RIP ROCKY HORROR/Monty Python Producer Michael White

[Image header courtesy Wikipedia.]

The name Michael White may not ring a lot of bells to the average fan, but if one were to go back and look through his body of work, a few names may be familiar: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Rocky Horror (and later Picture) Show. Shock Treatment.

Michael White was a theatre producer and impresario who transitioned early on to films, bringing us some iconic moments in the process. When the Pythons decided to make their first “real” film (And Now For Something Completely Different having been basically a clip show), it was Michael White who herded the Pythons halfway across the cold, wet English countryside for weeks on end–no errand for the faint-of-heart. When Richard O’Brien wanted to bring his project They Came From Denton High to the Theatre Upstairs in London, it was Michael White who made it happen–after a suitable change of title.

Michael White started his career in theatre working for Sir Peter Daubeny at the World Theatre Season in London, spending about five years learning the ropes. In 1961, he produced his first play: Jack Gelber’s The Connection. Over the sixties, he established himself as someone who was willing, even eager, to put on daring productions. Probably the most notorious example was the original Oh! Calcutta!, a play that scandalized the theatre scene at the time with its copious nudity and frank discussions of sexual topics. After bringing Rocky Horror and the Pythons to the screen in 1975, he went on to create The Comic Strip Presents… for the new BBC Channel 4 in 1982. The Comic Strip, a small group of what became the backbone of the ’80’s British “alt-comedy” scene, included such notables as Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, Alexei Sayles, and the cast of The Young Ones.

Over his life, Mr. White won many accolades: he took the Tony for Best Play for Sleuth in 1971, multiple awards for Best Musical and Best Play from the Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard, and his My Dinner With Andre took Best American Film from the Boston Society of Film Critics in 1982. In 2013, a film about his life, The Last Impresario, was released to general acclaim.

When news of his death reached former Python Terry Gilliam, he said, “‘Chalky’ White is gone, leaving years of indelible graffiti scrawled across the cultural walls of the world … from Oh Calcutta to Monty Python and the Holy Grail and much, much more. He is sadly missed.”

Added fellow Python Eric Idle: “Chalky was one of a kind and will be missed.” (Both quotes courtesy MontyPython.com.)

Mr. White was 80 years old.

(Kelly Luck always liked Shock Treatment best, herself. Her other SciFi4Me work can be read here.)