Billy Hayes (writer)
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Billy Hayes (born April 3, 1947 in New York, U.S.) is a writer, actor and director. He is best known for his autobiographical book Midnight Express about his experiences in and escape from Turkish prisons after being convicted of smuggling hashish.
Hayes, an American student, was caught trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey in 1970. He was originally sentenced to four years and 2 months in a Turkish prison, which was later extended to a life sentence. He escaped in 1975 to Greece, and then home.
Hayes wrote a book on his ordeal, Midnight Express, which later became the film hit Midnight Express, released in 1978, starring Brad Davis as Hayes. The film was directed by Alan Parker, with a screenplay by Oliver Stone. The movie differs from Hayes' real life experiences in a number of respects, including a scene in which Hayes kills a prison guard. Nothing of the kind took place in real life.
Hayes is still active in the entertainment industry, specifically acting and writing. One of his successes was writing and directing 2003's Southside (later released as Cock & Bull Story in the US).
[edit] Interview on Midnight Express film
During the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, Alinur Velidedeoğlu, a Turkish advertiser, met Billy Hayes by chance and interviewed him on the film Midnight Express. Hayes expressed his disappointment with parts of the film adaptation, especially its portrayal of all Turks as bad, and his regret that Turkey's image was negatively impacted by the film. Hayes also displayed affection for Turkey and Istanbul. Although the Interpol warrant for him (presumably issued upon his escape from the country) had by then been set aside, he explained that while he wanted to return, he hesitated to do so out of concern that many Turks might blame him for the negative publicity the movie had generated. The video was made available on the YouTube website.[1] [2]
He finally did return to Turkey on June 14-06 2007 to attend the 2nd Istanbul Conference on Democracy and Global Security, organized by the Turkish National Police (TNP) and the Turkish Institute for Police Studies (TIPS), to amend the negative implications of his book. He held a press conference on the 15th of June and made an apology to the Turkish people.
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