Stephen Gilbert fought the Nazis and advocated for nuclear disarmament. But mostly, he is remembered for a story about rats.
Stephen Gilbert (1912 – 2010) blew up a bridge to stop advancing Nazis in World War II, ran Britain’s most successful independent seed business, founded Northern Ireland’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and was praised by no less than E.M. Forster as “a writer of distinction.”
But mostly, he is remembered for a story about rats.
Gilbert was the author of 1968’s “Ratman Notebooks,” a short novel about a lowly office worker and social outcast named Willard who befriends the rats living in his crumbling home and eventually trains them to do his bidding, exacting revenge on his boss and his despised mother. In the end, one particular rat named Big Ben proves a little too smart, and causes the other rats to turn against Willard and attack him.
The novel was first adapted into a film in 1971 starring Bruce Davison as Willard, with Elsa Lanchester (best known as the Bride of Frankenstein) as his mother and Ernest Borgnine as his boss. Gilbert wrote the screenplay for “Willard,” now a cult horror classic.
“Ben,” a sequel to the 1971 film, featured a theme song by Michael Jackson. “Willard” was remade in 2003 with Crispin Glover starring.
Gilbert’s other novels include “Monkeyface,” about an apeboy adapting to life in the suburbs of Belfast, and “The Burnaby Experiments,” about a millionaire experimenting with psychic phenomenon.
When Stephen Gilbert died June 23, 2010, his death was not widely reported (though the The Independent did publish an obituary). But he’ll continue to be remembered thanks to his Ratman story and “Willard.”
