My imagination is my polestar
- I steer by that
Clive Barker
B: 5 October 1952
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Said by many to be the 'modern day James Whale' through his sub-universe horror imagery and inparticular the creation
of Pinhead in the cult HELLRAISER series; author, screenwriter, director and visual artist Clive Barker came out
publicly in 1995 whilst promoting his film LORD OF ILLUSIONS, adding that "I've never not said it - I just
hadn't crossed the t's and dotted the i's."
Whilst many in the business were already aware of such, others were notably shocked, an irony that was not lost on the man
himself, given the nature of his shock / horror career. Then again, Barker had never hid his sexuality, having once
commented that "it's easy for someone like me to be gay; my books have always been full of sex...gay sex,
lesbian sex, hetero sex. I'm interested in sex in all of its expressions."
Describing himself as a writer who's occasionally a filmmaker, Barker was more than happy to act as an executive producer
on Bill Condon's multi award-winning feature GODS & MONSTERS, an apt appointment given this was but a fictionalised
homage to the last days of director James Whale and a man upon which Barker's life bears so many similarities;
be it their English birth, their directorial and artistic leanings, or their homosexual openness.
A prolific artist in his own right with exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York to his credit, he continues
to illustrate most of his own books, with the published works CLIVE BARKER: ILLUSTRATOR / 1990
and VISIONS OF HEAVEN AND HELL / 2005 offering a collection of his sketches and paintings.
Born in Liverpool, England, Barker has long since resided in Los Angeles with his long-term partner David Armstrong
and continues to produce works of contemporary horror that in his own words "come from a gay man,
who's happy to be gay, who's making work that will be read and enjoyed by straight readers."
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