‘Not I’, Dramatic Monologue, Written: 1972.  (The isolation of the expressive mouth as an existential device has cropped on several other occasions, most notably in Francis Bacon’s famous paintings of screaming Popes, and the artwork of Swans’ harrowing ‘Filth’ album).