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Was Herbert Huncke really the inspiration for Ratso?

posted 9 years ago by Edward_de_Vere
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I read an article about Herbert Huncke (Times Square heroin dealer/addict and male prostitute) that claimed that he was the inspiration for Ratso in Midnight Cowboy.

Other than the fact that Huncke was a seedy, rather sleazy, down and out con man, there really isn't that much in common. Ratso wasn't a junky or a drug dealer, nor was he a male prostitute. Nor did Ratso befriend Beatnik writers or write bad poetry.

Has James Herlihy (or Waldo Salt) ever confirmed that Huncke was the inspiration for the character? It seems far-fetched to me.

[–] prismabird 9 years ago

It strikes me as fairly ridiculous. Huncke has a Wikipedia page devoted to him. He knew people. Ratso was nobody. Less than nobody. That was the point of him. He'd never have a wiki. No one would remember him after his death, save Joe, and he'd be lucky to get a gravestone.

I've got to say, who the hell would claim to be the inspiration for Ratso Rizzo? Though I'm suddenly reminded of the author's legal strategy of the small penis rule: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_penis_rule
Maybe he's telling the truth, because James Herlihy gave Ratso a tiny one.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 9 years ago

Huncke was only vicariously famous. If Huncke didn't have the fortune of associating with a junky who would one day became famous writer and counter-culture icon (William Burroughs) as opposed to all of the other non-name junkies he knew in Times Square, he would have been an urban derelict nobody just like Ratso.

However, the story about Ratso being based on Huncke did sound apocryphal - Ratso was neither a junky nor a male prostitute.