Tim Conigrave (19 November 1959 – 18 October 1994) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and author of the internationally acclaimed memoir, ''

Holding the Man Holding may refer to: Film and television * ''The Holding'' (film), 2011 British film * "Holding", an episode of the American animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * ''Holding'' (TV series), a 2022 TV series based on the book by ...

.''

Education and career

Conigrave was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and attended the Jesuit-run

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The ...

, and later

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, where he appeared in

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's ''

A Man's a Man A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' and

Ariane Mnouchkine Ariane Mnouchkine (; born 3 March 1939) is a French stage director. She founded the Parisian avant-garde stage ensemble '' Théâtre du Soleil'' in 1964. She wrote and directed ''1789'' (1974) and ''Molière'' (1978), and directed ''La Nuit Mira ...

's ''1789''. Following graduation, he worked with St Martin's Youth Arts Centre. Under the direction of

Helmut Bakaitis Helmut Bakaitis (born 26 September 1944) is a German-born Australian director, actor and screenwriter and playwright. He is best known for his role in ''The Matrix Reloaded'' and ''The Matrix Revolutions'' as the character the Architect (The Mat ...

, Alison Richards, and Val Levkowicz he performed in the touring productions of ''The Zig & Zag Follies'', ''Cain's Hand'' and ''Quick-Eze Cafe''. In July 1981 he performed in the Australian Performing Group's (APG) production of ''Bold Tales'' at The Pram Factory, under the direction of Peter King. Also in 1981 he worked on

Edward Bond Thomas Edward Bond (18 July 1934 – 3 March 2024) was an English playwright, theatre director, poet, dramatic theorist and screenwriter. He was the author of some 50 plays, among them '' Saved'' (1965), the production of which was instrument ...

's '' Saved'' for the Guild Theatre Company and completed his first play, ''The Blitz Kids'', which was performed at the La Mama Theatre (Adelaide) in August that year. Conigrave later moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to study at

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

(NIDA), graduating in 1984. Two years later he was instrumental in initiating the acclaimed ''Soft Targets'' (1986) project at Sydney's

Griffin Theatre Company Griffin Theatre Company is an Australian theatre specialising in new works, based in Sydney. Founded in 1979, it is the resident theatre company at the Stables Theatre in Kings Cross. the artistic director is Declan Greene. Artistic directors ...

, where for a period he served on the board of directors. He appeared in such plays as ''

Brighton Beach Memoirs ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. The play is a coming-of-age comedy focused on the main character of Eugene Morris Jerome, a Jewish teenager from a Polish immigrant family. It is set in September 1937 in ...

'', ''As Is'', and ''On Top of the World''. He was also a playwright, producing works including ''Thieving Boy'', ''Like Stars in My Hands'' and ''The Blitz Kids''. He was a member of The Globos, a musical comedy cabaret group, performing at Sydney's Kinselas nightclub in the mid-1980s. And in the late 1980s and early 1990s he was a Peer Education Officer with the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON), running the Fun and Esteem project.

Memoir

Book

His major work, the autobiographical ''

'' (1995), is the story of his 15-year relationship with John Caleo. They met as students at Xavier College; Caleo was captain of the Australian Rules Football team and Conigrave wanted to be an actor. Conigrave finished the book shortly before dying of an

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-related illness. The book was published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

in Australia in February 1995, and also in Spain and North America. It won the 1995 United Nations Award for Non-Fiction.

Play

''Holding the Man'' has been adapted into a multi-award-winning play by Tommy Murphy. The premiere production was directed by

David Berthold David Berthold is an Australian theatre and festival director, who has also been artistic director of several major Australian arts organisations. Early life and education David Berthold was born in Maitland, New South Wales. He spent some ye ...

at Griffin Theatre Company. It later played a return season at Griffin, February – March 2007, where it also sold out, before transferring to the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

for a third sell-out season, 9–26 May 2007. Company B at the

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre comprises two performing spaces: the Upstairs Theatre and the small ...

hosted a fourth season 22 September – 4 November 2007. A fifth season played at the

Brisbane Powerhouse The Brisbane Powerhouse is a performing arts and cultural centre which is housed in a former power station in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm in Queensland, Australia. The venue offers an array of live performances, visual art displays, exhibit ...

in early March 2008, with a sixth following as part of

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

's 2008 season, 19 March – 26 April 2008. In 2010 it played in London's

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. The Grade II listed building was built in 1930 with interiors in the Art Deco style as the Whitehall Theatre; it regularly staged ...

. There have also been productions in San Francisco, Auckland, New Zealand, and more recently a 2014 production in Los Angeles directed by Larry Moss and featuring Nate Jones, Adam J. Yeend,

Cameron Daddo Cameron Peter Daddo (born 7 March 1965) is an Australian actor, musician and presenter. From 1987 to 1988, he hosted dating game show ''Perfect Match (Australian game show), Perfect Match Australia''. He won two Logie Awards for his performanc ...

and Roxane Wilson, as well as a successful run in the summer of 2018 at Chicago's Pride Films and Plays.

Film

On 27 August 2015 a film version of ''Holding the Man'' opened in cinemas across Australia. The film is directed by

Neil Armfield Neil Geoffrey Armfield (born 22 April 1955) is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera. Biography Born in Sydney, Armfield is the third and youngest son of Len, a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's Biscuits factory and Nita Armfi ...

and features

Ryan Corr Ryan Corr is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles in the Australian drama series ''Packed to the Rafters'', '' Love Child'' and '' Underbelly'', along with film roles in '' Wolf Creek 2'' (2013), '' The Water Diviner'' (2014), '' Holdi ...

(Tim) and Craig Stott (John). A documentary based on the lives of Tim Conigrave and John Caleo, ''Remembering the Man'', premiered at the

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in movie theater, cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented wikt:Special:Search/biennial, biennially in March from 2 ...

on Sunday 18 October 2015. ArtsHub applauded the film as "powerful and engaging; a fitting tribute to Tim Conigrave, the author of an ur-text of the AIDS pandemic, and his husband, John Caleo." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' said "this film goes straight (so to speak) to the gay pool room" when it placed the ''Remembering the Man'' on its list of Australia's 10 best LGBT films. ''FilmInk'' called the film a "Beautifully crafted documentary" and noted that "Despite the tragedy that is at the heart of this documentary, it, like ''Holding The Man'', is a peculiarly uplifting and hopeful film. Operatic even. Tim would have liked that." ''Remembering the Man'' won the Audience Awards for best documentary at the

2015, Sydney's

Mardi Gras Film Festival The Mardi Gras Film Festival is an Australian LGBTQ+ film festival held in Sydney, New South Wales annually as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebrations. It is organised by Queer Screen Limited, a non-profit organization, and i ...

2016 and the

Melbourne Queer Film Festival The Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) is an annual LGBT film festival held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in November. Founded in 1991, it is the largest queer film event in the Southern Hemisphere, in 2015 attracting around 23,000 att ...

2016. The film also won the David McCarthy Award for best documentary at the

2016, the jury prize for best documentary at th
MiFo LGBT Festival
2016 and the award for Best Documentary (Biography) at the 2015

ATOM Awards The ATOM Awards are a group of awards offered to Australian and New Zealand "professionals, educators and students", honoring achievements in the making of film, television, multimedia, and from 2007 multi-modal productions. The Awards were esta ...

. The documentary's directors, Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe, were nominated for best direction of a feature documentary at the 2016 Australian Director's Guild Awards.

Theatre credits

As actor

As writer / other

Book

Later life and death

Conigrave and Caleo were diagnosed with HIV in 1985. They remained relatively healthy until 1990. In 1991, Caleo was diagnosed with cancer. Conigrave nursed Caleo, despite fighting his own illness. John Caleo died on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

, 26 January 1992, aged 31. Tim Conigrave died on 18 October 1994, aged 34.

References

External links

Outrage Magazine July 1997 - with photos of Timothy Conigrave and John Caleo

Griffin Theatre Company website

North American distributor and promoter of Holding The Man book and play

Holding the Man on Amazon, with reader reviews

Holding the Man on IMDB
* FindAGrave.com entries fo
Timothy Conigrave
an
John Caleo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conigrave, Timothy 1959 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian LGBTQ people 20th-century Australian male actors 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian memoirists AIDS-related deaths in Australia Australian gay actors Australian gay writers Australian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian male stage actors Gay dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Melbourne National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni People educated at Xavier College Writers from Melbourne