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Stars: John Hurt, Liz Gebhardt, Patricia Hodge, Stanley Lebor, Katherine Schofield, Colin Higgins, John Rhys-Davies, Stephen Johnstone, Antonia Pemberton | Written by Quentin Crisp, Philip Mackie | Directed by Jack Gold

When John Hurt died we lost a true legend of film, and an actor loved by both young and old. Some knew him for his role as Kane in Alien, John Merrick in The Elephant Man, and even Doctor Who. Perhaps his most daring role though was as Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant.

The Naked Civil Servant is the story of Quentin Crisp, a shamelessly (and famously) homosexual man who was never afraid to be himself, even at a time when it was illegal. Looking at his coming of age and growth into old age the film celebrates the life of a truly inspirational individual.

Quentin Crisp is anything but shy, you get to see this in The Naked Civil Servant...

My father, Ian Warren, who has died aged 96, enjoyed the fine things in life: fast cars, dashing clothes, good food, fine wine and entertaining friends. He also loved music and rugby. He was one of the earliest jazz fans in Britain, had his own band while still a schoolboy (he played the saxophone and clarinet) and jammed with many of the big names of the day at his parents' house in Kensington, west London.

He befriended Duke Ellington and his band, and introduced himself to Louis Armstrong, who offered my father his first – and only – reefer in his dressing room at the Holborn Empire, central London. Later, in the Us, he met George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Peggy Lee.

Ian's father was in the army before becoming an Egyptologist, and his mother was a member of the Seligman merchant banking family. Ian was educated at St Paul's school,...

He got his big break playing Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and now, 34 years later, John Hurt is at it again

There's something disturbing about John Hurt. That familiar Mount Rushmore face seems to have ironed itself out. It was once compared to a komodo dragon – even his lines seemed to have lines – but today he looks peachy as a schoolboy. You've been on the Botox, haven't you? He roars with how-dare-you laughter. "Nah! Hahahaha! No. Don't say that. That would be awful. Not in a million years would I do that." He's got a point: take away the cracks and creases, and his job prospects would diminish no end. His face is one of the most distinctive in the movies. Almost as distinctive as his voice, dripping with honey and acid, often at the same time. Look, he admits, there might well be a reason for his...