Veteran performer, a longtime member of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, Everett Quinton has died.
Quinton, who received Drama Desk and Obie Awards for his performance in Charles Ludlam’s The Mystery of Irma Vep was a beloved member of the LGBTQ & NYC theater community.
Quiton was also a film actor including film roles Legal Eagles (1986) with Robert Redford, Big Business (1988) with Bette Midler, with Woody Harrelson in Natural Born Killers (1994) and the Ed Harris dramatic adaptation Pollock (2000). TV roles included 20 years on Law & Order (1990-2010) and more recently, Quinton was on Nurse Jackie.
Tonight my Facebook & Twitter feeds are full of loving tributes, like these;
Just a couple of gals in the upstairs dressing room at the Lucille Lortel before stepping onstage for a one-night-reading of Charles Ludlam’s CAMILLE. I am heartbroken, Everett. I adored and respected and revered you on so many levels.
I thank God for your friendship. I am a better man, and certainly a better artist, because of that friendship. My eyes and nostrils are running as my chest aches, I will miss you so.
Rest in Peace, dearest heart.
–performer, DAVID DRAKE
It’s with great sadness to receive the devastating news that my dear, sweet friend has left us. It’s so rare in life when you meet someone that just kind of gets you. I had the great privilege of being the recipient of his amazing friendship and love for more than three decades.
I’ll save the story of our first meeting for another day but it was in true Everett fashion how he related the story to me. Yes, the word, ‘fabulous’ was uttered. I’m a far better person today because of his enduring care and love. He would always say to me after our talks or time spent together.
‘Be a good queen.’
I will always honor his wishes for the better. Rest in power my sister in sillyness! If only we could all be as good as you.
–author, BRIAN NEIL
RIP Everett Quinton, an off-broadway legend, beloved for his work with the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, beside Charles Ludlam, his partner in life and art.
I never missed a Ridiculous show and they had a huge impact on me, In terms of the wildest irreverence amid the sharpest stagecraft. Everett, like every sublime member of the company, was comically outrageous and deliciously precise at the same time.
He played Nanine, the devoted maid to Ludlam’s poignant Camille, whose chest hair overflowed his pink satin gown. Towards the end of the play Camille was broken and bereft in her wintry Paris home, and asked Nanine to ‘put another faggot on the fire.’ (faggot meaning a log.)
Nanine admitted,
‘Alas mistress, there are no more faggots In the house.’
Ludlam stared directly into the exceedingly gay audience and declared,
‘NO MORE FAGGOTS IN THE HOUSE?’
The place went insane.
Everett and Charles triumphed many times, especially when making terrifyingly quick changes while playing multiple roles in Irma Vep. I knew Everett the tiniest bit and he was always adorable and gracious. Theater vanishes so easily, but Everett and everyone associated with the company leave an extraordinary legacy.
–author, PAUL RUDNICK
RIP Everett Quinton, an off-broadway legend, beloved for his work at the Ridiculous Theatrical Company with Charles Ludlam, his partner in life and art. Everett was Nanine, the devoted maid to Ludlam’s Camille, and they played countless roles in Irma Vep. A treasure pic.twitter.com/PovI2rX7C5
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) January 24, 2023
RIP Everett Quinton, 73, the widow Ludlam, downtown drag theater legend, ridiculous pioneer pic.twitter.com/nO7OBwXXUs
— Adam Feldman (@FeldmanAdam) January 24, 2023
