Deborah Curtis: biography, personal life, book

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Deborah Curtis is the widow of one of the most famous post-punk wave musicians, founder and lead singer of Joy Division, Ian Curtis. She is the author of A Touch from a Distance, which chronicles her life with her husband from the first meeting to his death, and is the writer and producer of the Curtis biopic, Control. How is the widow of the famous musician now?

Biography

Deborah Curtis was born December 13, 1956 in Liverpool (UK). When she was three years old, the family moved to Maxfield. Debbie's girls' school collaborated with the men's school where Ian studied. Before meeting the future icon of rock music, nothing happened in Deborah's life that would radically distinguish her from other girls of that time: she studied at school, hoped one day to get a scholarship to college, was not particularly fond of anything, went to dances and walked with boys. All her work - literary and production - began only after the death of Ian and was dedicated tohim.

Meet Yen

Deborah met her future husband in 1972, when she was 16. The guy she was hanging out with, Tony Nuttall, was Ian's best friend, so the three of them often spent time at Curtis's house, chatting and listening to records. Soon Tony, without explanation, decided to break up with the girl. To support her, Ian decided to invite Debbie to a David Bowie concert.

Deborah said that at first she didn’t even think that she and Ian could have a relationship, but she went to the concert just to unwind, and maybe also meet Tony and ask why he decided to break up with her. But for the first time alone with Curtis, she was suddenly fascinated by the mind and otherness of this young man. From that day on, Ian and Debbie started dating.

About the first months of her romantic relationship with Ian, Debbie recalls that she immediately found herself in another world: before that, the maximum of her entertainment was school dances until ten in the evening, but now life has turned into a series of nightclubs, house parties and concerts. Deborah also says that from the very first days, Curtis tried to isolate the girl from her old friends, accompanied her wherever she went, and generally took control of her whole life.

Difficult marriage

In 1974, after a year and a half of a relationship, Debbie began to think about breaking up with Ian. She was very tired of his endless supervision, outbursts of anger and fits of jealousy. But the young man did not agree to leave. A month later, Ian Curtis made Debbiesentence. He sold his guitar to buy her a diamond and sapphire engagement ring - a feat that struck the girl to the core.

But with the beginning of a life together, the exploits ended. Deborah and Ian got married on August 23, 1975, and, to the surprise of the girl, the wedding celebration passed without scandals from the newly-made husband. The problems began with the fact that during the paperwork for a new house, the newlyweds temporarily settled in the house of Ian's grandparents. Deborah felt uncomfortable, the old men literally waited on them, did not allow them to pay either for housing or for food, the grandmother even washed the newlyweds' clothes in the sink on her own, since they did not have a washing machine. The documents for the new house were already ready, but Ian kept pulling and pulling with the move, he was comfortable with his old people, perhaps he suddenly began to be afraid to be alone with his young wife.

After the long-awaited move to their home, even more strained relations were established between the spouses - they talked little, Ian became more and more withdrawn, there was not enough money, since Curtis could not find a good job for a long time. If before the wedding, Debbie and Ian constantly cursed, now the tactics have changed: Curtis simply ignored his wife, turned away when she began to pour reproaches, or locked himself in another room.

In 1976, Ian Curtis created the cult band Joy Division. The team quickly became popular, but at the same time, due to performances and overwork, Ianepileptic seizures returned, which had already happened to him in childhood, but did not appear for a long time. Because of this, the musician begins a serious depression, which seriously affects Deborah. He could suddenly become caring and gentle with his wife for a couple of days, for example, returning from a concert tour. But then he fell into despondency, was gloomy and angry for weeks. The attacks themselves were also exhausting: Deborah lived in constant tension and fear for her husband. When the seizures became almost daily, she was already pregnant and was very afraid of losing the baby due to constant stress.

The birth of a daughter and betrayal

In 1979, Deborah Curtis gave birth to a daughter, Natalie. A common child brought the couple closer for a while, but as the popularity of Joy Division grew, Ian paid less and less attention to his small family, and endless seizures drove him deeper into depression.

In the same year, Curtis began an affair with the Belgian journalist Annick Honore, about which he immediately told his wife. Their relationship remained platonic, but he could not hide his passion even from Deborah, suffering and tormented by the fact that his conscience does not allow him to leave his wife, unloved, but with his small child in her arms.

Ian's death

On May 18, 1980, Deborah Curtis found her husband hanging from a clothesline in the kitchen of their home. The musician's widow still remembers this day with horror, she did not even participate in the identification of the body because of the terrible shock, her father was present for this procedure. Deborah and Annick Honorereceived farewell notes from Ian Curtis, their contents were not disclosed.

Touch from a distance

Deborah Curtis took the title of this book from the song Joy Division Transmission. All chapters of the book are also linked to titles or lines of Joy Division songs. Transmission: Touching from a distance further all the time - "Touching from a distance further all the time" Deborah published this biographical story in 1995. Fifteen years after her husband's death, she could not come to terms with his tragic death, and this book was her attempt to understand what had happened.

In "A Touch from a Distance" describes the events from 1972 to 1980, that is, from the moment Deborah met Ian until his death. Although this is the most authentic biography of Curtis's behind-the-scenes life, many fans of the band do not take the book seriously, considering it "the memoirs of an offended woman". The book really feels the resentment of the widow, her dissatisfaction with the ruined life and too critical attitude towards Ian. However, all this affects the tone of the narrative rather than the reliability of the events described.

Control

In 2007, Deborah's book was made into the film Control, based on the events of "Touching at a Distance". The widow herself reworked her book into a script and acted as a producer of the picture. As in the book, the plot of the film is not focused on the musician's work, but on his personal life, special attention is paid to the relationship with his wife and mistress AnnickHonore. A scene from the film featuring Debbie and Ian is pictured below.

The role of Deborah Curtis was performed by the English actress Samantha Morton - the widow personally chose the actress who would play her role, communicating for a long time with each of the contenders. Most of all, Deborah liked that the actress raised her child without a husband, which means that she can correctly portray the feelings of a widow who was left alone with a child in her arms even before her husband's death. The role of Ian Curtis was played by Englishman Sam Riley, and the role of Annick Honore's mistress was played by German actress Alexandra Maria Lara.

Natalie Curtis

With her daughter, 39 year old Natalie Curtis, Deborah maintains a good relationship. She lives in England and works as a photographer. Nothing is known about the girl's personal life, as she shuns the public and tries to keep secret information about who her father is. Deborah explains that the girl does not hold any grudge against Ian: “Natalie is very sensitive to her father’s legacy, knows all his songs by heart. But she doesn’t want people to perceive her as the daughter of a famous rocker, she wants to be a self-sufficient person. personal life."

Deborah Curtis today

After the release of "Touch from a Distance" and "Control", the musician's widow received a lot of accusations from Joy Division fans. Deborah commented: "No one wants to see their idol in a bad light, but I just told the truth."

Besidesof the aforementioned book and film, Deborah no longer resorted to creativity. She continues to live in England on income from the use of any of the works of Ian Curtis, as she is the owner of all rights to the work of her late husband.