Brendan Behan was a poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright, a working class writer from Dublin with strong nationalist beliefs and an over fondness for drink. He once joked: “I only drink on two occasions: when I’m thirsty and when I’m not.”
The trouble for Behan is that it wasn’t so much a joke as a way of life. He left school when he was only 13 to work as a painter and decorator but soon started to make an impression as a writer.
His two plays The Quare Fellow and The Hostage brought him international acclaim, as did his novel, The Borstal Boy. But Behan found it difficult to deal with success and the pressure it brought often led to him being drunk in public.
In 1956, he appeared alongside American actor Jackie Gleason on a British TV chat show while drunk. Surprisingly, perhaps, the British liked his style and he gained a lot of valuable publicity for his writing. Gleeson described the incident saying: “It wasn’t an act of God, it was an act of Guinness.
There’s a story that Behan offered to write a slogan for Guinness if they would send him a few crates. When company officials came to check on his progress, they found the crates empty and Behan on the floor surrounded by bits of discarded note paper. Behan looked up at them and said: “I’ve got it, Guinness makes you drunk.”
But the drink continued to take its toll on Behan, who was a diabetic. He died in 1964 at the age of 41 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. When writing the obituary, the critic Renee McCall said of Behan: Too young to die: too drunk to live.
Below a few quotes to remind you of his wit or to whet your appetite.
“I saw a sign that said 'Drink Canada Dry'. So I did.”
“Every man, through fear, mugs his aspirations a dozen times a day.”
“I have never seen a situation so dismal that a policeman couldn't make it worse.
“Critics are like eunuchs in a harem. They've seen it done every day of the week, but they can't do it themselves.”
“I respect kindness in human beings first of all, and kindness to animals. I don’t respect the law; I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer.”
“I was court-martialled in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.”
Addressing a Nun, “Ah, bless you, Sister, may all your sons be bishops.”
“I am a drinker with writing problems.”
“There is no such thing as bad publicity...except your own obituary”
