Tolkien Family May Go Into Hiding
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Tuesday 9 January 2001
Making J R R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings into a stg66 million film trilogy will force the late author's family into hiding to escape insistent fans, his son says.
The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of the films, starring Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler and Sean Bean, is due to be released later this year. The event may be eagerly awaited by the film industry and the public, but not by the Tolkien family.
Father John Tolkien, a retired Roman Catholic priest, says family members are already constantly harassed by devotees of his father's work. He predicts the extra interest generated by the films will mean anyone with the Tolkien name will have to disguise their origins.
"The Tolkien family is under perpetual abuse of one kind or another," Fr Tolkien, 83. told The Sunday Telegraph. "It goes on all the time. I am anticipating endless bother when the film actually comes out."
He said many of those harassing the family were "people wanting money". Others were obsessed fans wanting to catch a glimpse of their idol's relatives. His brother Christopher is already in hiding, he said.
"Christopher, who acts as literary editor for the Tolkien estate, doesn't live in England any more, and when he comes to England he doesn't use his own name. Christopher lives in France and has had some trouble recently with people trying to get at him. He keeps wild boar in his garden, which is a little bit dangerous, but they are useful when people become a nuisance."
His comments shed light on film industry rumours of a rift between the Tolkien family and New Line Cinema, makers of the film. Film rights to The Lord of the Rings have not been owned by the Tolkien family since the 1960s, leaving New Line Cinema with no legal obligation to consult the author's children.
Members of the Tolkien estate have refused all offers of involvement with the production, and until now have declined to give a reason.
Richard Crawshaw of The Tolkien Society, a registered charity devoted to promoting and protecting the author's work, said: "The Tolkien family are definitely not on board as far as the film is concerned.
"The general view is that there is not a need for it as it is a book of words and was not created to be a dramatic presentation."
New Line Cinema declined to comment.
J R R Tolkien himself, a professor of English at Oxford University who died in 1973, opposed the commercialisation of his work.
"It's quite incredible," Fr Tolkien said. "When I think when we were growing up these were just stories that we were told. Personally, when you've grown up with something you don't want someone else putting their finger on it."
Mr Crawshaw said that ever since interest in Tolkien's work took off in the late 1960s in America, the family has proved attractive to devotees who initially harassed the author and then his children.
"We had an incident at our conference last September in which people with false media credentials tried to cause the Tolkien family hassle," he said. "We are now reviewing security procedures."
The Lord of the Rings has sold 50 million copies worldwide. The internet has multiplied the fans, with hundreds of sites now devoted entirely to discussions of Tolkien's work.
Fr Tolkien has ordered his attorneys to take legal action against one website, which is advertising a new book containing allegations about his conduct while working as a priest. They are attempting to halt the book, which they claim is defamatory.
