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

activist Activism (or Advocacy) 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 greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

and author of the internationally acclaimed memoir, ''

Holding the Man ''Holding the Man'' is a 1995 memoir by Australian writer, actor, and activist Timothy Conigrave. It tells of his 15-year love affair with John Caleo, which started when they met in the mid-1970s at Xavier College, an all-boys Jesuit Catholi ...

.''

Education and career

Conigrave was born in Melbourne, and attended the Jesuit-run Xavier College, and later Monash University, where he appeared in

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

's '' A Man's a Man'' and Ariane Mnouchkine's ''1789''. Following graduation, he worked with St Martin's Youth Arts Centre. Under the direction of Helmut Bakaitis, 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 Edward Bond (born 18 July 1934) is an English playwright, theatre director, poet, theorist and screenwriter. He is the author of some fifty plays, among them '' Saved'' (1965), the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of the ...

'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 state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

to study at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating in 1984. Two years later he was instrumental in initiating the acclaimed ''Soft Targets'' (1986) project at Sydney's Griffin Theatre Company, where for a period he served on the board of directors. He appeared in such plays as ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', ''As Is'', and ''On Top of the World''. He was also a playwright, producing works including ''Thieving Boy'', ''Like Stars in your 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. 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 Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related illness. The book was published by Penguin Books in Australia in February 1995, and also in Spain and North America. It won the 1995 United Nations Award for Non-Fiction. ''Holding the Man'' has been adapted into a multi-award-winning play by Tommy Murphy. The premiere production was directed by David Berthold 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 centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

for a third sell-out season, 9–26 May 2007. Company B at the Belvoir St Theatre hosted a fourth season 22 September – 4 November 2007. A fifth season played at the Brisbane Powerhouse in early March 2008, with a sixth following as part of Melbourne Theatre Company's 2008 season, 19 March – 26 April 2008. In 2010 it played in London's Trafalgar Studios. 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 and Roxane Wilson, as well as a successful run in the summer of 2018 at Chicago's Pride Films and Plays. 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 Armf ...

and features

Ryan Corr Ryan Corr (born 15 January 1989) is an Australian actor. Corr is known for his roles in the Australian drama series ''Packed to the Rafters'' and '' Love Child'' along with film roles in ''Wolf Creek 2'' (2013), ''The Water Diviner'' (2014) and ' ...

(Tim) and

Craig Stott Craig Matthew Stott (born 14 April 1990) is an Australian actor, perhaps best known for his role as Josh Watkins in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC television drama ''East of Everything'' (2008–09), and as the co-lead character Jo ...

(John). A documentary based on the lives of Tim Conigrave and John Caleo, ''Remembering the Man'', premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival 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'' 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 Adelaide Film Festival 2015, Sydney's Mardi Gras Film Festival 2016 and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2016. The film also won the David McCarthy Award for best documentary at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival 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 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.

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, 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 CaleoGriffin Theatre Company websiteNorth American distributor and promoter of Holding The Man book and playHolding the Man on Amazon, with reader reviewsHolding the Man on IMDB
*FindAGrave.com entries fo
Timothy Conigrave
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John Caleo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conigrave, Timothy 1959 births 1994 deaths Australian male stage actors Australian memoirists Australian gay actors Australian gay writers Australian LGBT dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Melbourne Writers from Melbourne AIDS-related deaths in Australia National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni People educated at Xavier College Gay dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian male actors Australian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century memoirists 20th-century LGBT people