Father of Ainan Celeste Cawley, the scientific child prodigy and husband of Syahidah Osman Cawley, the artist.
He has been an actor, a writer, a scientist and a performance artist, among other professions, in his life. His performance art made global news in the early 1990s and was covered on CNN, Reuters and NBC News.
Valentine was born on St. Valentines Day...hence his unusual name.
Valentines performance art piece, Lord Valentine the Misplaced, was a living 18th century dandy, in the context of the 20th Century world. It was highly influential and seems to have inspired many subsequent imitations, including the covers of George Magazine, which consisted of dressing 20th Century people in 18th Century costume, for example, the first cover of Cindy Crawford, as George Washington (an 18th Century figure).
Valentine played the role of The German Ambassador, in Fragrant Harbour, opposite German icon Veronica Ferres - and spoke his role entirely in German, even though he doesnt actually speak German. Amusingly, the crew were fooled by this and repeatedly addressed him in German, on set, thereafter, thinking him a native speaker of it.
Valentine improvised his lines, entirely, for his work on Roy - a Bollywood production with Ranbir Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Arjun Rampal. He played an auctioneer.
Valentine did every shot of his performance as a British colonial leader in The New Village, in one take. Sadly, this polished performance has never been seen by cinema-goers since the film was banned for being too "politically sensitive".
When Valentine Cawleys three young sons (who are also actors) watched his performance as the Witch Doctor, not a one of them recognized the voice of their own Dad, because he had invented a new voice just for the role.
Valentine Cawley played a real historical person, Stanley Warren who was a British prison-of-war, who was famed for painting five murals in the prison chapel at Changi Prison, Singapore. Valentine was seen painting one of the murals, in War Diary, which he had been taught to do by Valeriu Sepi, the artist.
Valentine Cawley transformed himself so successfully for the role of Warick, in Vikingdom, that after the film Premiere in Kuala Lumpur, he managed to walk past the press corps of 160 waiting journalists in modern attire - and not a single one of them recognized him, from the film they had just seen!They never made the connection between the modern dressed actor, and the period character they had just watched for a couple of hours.
Giftedness is not a measure of wealth - it is a measure of mind - and,great minds may emerge in the most unpromising of circumstances.
The role of a family, is to make a world that has never been and never,will be again, to sustain people who have never been and never will be,again. A family is a pocket universe, and no less important than the,universe itself, for being smaller.
"Education" might as well be spelt "e-r-a-d-i-c-a-t-i-o-n", where,creativity is concerned.
Whenever a teacher takes a stand against plagiarism, the entire school,should stand behind him or her.
I have thought of a good quote about modesty, but I think I will keep it,to myself.
A snub from a snob is better than any accolade. [Reflecting on his,chance encounter with Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, in the mid 1990s on June,17th 2010. ],A genius can learn what everyone else learns, but then see in it what,no-one else saw. [December 14, 2006],A genius is usually highly intelligent - but the highly intelligent are,usually not geniuses. [December 14, 2006. ],The self is an irreplaceable, one-off, chance creation that shall never,be again. The writer should, therefore, do their best to capture that,self, before it is lost to death, time and memory. (19th July 2010),A writer who consciously imitates another no more resembles a creator,than does a typical worshipper the founder of their religion. (19th,July 2010),When the trivial is allowed a voice, it tends to crowd out matters of,more substance. [December 29, 2008],The best sales pitch of all is a good character. (February 9th, 2010),There is nothing more obscene than cake, in a world of widespread,hunger. [1st September 2010],There is no such thing as a natural disaster, only human inaction,before it. [17th August 2010, remarking on the fact that a hurricane,for New Orleans was widely predicted, but not acted upon, before,Katrina. ],When others urge us to silence, is that not precisely when we should,speak out loudest? (20th September 2010),A genius is one who can show us not so much how to think, but what we,have been thinking wrongly. (20th September 2010).
Geniuses dream whilst they are awake. Thus it is that they are more,asleep than everyone else. (21st September 2010). .
