Intimate portraits: the profiles of Kenneth Tynan

Kenneth Tynan was one of the most celebrated, controversial and prolific journalists in both the US and UK during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. As a theatre reviewer, the appearance of his writings became as much events as the productions he dissected. Amongst his vast journalistic oeuvre was an extraordinary series of profiles, mainly of prominent figures in the worlds of theatre, film and arts. This paper considers the ethical aspects of both his writing and profiling techniques - with particular reference to Janet Malcolm's critique of journalists' conventional relationships with their sources. Stuart Allan's notions of the journalist as an 'interpretative performer' and 'stylistic improviser' will be seen as crucial to both analysing and appreciating Tynan's eclectic range of reporting techniques. In addition, the 'exploitative' dimensions of Tynan's display of literary skills will be explored. The paper concludes with the argument that Tynan deliberately confounds the ethics of conventional profiling with the special 'intimacy' and collaborative nature of his portraits. © The Author(s) 2014