Murdered playwright Joe Orton was among first to write openly gay stage characters

Sheila Hancock, Kenneth Cranham and Alec Baldwin are just some of the actors backing a campaign to raise money for a statue in memory of 60s playwright Joe Orton.

The Entertaining Mr Sloane writer’s career was cut short when he was murdered, at the age of 34, by his lover.

Dr Emma Parker, a Joe Orton expert and professor at the University of Leicester, is determined to keep his memory alive by building a statue in the city where he was born and raised.

The BBC visited the University of Leicester’s extensive Joe Orton archive to explore the life and work of a “social and sexual rebel”.

Video journalist: Alex Stanger

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