Jack Tinker
of Queen's Gardens
One of
the best journalists ever to have worked in Brighton was Jack Tinker. He lived
in Queen's Gardens in the North Laine, which he loved, and was a well-known
local character.
A notable theatre and film critic
Jack
worked as theatre critic for the Evening Argus in the 1960s and also
became a notable provincial film critic. He undertook a series of star
interviews for the paper under the name of Luke Leavis. After about eight
years on the Argus Jack moved on to the Daily Sketch and then the
Daily Mail, where he was fortunate to be given prime space on page 3 and
achieved national fame. He worked there for 25 years and thought his success
was partly due to the fact that the Daily Mail was an approachable and
accessible newspaper.
Tributes when he died
Jack died
in October 1996 from a heart condition, aged only 58. Lights were dimmed
in London's theatres as a mark of respect when they heard the news and a
memorial service for him held at the Theatre Royal was attended by about 700
people. In February 1997 a charity gala concert was given at the London
Palladium as a tribute to Jack Tinker. It included a spoof of Sweeney Todd by
Wayne Sleep called 'Tinker Jack, the Demon Critic of Fleet Street'. There is a
memorial to Jack Tinker in the western churchyard of St Nicholas Church in Dyke
Road and he also has a bus named after him.
What Lynda Trapnell said
When
Lynda Trapnell, publisher of Musical Stages, interviewed Jack Tinker,
she said she was in awe of his range of knowledge and understanding of the work
involved in any theatrical production and especially for musicals. When he died
she wrote: "He had performing in his blood but recognised his own
limitations compared to the talents of others, so found a niche where he could
admonish, admire, defend, promote, put down, build up and finally give his life
to a great love." She also said "Not many of us can boast such a
career or of having attracted so much respect and affection. There will be no
dimming of lights for either you or me, I'm sure!"
I met him several times
I
remember chatting to Jack Tinker on several occasions about his career and
about the theatre. I once asked him when he had decided to be a theatre critic
and he replied that he had never really wanted to be anything else! He said he
first became passionate about the theatre at the age of 3½ when he was taken to
see Cinderella at the Liverpool Empire. It became his ambition to be paid
to go to the theatre.
How he learnt about theatre craft
He had
learnt a lot about theatre craft by careful observation of the productions he
attended - how to make a joke 'work', how to create illusions on stage from
almost nothing, and so on.
How did he become so successful?
I
enquired how he had come to be so successful and he thought he owed it all to
luck, temperament and, he supposed, also a modicum of talent. He thought he was
particularly lucky having come to Brighton to work as a journalist on the Evening
Argus. He was appointed by Victor Gorringe, the editor at that time, as
their theatre critic after the previous critic resigned (about whom, by the
way, he was quite scathing - he told me with some amusement how 'that critic',
who had better remain anonymous, had dismissed Beyond the Fringe as mere
'juvenalia', but of course the show went on to be a huge success in London).
Shows he remembered
I
remember asking him once which shows he remembered particularly from his
Brighton days. He was very enthusiastic about the one woman show by Marlene
Dietrich when she was already quite advanced in years. (I had also seen and enjoyed
this show.) He thought she was so glamorous even at that age and had conjured
up many different moods in the course of the evening, singing in several
different languages. Jack said she had really created 'magic' for him. He had
met her after the show and had even had the temerity to tell her what he
thought was wrong with her act! Jack was never afraid to speak his mind.
His bad reviews
I was
also intrigued to know about bad reviews that Jack had written and he recalled
a particularly bad one about Terence Rattigan's play Man and Boy.
Apparently Rattigan had subsequently invited him to his home and was utterly
charming to him! They went through the script together and Rattigan explained
line by line why he had written it the way he had. Jack said that at the end he
had come to appreciate what a fine craftsman Rattigan really was.
Jack told Marlene what was wrong with her show
Meeting the royals...
I once
asked Jack whether he had ever met members of the royal family. He said he had
met the Queen at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Open Air
Theatre in Regent's Park. He was very nervous and the one question he had
prepared to ask her ("How do you feel about always having to sit in the
worst seat in the house?") went clean out of his head. He had
also been to the theatre several times with Princess Margaret, who was
apparently quite an expert. Jack once recommended a production of Richard
III , quite forgetting that for her it was really a family documentary. She
thought it was a travesty of history.
...and famous actors
And of course Jack had over the years met many famous actors and actresses. One he mentioned to me was Edith Evans, who had explained to him that she had never played Lady Macbeth because she thought it was a ridiculous role. In fact she was convinced that there was a page missing in the text. She couldn't understand why the character went mad - "she was alright at dinner!" she said.
Techniques for critical writing
I was intrigued to know what techniques Jack used in his critical writing. He said he tried to avoid using malice but thought the pun could contain quite a lot of destructive power. He commented that the English language was not good on 'praise' language. He laughingly told me that during his childhood in Oldham the greatest praise that could be hoped for would be if someone said: "well, I couldn't fault it".
Contemporary playwrights
I once asked Jack who he thought was this country's most successful contemporary playwright and he immediately replied that one strong contender had to be Alan Ayckbourn, who had written more than 50 plays and who was saying so much about what was happening to the middle classes at that time.
Critics in the USA
I also asked him about the differences between critics in the US and the UK. Jack explained that US critics were much more powerful than in the UK and that no-one there will go to a show that has been panned by the critics. Whoever was the critic of the New York Times could close a show overnight! He thought that critics didn't really have that power over here, where the public tends to decide for itself despite what the critics say.
Something of a performer himself
Jack was a flamboyant, colourful and extrovert character who was himself something of a performer, presenting his own anecdotal one-man show 'An Evening with Jack Tinker' at various venues, including aboard the QE2. He maintained that he didn't actually act, he just showed off.
By Jackie Fuller
[Previously published in the 'North Laine Runner', No 195, November/December 2008, and some parts also in the earlier October/November 1996 issue]