name	Ben Gazzara
birthname	Biagio Anthony Gazzarra
birth date	August 28, 1930
birth place	New York City, New York, US
death date	February 03, 2012
death place	New York City, New York, US
nationality	American
education	City College of New York
alma mater	The New School,Actors Studio
home town	New York City, New York, US
residence	New York City, New York, US
occupation	Actor
years active	1953–2012
spouse	; divorced; divorced; his death }}

Biagio Anthony Gazzarra (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012), known as Ben Gazzara, was an American film, stage, and Emmy Award winning television actor and director.

Early life

Gazzara was born in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina (née Cusumano) and Antonio Gazzarra, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up in New York's Kips Bay neighborhood; he lived on East 29th Street and participated in the drama program at Madison Square Boys and Girls Club located across the street. He attended New York City's Stuyvesant High School; but finally graduated from Saint Simon Stock in the Bronx. Years later, he said that the discovery of his love for acting saved him from a life of crime during his teen years. He went to City College of New York to study electrical engineering. After two years, he relented. He took classes in acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German director Erwin Piscator and afterward joined the Actors Studio.

Career

In 1954, Gazzara (having tweaked his original surname from "Gazzarra") made several appearances on NBC's legal drama ''Justice'', based on case studies from the Legal Aid Society of New York. Gazzara starred in various Broadway productions around this time, including creating the role of Brick in Tennessee Williams' ''Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'' (1955) opposite Barbara BelGeddes, directed by Elia Kazan, although he lost out to Paul Newman when the film version was cast. He joined other Actors Studio members in the 1957 film ''The Strange One''. Then came a high-profile performance as a soldier on trial for avenging his wife's rape in Otto Preminger's courtroom drama ''Anatomy of a Murder'' (1959).

Gazzara became well known in several television series, beginning with ''Arrest and Trial'', which ran from 1963 to 1964 on ABC, and the more-successful series ''Run for Your Life'' from 1965-68 on NBC, in which he played a terminally ill man trying to get the most out of the last two years of his life. For his work in the series, Gazzara received two Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" and three Golden Globe nominations for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama." Contemporary screen credits included ''The Young Doctors'' (1961), ''A Rage to Live'' (1965) and ''The Bridge at Remagen'' (1969).

Gazzara told Charlie Rose in 1998 that he went from being mainly a stage actor who often would turn up his nose at film roles in the mid-1950s to, much later, a ubiquitous character actor who turned very little down. "When I became hot, so to speak, in the theater, I got a lot of offers," he said. "I won't tell you the pictures I turned down because you'll say, 'You are a fool,' and I was a fool."

Some of the actor's most formidable characters were those he created with his friend John Cassavetes in the 1970s. They collaborated for the first time on Cassavetes's film ''Husbands'' (1970), in which he appeared alongside Peter Falk and Cassavetes himself. In ''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' (1976), Gazzara took the leading role of the hapless strip-joint owner, Cosmo Vitelli. A year later, he starred in yet another Cassavetes-directed movie, ''Opening Night'', as stage director Manny Victor, who struggles with the mentally unstable star of his show, played by Cassavetes's wife Gena Rowlands. Also during this period he appeared in the television miniseries ''QB VII'' (1974), and the films ''Capone'' (1975), ''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976), ''High Velocity'' (1976), and ''Saint Jack'' (1979).

In the 1980s, Gazzara appeared in several movies, such as ''They All Laughed'' (directed by Peter Bogdanovich), and in a villainous role in the oft-televised Patrick Swayze film ''Road House,'' which the actor jokingly said is probably his most-watched performance. He starred with Rowlands in the critically acclaimed AIDS-themed TV movie ''An Early Frost'' (1985), for which he received his third Emmy nomination.

Gazzara appeared in 38 films, many for television, in the 1990s. He worked with a number of renowned directors, such as the Coen brothers (''The Big Lebowski''), Spike Lee (''Summer of Sam''), David Mamet (''The Spanish Prisoner''), Walter Hugo Khouri (''Forever''), Todd Solondz (''Happiness''), John Turturro (''Illuminata''), and John McTiernan (''The Thomas Crown Affair'').

In his seventies, Gazzara continued to be active. In 2003, he was in the ensemble cast of the experimental film ''Dogville'', directed by Lars von Trier of Denmark and starring Nicole Kidman, as well as the television film ''Hysterical Blindness'' (he received his first Emmy Award for his role). Several other projects have recently been completed or are currently in production. In 2005, he played Agostino Casaroli in the television miniseries, ''Pope John Paul II''. He completed filming his scenes in the film ''The Wait'' in early 2012, shortly before his death.

In addition to acting, Gazzara worked as an occasional television director; his credits include the ''Columbo'' episodes "A Friend in Deed" (1974) and "Troubled Waters" (1975). Gazzara was nominated three times for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play—in 1956 for ''A Hatful of Rain'', in 1975 for the paired short plays ''Hughie'' and ''Duet'', and in 1977 for a revival of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'', opposite Colleen Dewhurst.

Personal life

Gazzara married three times; to Louise Erickson (1951–57), Janice Rule (1961–1979), and German model Elke Krivat from 1982. He also disclosed a love affair with actress Audrey Hepburn. They co-starred in two of her final films, ''Bloodline'' (1979) and ''They All Laughed'' (1981).

During filming of the war movie ''The Bridge at Remagen'' (1969) co-starring Gazzara and his friend Robert Vaughn, the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia. Filming was halted temporarily, and the cast and crew were detained before filming was completed in West Germany. During their departure from Czechoslovakia, Gazzara and Vaughn assisted with the escape of a Czech waitress whom they had befriended. They smuggled her to Austria in a car waved through a border crossing that had not yet been taken over by the Soviet army in its crackdown on the Prague Spring.

Other

Gazzara was the honorary starter of the 1979 Daytona 500, the first flag-to-flag Daytona 500 broadcast live on CBS. He was also featured in a 1994 article in ''Cigar Aficionado''.

Death

Gazzara was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999. On February 3, 2012, he died of pancreatic cancer at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York.

Selected filmography

''The Strange One'' (1957)

''Anatomy of a Murder'' (1959)

''Risate di gioia'' (1960)

''The Young Doctors'' (1961)

''Convicts 4'' (1962)

''Conquered City'' (1962)

''Carol for Another Christmas'' (1964)

''A Rage to Live'' (1965)

''The Bridge at Remagen'' (1969)

''If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'' (1969)

''Husbands'' (1970)

''Pursuit'' (1972)

''The Neptune Factor'' (1973)

''QB VII'' (1974)

''Capone'' (1975)

''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' (1976)

''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976)

''The Death of Richie'' (1977)

''Opening Night'' (1977)

''Saint Jack'' (1979)

''Bloodline'' (1979)

''Inchon'' (1981)

''They All Laughed'' (1981)

''Tales of Ordinary Madness'' (1982)

''The Girl from Trieste'' (1982)

''A Proper Scandal'' (1984)

''La donna delle meraviglie'' (1985)

''An Early Frost'' (1985)

''Figlio mio infinitamente caro'' (1985)

''The Professor'' (1986)

''Il Giorno prima'' (1987)

''Road House'' (1989)

''Lies Before Kisses'' (1991)

''Parallel Lives'' (1994)

''Shadow Conspiracy'' (1997)

''Stag'' (1997)

''The Spanish Prisoner'' (1997)

''Buffalo '66'' (1998)

''The Big Lebowski'' (1998)

''Happiness'' (1998)

''Illuminata'' (1998)

''The Thomas Crown Affair'' (1999)

''Summer of Sam'' (1999)

''Believe'' (2000)

''Very Mean Men'' (2000)

''Brian's Song'' (2001)

''Hysterical Blindness'' (2002)

''Dogville'' (2003)

''Pope John Paul II'' (2005)

''Quiet Flows the Don'' (2006)

''Paris, je t'aime'' (2006)

''Looking For Palladin (2008)

''13'' (2010)

''Ristabbanna'' (2011)

''The Wait'' (2012)

''Max Rose'' (2012)

Further reading

"Broadway: The Golden Age - by the Legends Who Were there," a film by Rick McKay Films, etc. Broadcast on KCET, Ch.28 (PBS in Los Angeles, December 16, 2006. Gazzara speaks openly about getting off of 29th St.

Harris, Irving (2009), ''Madison Square Memoir: The Magic and History of Madison Square Boys and Girls Club'' (visit www.madisonsquare.org); Gazzara wrote the introduction.

Sutton, Imre, 2008. ''Back to E.29th Street: Where Fact and Fiction Revisit Kips Bay, N. Y.'' (Fullerton, CA: Americo Publications) See http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/11665.

References

External links

Category:1930 births Category:2012 deaths Category:Actors from New York City Category:American film actors Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American television actors Category:American television directors Category:Actors Studio alumni Category:Cancer deaths in New York Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer Category:Emmy Award winners Category:People from Lower East Side Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni

da:Ben Gazzara de:Ben Gazzara es:Ben Gazzara eu:Ben Gazzara fr:Ben Gazzara fy:Ben Gazzara gl:Ben Gazzara hy:Բեն Գազզարա io:Ben Gazzara it:Ben Gazzara he:בן גזארה la:Blasius Antonius Gazzara lb:Ben Gazzara ml:ബെൻ ഗസാര nl:Ben Gazzara ja:ベン・ギャザラ no:Ben Gazzara pl:Ben Gazzara pt:Ben Gazzara ru:Газзара, Бен sk:Ben Gazzara sh:Ben Gazzara fi:Ben Gazzara sv:Ben Gazzara tr:Ben Gazzara

name	Charles Bukowski
birth name	Heinrich Karl Bukowski
birth date	August 16, 1920
birth place	Andernach, Germany
death date	March 09, 1994
death place	San Pedro, California, U.S.
occupation	Novelist, poet, short story writer, columnist
nationality	German-American
movement	Dirty realism, Transgressive fiction
influences	John Fante, Knut Hamsun, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Albert Camus, Ernest Hemingway, Robinson Jeffers, Henry Miller, D. H. Lawrence, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Tu Fu, Li Po
influenced	Tom Waits, Mark Knopfler, Larry Brown }}

Henry Charles Bukowski (born Heinrich Karl Bukowski; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles. It is marked by an emphasis on the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over sixty books. In 1986 ''Time'' called Bukowski a "laureate of American lowlife". Regarding Bukowski's enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of ''The New Yorker'' wrote, "the secret of Bukowski’s appeal. . . [is that] he combines the confessional poet’s promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero."

Life and work

Early years

Charles Bukowski was born as Heinrich Karl Bukowski in Andernach, Germany, to Heinrich Bukowski and Katharina (née Fett). Charles' mother was a native German and his father was an American serviceman of German descent. Charles' paternal grandfather Leonard had emigrated to America from Germany in the 1880s. In Cleveland, Leonard met Emilie Krausse who had emigrated from Danzig, then part of Germany. They married and settled in Pasadena. He worked as a carpenter, setting up his own very successful construction company. The couple had four children, including Henry, Charles Bukowski's father.

Charles Bukowski's parents met in Andernach, in Western Germany following World War I, the poet's father posted as a sergeant in the American army of occupation following Germany's defeat in 1918. He had an affair with Katherina, the German sister of a friend, and she quickly became pregnant. Charles Bukowski repeatedly claimed to be born out of wedlock, but Andernach marital records indicate that his parents married one month prior to his birth. His father set himself up as a building contractor, set to make great financial gains in the aftermath of the war. After two years that family moved to Pfaffendorf. Given the crippling reparations being required of Germany and high levels of inflation Henry was unable to make a living, and so he decided to move the family back to America. On April 23, 1923 they sailed from Bremerhaven to Baltimore, Maryland, where they settled. Wanting a more Anglophone name, Bukowski's parents began calling their son 'Henry', which the poet would later change to Charles. They altered the pronunciation of the family name from to , Bukowski's parents were Roman Catholic.

The family settled in South Central Los Angeles in 1930, the city where Charles Bukowski's father and grandfather had previously worked and lived. In the '30s the poet's father was often unemployed. In the autobiographical ''Ham on Rye'' Charles Bukowski says that, with his mother's acquiescence, his father was frequently abusive, both physically and mentally, beating his son for the smallest imagined offence. During his youth Bukowski was shy and socially withdrawn, a condition exacerbated during his teens by an extreme case of acne. Neighborhood children ridiculed his German accent and the clothing his parents made him wear. Although he seemed to suffer from Dyslexia, he was highly praised at school for his art work.

In his early teens, Henry had an epiphany when he was introduced to alcohol by his loyal friend William "Baldy" Mullinax, depicted as "Eli Lacross" in ''Ham on Rye'', son of an alcoholic surgeon. "This [alcohol] is going to help me for a very long time", he later wrote, describing the genesis of his chronic alcoholism; or, as he saw it, the genesis of a method he could utilize to come to more amicable terms with his own life. After graduating from Los Angeles High School, Bukowski attended Los Angeles City College for two years, taking courses in art, journalism, and literature, before quitting at the start of World War II. He then moved to New York to begin a career as a writer.

On July 22, 1944, with World War II ongoing, Bukowski was arrested by FBI agents in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was living at the time, on suspicion of draft evasion. He was held for 17 days in Philadelphia's Moyamensing Prison. Sixteen days later he failed a psychological exam that was part of his mandatory military entrance "physical" and was given a Selective Service Classification of 4-F (unfit for military service).

Early writing

When Bukowski was 24, his short story, "Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip", was published in ''Story'' magazine. Two years later, another short story, "20 Tanks from Kasseldown", was published by the Black Sun Press in Issue III of ''Portfolio: An Intercontinental Quarterly'', a limited-run, loose-leaf broadside collection printed in 1946 and edited by Caresse Crosby. Failing to break into the literary world, Bukowski grew disillusioned with the publication process and quit writing for almost a decade, a time that he referred to as a "ten-year drunk." These "lost years" formed the basis for his later semi-autobiographical chronicles, although they are fictionalized versions of Bukowski's life through his highly stylized alter-ego, Henry Chinaski.

During part of this period he continued living in Los Angeles, working at a pickle factory for a short time but also spending some time roaming about the United States, working sporadically and staying in cheap rooming houses. In the early 1950s, Bukowski took a job as a fill-in letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service in Los Angeles but resigned just before he reached three years' service.

In 1955 he was treated for a near-fatal bleeding ulcer. After leaving the hospital he began to write poetry. In 1957 he agreed to marry small-town Texas poet Barbara Frye, sight unseen, but they divorced in 1959. According to Howard Sounes's ''Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life,'' she later died under mysterious circumstances in India. Following his divorce, Bukowski resumed drinking and continued writing poetry.

1960s

By 1960, Bukowski had returned to the post office in Los Angeles where he began work as a letter filing clerk, a position he held for more than a decade. In 1962, he was traumatized by the death of Jane Cooney Baker, the object of his first serious romantic attachment. Bukowski turned his inner devastation into a series of poems and stories lamenting her death. In 1964 a daughter, Marina Louise Bukowski, was born to Bukowski and his live-in girlfriend Frances Smith, whom he referred to as a "white-haired hippie," "shack-job," and "old snaggle-tooth.".

Jon and Louise Webb, now recognized as giants of the post-war 'small-press movement', published ''The Outsider'' literary magazine and featured some of Bukowski's poetry. Under the Loujon Press imprint, they published Bukowski's ''It Catches My Heart in Its Hands'' in 1963 and ''Crucifix in a Deathhand'' in 1965.

Beginning in 1967, Bukowski wrote the column "Notes of a Dirty Old Man" for Los Angeles' ''Open City'', an underground newspaper. When ''Open City'' was shut down in 1969, the column was picked up by the ''Los Angeles Free Press'' as well as the hippie underground paper ''NOLA Express'' in New Orleans. In 1969 Bukowski and Neeli Cherkovski launched their own short-lived mimeographed literary magazine, ''Laugh Literary and Man the Humping Guns''. They produced three issues over the next two years.

Black Sparrow years

In 1969 Bukowski accepted an offer from Black Sparrow Press publisher John Martin and quit his post office job to dedicate himself to full-time writing. He was then 49 years old. As he explained in a letter at the time, "I have one of two choices – stay in the post office and go crazy ... or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I have decided to starve." Less than one month after leaving the postal service he finished his first novel, ''Post Office''. As a measure of respect for Martin's financial support and faith in a relatively unknown writer, Bukowski published almost all of his subsequent major works with Black Sparrow Press. An avid supporter of small independent presses, he continued to submit poems and short stories to innumerable small publications throughout his career.

Bukowski embarked on a series of love affairs and one-night trysts. One of these relationships was with Linda King, a poet and sculptress. Critic Robert Peters viewed the debut of Linda King’s play ''The Tenant'' in which she and Bukowski starred back in the 1970s in Los Angeles. This play was a one-off performance. His other affairs were with a recording executive and a 23-year-old redhead; he wrote a book of poetry as a tribute of his love for the latter, titled, "Scarlet" (Black Sparrow Press, 1976). His various affairs and relationships provided material for his stories and poems. Another important relationship was with "Tanya", pseudonym of "Amber O'Neil" (also a pseudonym), described in Bukowski's "Women" as a pen-pal that evolved into a weekend tryst at Bukowski's residence in Los Angeles in the 1970s. "Amber O'Neil" later self-published a chapbook about the affair entitled "Blowing My Hero."

In 1976, Bukowski met Linda Lee Beighle, a health food restaurant owner, aspiring actress and devotee of Meher Baba, leader of an Indian religious society. Two years later Bukowski moved from the East Hollywood area, where he had lived for most of his life, to the harborside community of San Pedro, the southernmost district of the City of Los Angeles. Beighle followed him and they lived together intermittently over the next two years. They were eventually married by Manly Palmer Hall, a Canadian-born author and mystic, in 1985. Beighle is referred to as "Sara" in Bukowski's novels ''Women'' and ''Hollywood''.

Death

Bukowski died of leukemia on March 9, 1994, in San Pedro, California, aged 73, shortly after completing his last novel, ''Pulp''. The funeral rites, orchestrated by his widow, were conducted by Buddhist monks. An account of the proceedings can be found in Gerald Locklin's book ''Charles Bukowski: A Sure Bet''. His gravestone reads: "Don't Try", a phrase which Bukowski uses in one of his poems, advising aspiring writers and poets about inspiration and creativity. Bukowski explained the phrase in a 1963 letter to John William Corrington: "Somebody at one of these places [...] asked me: 'What do you do? How do you write, create?' You don't, I told them. You don't try. That's very important: 'not' to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more. It's like a bug high on the wall. You wait for it to come to you. When it gets close enough you reach out, slap out and kill it. Or if you like its looks you make a pet out of it."

In 2007 and 2008 there was a movement to save Bukowski's bungalow at 5124 De Longpre Ave. from destruction. The campaign was spearheaded by preservationist Lauren Everett. The cause was covered extensively in the local and international press, including a feature in David S. Wills's ''Beatdom'' magazine, and was ultimately successful. The bungalow subsequently was listed as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument called Bukowski Court. The cause was criticized by some as cheapening Bukowski's "outsider" reputation.

Work

Bukowski published extensively in small literary magazines and with small presses beginning in the early 1940s and continuing on through the early 1990s. These poems and stories were later republished by Black Sparrow Press (now HarperCollins/ECCO) as collected volumes of his work. In the 1980s he collaborated with illustrator Robert Crumb on a series of comic books, with Bukowski supplying the writing and Crumb providing the artwork.

Bukowski also performed live readings of his works, beginning in 1962 on radio station KPFK in Los Angeles and increasing in frequency through the 1970s. Drinking was often a featured part of the readings, along with a combative banter with the audience. By the late 1970s Bukowski's income was sufficient to give up live readings. His last international performance was in October 1979 in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was released on DVD as ''There's Gonna Be a God Damn Riot in Here''. In March 1980 he gave his very last reading at the Sweetwater club in Redondo Beach, which was released as ''Hostage'' on audio CD and ''The Last Straw'' on DVD.

Bukowski often spoke of Los Angeles as his favorite subject. In a 1974 interview he said, "You live in a town all your life, and you get to know every bitch on the street corner and half of them you have already messed around with. You've got the layout of the whole land. You have a picture of where you are.... Since I was raised in L.A., I've always had the geographical and spiritual feeling of being here. I've had time to learn this city. I can't see any other place than L.A."

One critic has described Bukowski's fiction as a "detailed depiction of a certain taboo male fantasy: the uninhibited bachelor, slobby, anti-social, and utterly free", an image he tried to live up to with sometimes riotous public poetry readings and boorish party behaviour. Since his death in 1994 Bukowski has been the subject of a number of critical articles and books about both his life and writings. His work has received relatively little attention from academic critics. ECCO continues to release new collections of his poetry, culled from the thousands of works published in small literary magazines. According to ECCO, the 2007 release ''The People Look Like Flowers At Last'' will be his final posthumous release as now all his once-unpublished work has been published.

In June 2006 Bukowski's literary archive was donated by his widow to the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Copies of all editions of his work published by the Black Sparrow Press are held at Western Michigan University which purchased the archive of the publishing house after its closure in 2003.

Film depictions

''Bukowski: Born Into This'', a film documenting the author's life, was released in 2003. It features contributions from Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Harry Dean Stanton and Bono (U2's song "Dirty Day" was dedicated to Bukowski when released in 1993).

In 1981, the Italian director Marco Ferreri made a film, ''Storie di ordinaria follia'' aka ''Tales of Ordinary Madness'', loosely based on the short stories of Bukowski; Ben Gazzara played the role of Bukowski's character.

''Barfly'' (1987) starred Mickey Rourke as Henry Chinaski (Bukowski) and Faye Dunaway as Wanda Wilcox (his lover). Sean Penn had offered to play the part of Chinaski (Bukowski) for as little as a dollar as long as his friend Dennis Hopper would provide direction, but the European director Barbet Schroeder had invested many years and thousands of dollars in the project and Bukowski felt Schroeder deserved to make it. Bukowski wrote the screenplay for the film and appears as a bar patron in a brief cameo.

Also in 1987 a small Belgian film called ''Crazy Love'' came out, with script co-written by Bukowski himself. The film was loosely based upon 3 frequently-told episodes from his life.

A film adaptation of ''Factotum'', starring Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, and Marisa Tomei, was released in 2005.

In 2011, the actor James Franco publicly stated that he is in the process of making a film adaptation of Bukowski's novel ''Ham on Rye.'' He is currently writing the script with his brother David Franco and explained that his reason for wanting to make the film is because "''Ham on Rye'' is one of my favorite books of all time."

Major works

Novels

''Post Office'' (1971)

''Factotum'' (1975)

''Women'' (1978)

''Ham on Rye'' (1982)

''Hollywood'' (1989)

''Pulp'' (1994)

Poetry collections

''Flower, Fist, and Bestial Wail'' (1960)

''Poems and Drawings'' (1962)

''Longshot Poems for Broke Players'' (1962)

''Run with the Hunted'' (1962)

''It Catches My Heart in Its Hands'' (1963)

''Crucifix in a Deathhand'' (1965)

''Cold Dogs in the Courtyard'' (1965)

''The Genius of the Crowd'' (1966)

''2 by Bukowski'' (1967)

''The Curtains Are Waving'' (1967)

''At Terror Street and Agony Way'' (1968)

''Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 story Window'' (1968)

''A Bukowski Sampler'' (1969)

''The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills'' (1969)

''Fire Station'' (1970)

''Mockingbird Wish Me Luck'' (1972)

''Me and Your Sometimes Love Poems'' (1972)

''While the Music Played'' (1973)

''Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame'' (1974)

''Africa, Paris, Greece'' (1975)

''Scarlet'' (1976)

''Maybe Tomorrow'' (1977)

''Legs, Hips and Behind'' (1978)

''Love Is a Dog from Hell'' (1977)

''Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until the Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit'' (1979)

''Dangling in the Tournefortia'' (1982)

''War All the Time (book)|War All the Time'' (1984)

''Horses Don't Bet on People & Neither Do I'' (1984)

''You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense'' (1986)

''The Roominghouse Madrigals'' (1988)

''Beauti-ful & Other Long Poems'' (1988)

''Septuagenarian Stew: Stories & Poems'' (1990)

''People Poems'' (1991)

''The Last Night of the Earth Poems'' (1992)

''Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories'' (1996)

''Bone Palace Ballet (book)|Bone Palace Ballet'' (1998)

''What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire.'' (1999)

''Open All Night (book)|Open All Night'' (2000)

''The Night Torn Mad with Footsteps'' (2001)

''Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way'' (2003)

''As Buddha smiles'' (2003)

''The Flash of the Lightning Behind the Mountain'' (2004)

''Slouching Toward Nirvana'' (2005)

''Come on In!'' (2006)

''The People Look Like Flowers at Last'' (2007)

''The Pleasures of the Damned'' (2007)

''The Continual Condition'' (2009)

Short story chapbooks and collections

''Confessions of a Man Insane Enough to Live with Beasts'' (1965)

''All the Assholes in the World and Mine'' (1966)

''Notes of a Dirty Old Man'' (1969)

''Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness'' (1972) ISBN 978-0-87286-061-2

''South of No North'' (1973)

''Hot Water Music'' (1983)

''Tales of Ordinary Madness'' (1983)

''The Most Beautiful Woman in Town'' (1983)

''Portions from a Wine-stained Notebook: Short Stories and Essays'' (2008) ISBN 978-0-87286-492-4.

''Absence of the Hero'' (2010)

''More Notes of a Dirty Old Man'' (2011)

Nonfiction books

''Shakespeare Never Did This'' (1979); expanded (1995)

''The Bukowski/Purdy Letters'' (1983)

''Screams from the Balcony: Selected Letters'' (1993)

''Living on Luck: Selected Letters, vol. 2'' (1995)

''The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship'' (1998)

''Reach for the Sun: Selected Letters, vol. 3'' (1999)

''Beerspit Night and Cursing: The Correspondense of Charles Bukowski and Sheri Martinelli'' (2001)

Screenplays

''Barfly'' (1984)

Films

''Bukowski at Bellevue'' 1970 – Poetry Reading

''Supervan'' 1977 – Feature Film (Not based on Bukowski's work but Bukowski had cameo appearance as Wet T-Shirt Contest Water Boy)

''There's Gonna Be a God Damn Riot in Here'' – Filmed: 1979; DVD Release: 2008 – Poetry Reading

''The Last Straw'' – Filmed: 1980; DVD Release: 2008 – Poetry Reading

''Tales of Ordinary Madness'' – Feature Film

''Poetry In Motion'' 1982 – General Poetry Documentary

''Barfly'' 1987 – Feature Film

''Crazy Love'' 1987 – Feature Film (Belgium)

''Bukowski: Born Into This'' 2002 – Biographical Documentary

''Factotum'' 2005 – Feature Film

''The Suicide'' 2006 – Short film

''One Tough Mother'' 2010 Released on DVD – Poetry Reading

Major biographies and bibliographies

''Hugh Fox'' – ''Charles Bukowski: A Critical and Bibliographical Study'' (1969)

''Neeli Cherkovski'' – ''Hank: The Life of Charles Bukowski'' (1991)

''Russell Harrison'' – ''Against The American Dream: Essays on Charles Bukowski'' (1994)

''Gay Brewer'' – ''Charles Bukowski: Twayne's United States Authors Series'' (1997)

''Howard Sounes'' – Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life (1998)

''Ben Pleasants'' – ''Visceral Bukowski'' (2004)

''David Charlson'' – Charles Bukowski: Autobiographer, Gender Critic, Iconoclast

Aaron Krumhansl – ''A Descriptive Bibliography of the Primary Publications of Charles Bukowski'' (Black Sparrow Press, 1999)

'' Al Fogel'' – Charles Bukowski: A Comprehensive Price Guide & Checklist, 1944–1999 (2000)

Sanford Dorbin – ''A Bibliography of Charles Bukowski'' (Black Sparrow Press, 1969)

Pamela Wood – "Charles Bukowski's Scarlet" (Sun Dog Press, 2010; ISBN 978-0-941543-58-3)

References

External links

Profile and poems at Poetry Foundation.org

Profile and poems at Poets.org

"Hanging with Bukowski at the Gotlieb Center". ''BU Today''. Boston University 26 March 2009

Black Sparrow Press Collection − Western Michigan University Special Collections

"Bukowski Comes to Wormwood", ''The Wormwood Review'' 1985

"Mickey Rourke plays a tough barfly". Interview with Bukowski 10 February 1987. ''Chicago Sun Times''

13 August 2000 Bukowski profile (audio, 11 mins) ''NPR''.

"Smashed:The pulp poetry of Charles Bukowski" by Adam Kirsch at ''The New Yorker'' 14-03-2005

HarperCollins profile, timeline and resources

Category:1983 books Category:Short story collections by Charles Bukowski Category:1920 births Category:1994 deaths Category:American novelists Category:American poets Category:Writers from California Category:Deaths from leukemia Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Polish descent Category:People from the Rhine Province Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Outlaw poets Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics

az:Çarlz Bukovski be:Чарльз Букоўскі bg:Чарлз Буковски ca:Charles Bukowski cs:Charles Bukowski da:Charles Bukowski de:Charles Bukowski et:Charles Bukowski el:Τσαρλς Μπουκόφσκι es:Charles Bukowski eo:Charles Bukowski eu:Charles Bukowski fa:چارلز بوکوفسکی fo:Charles Bukowski fr:Charles Bukowski fy:Charles Bukowski gl:Charles Bukowski ko:찰스 부코스키 hr:Charles Bukowski io:Charles Bukowski id:Charles Bukowski it:Charles Bukowski he:צ'ארלס בוקובסקי kk:Чарльз Буковски ku:Charles Bukowski lt:Charles Bukowski hu:Charles Bukowski mk:Чарлс Буковски nl:Charles Bukowski ja:チャールズ・ブコウスキー no:Charles Bukowski pl:Charles Bukowski pt:Charles Bukowski ro:Charles Bukowski ru:Буковски, Чарльз sc:Charles bukowski sq:Charles Bukowski sk:Charles Bukowski sl:Charles Bukowski sr:Чарлс Буковски fi:Charles Bukowski sv:Charles Bukowski th:ชาร์ลส์ บูเคาว์สกี tr:Charles Bukowski uk:Чарлз Буковскі zh:查理·布考斯基

name	John Cassavetes
birth name	John Nicholas Cassavetes
birth date	December 09, 1929
birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
death date	February 03, 1989
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation	Actor, Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Film editor
years active	1951–1988
spouse	Gena Rowlands (1954-1989, his death) }}

John Nicholas Cassavetes (in Greek: Γιάννης Νικόλαος Κασσαβέτης; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably ''Rosemary's Baby'' (1968) and ''The Dirty Dozen'' (1967). Cassevetes was also a pioneer of American independent film by writing and directing over a dozen movies, which he financed in part with his Hollywood paychecks, and which pioneered the use of improvisation and a realistic cinéma vérité style.

Early life

Cassavetes was born in New York as the son of Greek American Katherine Cassavetes (who was to feature in some of his films) and Greek immigrant Nicholas John Cassavetes. His early years were spent with his family in Greece; when he returned at age seven, he spoke no English. He grew up on Long Island, New York. He attended Port Washington High School from 1945 to 1947, participating in Port Weekly (the school paper), Red Domino (interclass play), football, and the Port Light (yearbook). Next to his photo on page 55 of his 1947 year book is written: "'Cassy' is always ready with a wisecrack, but he does have a serious side. A 'sensational' personality. Drives his 'heap' all over." Cassavetes also attended high school at Blair Academy in New Jersey before spending a year at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, before transferring to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After graduating in 1950, he continued acting in the theater, took small parts in films and began working on television in anthology series, such as ''Alcoa Theatre''.

The middle years

Acting workshop and ''Shadows''

By 1956, Cassavetes had begun teaching method acting in his own workshop in New York City. An improvisation exercise in his workshop inspired the idea for his writing and directorial debut, ''Shadows'' (1959; first version 1957). Cassavetes raised the funds for production from friends and family, as well as listeners to Jean Shepherd's late-night radio talk show ''Night People''. His stated purpose was to make a film about little people, different from Hollywood studio productions.

Cassavetes was unable to gain American distribution of ''Shadows'', but it won the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival. European distributors later released the movie in the United States as an import. Although the box office of ''Shadows'' in the United States was slight, it did gain attention from the Hollywood studios.

Television and acting jobs

Cassavetes played bit parts in B-pictures and in television serials, until gaining notice in 1955 as a vicious killer in ''The Night Holds Terror'', and as a juvenile delinquent in the live TV drama ''Crime In The Streets'' (he would repeat this latter performance in the 1956 film version). His first starring role in a feature film was ''Edge of the City'' (1957), which co-starred Sidney Poitier. He was briefly under contract to MGM and co-starred with Robert Taylor in the western ''Saddle the Wind'', written by Rod Serling. In the late 1950s Cassavetes played Johnny Staccato, the title character in a television series about a jazz pianist who also worked as a private detective. In total he directed five episodes of the series, which also features a guest performance from his wife Gena Rowlands. It was broadcast on NBC between September 1959 and March 1960, when it was acquired by ABC. Although critically acclaimed, the series was cancelled in September 1960. Cassavetes also appeared on the NBC interview program, ''Here's Hollywood''. Cassavetes directed two movies for Hollywood in the early 1960s - ''Too Late Blues'' and ''A Child Is Waiting''. He also starred in CBS western series Rawhide, in the episode "Incident Near Gloomy River" (1961). In the 1962-1963 season Cassavetes guest-starred on the CBS anthology series, ''The Lloyd Bridges Show'', and directed two episodes, including "A Pair of Boots", in which his friend, Seymour Cassel, guest-starred. In the 1963-1964 season Cassavetes appeared in Jason Evers's ABC drama about college life, ''Channing''. That same season he appeared in the ABC medical drama about psychiatry, ''Breaking Point''. In 1965 he appeared on ABC's western series, ''The Legend of Jesse James''. The same year he also guest-starred in the World War II series, ''Combat!'', in the episode "S.I.W.".

It was with the payment for his work on television, as well as a handful of film acting jobs, that he was able to relocate to California and to make his subsequent films independent of any studio, as ''Shadows'' had been. The films in which he acted with this intention include, Don Siegel's ''The Killers''; the motorcycle gang movie, ''Devil's Angels'' (1967); ''The Dirty Dozen'' (1967), in a role for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as PVT. Victor R. Franko; Roman Polanski's ''Rosemary's Baby'' (1968); and ''The Fury'' (1978).

The ''Faces International'' films

''Faces'' (1968) was the second film to be both directed and independently financed by Cassavetes. The film starred Cassavetes' wife Gena Rowlands, whom he had married during his struggling actor days, John Marley, Seymour Cassel and Val Avery, as well as several first time actors, such as lead actress Lynn Carlin. It depicts the slow disintegration of a contemporary marriage. The film reportedly took three years to make, and was made largely in the Cassavetes home. ''Faces'' was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress). Around this time, Cassavetes formed "Faces International" as a distribution company to handle all of his films.

In 1970, Cassavetes directed and acted in ''Husbands'', with actors Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara. They played a trio of married men on a spree in New York and London after the funeral of one of their best friends. ''Minnie and Moskowitz'' (1971), about two unlikely lovers, had Rowlands with Seymour Cassel.

In 1972, Cassavetes played opposite Peter Falk again and Blythe Danner in the ''Columbo'' episode ''Etude in Black'', playing the symphony conductor Alex Benedict.

''A Woman Under the Influence'' (1974) stars Rowlands as an increasingly troubled housewife named Mabel. Rowlands received a Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, while Cassavetes was nominated for Best Director.

In ''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' (1976), Ben Gazzara plays Cosmo Vitelli, a small-time strip-club owner with an out-of-control gambling habit, pressured by mobsters to commit a murder to pay off his debt.

''Opening Night'' (1977) has Gena Rowlands as lead actress with Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, and Joan Blondell. Rowlands portrays an aging film star named Myrtle Gordon working in the theater and suffering a personal crisis. Alone and unloved by her colleagues, in fear of age and always at a remove from others on account of her stardom, she succumbs to alcohol and hallucinations after witnessing the accidental death of a young fan. Ultimately, she fights through this, delivering the performance of her life in a play. Rowlands won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival for her performance.

Last years

Cassavetes directed the film ''Gloria'' (1980), featuring Rowlands as a Mob moll who tries to protect an orphan boy whom the Mob wants to kill. Rowlands earned another Best Actress nomination for it. In 1982, Cassavetes starred in Paul Mazursky's ''Tempest'', which costarred Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Molly Ringwald, and Raúl Juliá.

After receiving the prognosis from his doctor that he had six months to live, Cassavetes made ''Love Streams'' (1984) which featured him as an aging playboy who suffers the overbearing affection of his recently divorced sister. It was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Golden Bear. The film is often considered Cassavetes' "last film", in that it brought together many aspects of his previous films and also in that he despised the film he made afterwards. ''Big Trouble'' (1986), was taken over during filming from Andrew Bergman who wrote the original screenplay. Cassavetes came to refer to the film as "the aptly titled 'Big Trouble'", since the studio vetoed many of his decisions for the film and eventually edited most of the film in a way which Cassavetes disagreed with.

In January 1987, Cassavetes was facing health problems but having outlasted his doctor's prognosis, wrote the three-act play ''Woman of Mystery'' and succeeded in bringing it to the stage in May and June at the Court Theater.

Cassavetes worked during the last year of his life to produce a last film which was to be titled ''She's Delovely''. He was in talks with Sean Penn to star, though legal and financial hurdles proved insurmountable and the project was forgotten about until after Cassavetes's death, when it was finally made as ''She's So Lovely''.

Death and legacy

An alcoholic, Cassavetes died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1989 at the age of 59. He was survived by Rowlands and three children (Nick, Alexandra and Zoe).

At the time of his death Cassavetes had amassed a collection of more than forty unproduced screenplays, as well as a novel of ''Husbands''.

Cassavetes is the subject of several books about the actor/filmmakers life. ''Cassavetes on Cassavetes'' is a collection of interviews collected or conducted by Boston University film scholar Ray Carney, in which the filmmaker recalled his experiences, influences and outlook on the film industry. In the Oscar 2005 edition of ''Vanity Fair'' magazine, one article features a tribute to Cassavetes by three members of his stock company, Rowlands, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk.

Many of Cassavetes' films are owned by Faces Distribution, a company overseen by Gena Rowlands and Julian Schlossberg, distributed by Castle Hill Productions. In September 2004 The Criterion Collection produced a Region 1 DVD box set of his five independent films: ''Shadows'', ''Faces'', ''A Woman Under the Influence'', ''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' and ''Opening Night''. Also featured in the set is a documentary about the life and works of Cassavetes, ''A Constant Forge'', a booklet featuring critical assessments of the director's work and tributes by old friends. In 2005 a box set of the same films was released in Region 2 by Optimum Releasing. The Optimum DVD of ''Shadows'' has a voice-over commentary by Seymour Cassel. Mistakes about the first and second versions of the film are documented on Ray Carney's web site.

Cassavetes's son, Nick Cassavetes, followed in his father's footsteps as an actor and director. In 1997 Nick Cassavetes made the film, ''She's So Lovely'', from the ''She's Delovely'' screenplay his father had written. The film starred Sean Penn, as John Cassavetes had wanted. Alexandra Cassavetes directed the documentary, ''Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession'' in 2004, and in 2006 served as 2nd Unit Director on her brother, Nick's, film, ''Alpha Dog''. Cassavetes's younger daughter, Zoe Cassavetes, wrote and directed the 2007 film, ''Broken English'', featuring Rowlands and Parker Posey.

Filmmaking style

Directing

Aside from presenting difficult characters whose inner desires were not easily understood, Cassavetes paid little attention to the “impressionistic cinematography, linear editing, and star-centred scene making” that are fashionable in Hollywood and art films. Instead, he chose to shoot mostly hand held with general lighting or documentary style, to accommodate the spontaneity of his actors.

Cassavetes was never interested in working with actors who were more concerned with their images than with that of the characters whom they were portraying, which is why he rarely had actors of note (other than Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara) in his films. As Cassavetes said, he strove “to put [actors] in a position where they may make asses of themselves without feeling they’re revealing things that will eventually be used against them.”

How Cassavetes used improvisation in films is frequently misunderstood. With the exception of the original version of ''Shadows'', his films were completely scripted. Confusion arises in part because Cassavetes allowed actors to bring their own interpretations of characters to their performances. Dialogue and action were scripted but delivery was not.

Cassavetes's unorthodox characters reflected his similarly unconventional method in the making of his films. He employed mostly his friends as actors and set personnel, generally for little or no money guarantee and a share in the profits of the film. Both ''Shadows'' and ''Faces'', two of his earliest films, were shot over a four-year period on week-ends and whenever funds became available.

Cassavetes once said: “The hardest thing for a film-maker, or a person like me, is to find people…who really want to do something…They’ve got to work on a project that’s theirs.” This method differs greatly from the 'director run' sets of big-budget Hollywood productions

Marshall Fine wrote: “Cassavetes, who provided the impetus of what would become the independent film movement in America…spent the majority of his career making his films ‘off the grid’ so to speak…unfettered by the commercial concerns of Hollywood.” To make the kind of films he wanted to make, it was essential to work in this ‘communal', ‘off the grid’ atmosphere because Hollywood’s “basis is economic rather than political or philosophical,” and no Hollywood executives were interested in Cassavetes’s studies of human behaviour. He mortgaged his house to acquire the funds to shoot ''A Woman Under the Influence'', instead of seeking money from an investor who might try to change the script so as to make the film more marketable.

Music

Cassavetes was passionate about a wide range of music, from jazz to classical to rock, "I like all music. It makes you feel like living. Silence is death."

For the soundtrack of ''Shadows'', Cassavetes worked with jazz composer and musician Charles Mingus and Shafi Hadi to provide the score. Mingus's friend, Diane Dorr-Dorynek, described Cassavetes' approach to film-making in jazz terms:

"The script formed the skeleton around which the actors might change or ad lib lines according to their response to the situation at the moment, so that each performance was slightly different. A jazz musician works in this way, using a given musical skeleton and creating out of it, building a musical whole related to a particular moment by listening to and interacting with his fellow musicians. Jazz musicians working with actors could conceivably provide audiences with some of the most moving and alive theater they have ever experienced."

When asked by a documentarian, during the making of ''Faces'', whether he had the desire to make a musical film, Cassavetes responded that he wanted to make only one musical, Dostoyevsky's ''Crime and Punishment''.

Cassavetes worked with Bo Harwood, from 1970 to 1984, on six films in several different capacities, even though Harwood had initially only signed on to do "a little editing" for ''Husbands'', and "a little sound editing" for ''Minnie and Moskowitz''. Harwood composed poignant music for Cassavetes' following three films, and was also credited as "Sound" for two of them. During these projects, Harwood wrote several songs, some with Cassavetes.

During his work with Cassavetes, Harwood claimed that the notoriously unpredictable director preferred to use the "scratch track" version of his compositions, rather than to let Harwood refine and re-record them with an orchestra. Some of these scratch tracks were recorded in Cassavetes office, with piano or guitar, as demos, and then eventually ended up in the final film. While this matched the raw, unpolished feel that marks most of Cassavetes' films, Harwood was sometimes surprised and embarrassed.

The relationship seems to have ended amicably. When asked by documentarian Michael Ventura, during the making of Cassavetes' last film ''Love Streams'', what he had learned from working with Cassavetes, Harwood replied:

I learned a lot through John. I've done a lot of editing for him. Picture editing, sound editing, music editing, shot sound, composed score, and I've learned a lot about integrity...I think you know what I mean. You know, thirty years from now, I can say I rode with Billy the Kid."

In popular culture

In the British comic 2000AD (prog 627, created by Alan Grant and Colin MacNeil), the death of Cassavetes was the trigger (albeit hundreds of years in the future) for Judge Dredd's disillusionment with Mega City One's fascistic social repression, and his subsequent resignation, as told in 1989's The Dead Man story arc.

In the Robert Crais books ''The Monkey's Raincoat'' and ''Stalking the Angel'', the main character Elvis Cole is noted to look like John Cassavetes '20 years ago'. He also uses the name Johhny Staccato when giving his details to an apartment guard.

Washington D.C. band Fugazi recorded a tribute on 1993 record ''In on the Kill Taker'' called "Cassavetes".

Jem Cohen's film about Fugazi, 'Instrument' is dedicated to Cassavetes, as well as D. Boon of the 1980s punk rock band the Minutemen.

Electroclash band Le Tigre released 'What's Yr Take On Cassavetes?', on their ''self-titled album'', featuring a debate between two individuals on the director ('Misogynist/genius').

On the album ''The Gap'' (2000) by Chicago band Joan of Arc, is a song titled "John Cassavetes, Assata Shakur, and Guy Debord Walk Into a Bar.."

The season finale of ''Moral Orel'' entitled "Nature, Part 2" on July 15, 2007 was dedicated to John Cassavetes.

Elaine May's ''Mikey and Nicky'' (1976), featuring Falk and Cassavetes, was an overt homage to Cassavetes in cultural / thematic scope, cinematography, and the improvisational nature of the acting.

In the 1993 Denis Leary song "Asshole", Leary states he is going to get "The Duke" (John Wayne), John Cassavetes, Lee Marvin, Sam Peckinpah and a case of whiskey and drive down to Texas—just for some toughness.

The Hold Steady's 2008 album ''Stay Positive'' makes various allusions to Cassavetes's ''Opening Night''.

The lyrics to the song "Opening Night" by Motion City Soundtrack also contain references to the film. This song can be found on their Back to the Beat EP.

On the cover of the compilation "Tank Girl 2" by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin, Tank Girl has the name "Cassavetes" written on her sleeve, with no further explanation.

In the book "Chronic City" by Jonathan Lethem, one of the main characters, a film critic named Perkus Tooth considers John Cassavetes one of his "holy heroes".

In the novels of author Robert Crais, private detective Elvis Cole is often told he looks like John Cassavetes.

His movie "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" is referenced in one of the episodes of Northern Exposure by the Ed Chigliak character.

Belgian art rock band Deus' album "In A Bar, Under The Sea" features a song called "Opening Night" with lyrics referring to the movie.

Filmography

Notes

Charles Warren, "Cavell, Altman and Cassavetes" in the Stanley Cavell special issue, Jeffrey Crouse (ed.) ''Film International'', Issue 22, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2006, pp. 14–20.

References

External links

Ray Carney's ''The John Cassavetes Pages''

John Cassavetes Tribute Site

Bright Lights Film Journal:Review of Criterion's Box Set ''Five Films''

Playboy Magazine interview (07/1971)

Literature on John Cassavetes

Category:1929 births Category:1989 deaths Category:American experimental filmmakers Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American screenwriters Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Deaths from cirrhosis Category:American people of Greek descent Category:People from Long Island Category:Blair Academy alumni

ar:جون كاسافيتز bg:Джон Касавитис bs:John Cassavetes ca:John Cassavetes cy:John Cassavetes da:John Cassavetes de:John Cassavetes es:John Cassavetes eu:John Cassavetes fr:John Cassavetes gl:John Cassavetes io:John Cassavetes it:John Cassavetes hu:John Cassavetes mk:Џон Касаветис nl:John Cassavetes ja:ジョン・カサヴェテス no:John Cassavetes pl:John Cassavetes pt:John Cassavetes ro:John Cassavetes ru:Кассаветис, Джон sh:John Cassavetes fi:John Cassavetes sv:John Cassavetes tl:John Cassavetes tr:John Cassavetes zh:約翰·卡薩維茲

name	Dana Wynter
birthname	Dagmar Winter
birth date	June 08, 1931
birth place	Berlin, Germany
death date	May 05, 2011
death place	Ojai, California, U.S.
spouse	Greg Bautzer (1956–1981; divorced) 1 child
yearsactive	1951–1993
occupation	Actress }}

Dana Wynter (8 June 1931 – 5 May 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was brought up in England and Southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than forty years beginning in the 1950s, most notably in the original version of ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''.

Early life

Wynter was born as Dagmar Winter in Berlin, Germany, the daughter of Dr. Peter Wynter (né Winter), a noted British surgeon, and his wife, Jutta Oarda, a native of Hungary. She grew up in England. When she was sixteen years old her father went to Morocco to operate on a woman who would not allow anyone else to attend her. He visited friends in Southern Rhodesia, fell in love with it and brought his daughter and her stepmother to live with him there.

Dana Wynter (as she called herself) later enrolled at South Africa's Rhodes University (the only female student in a class of 150) and dabbled in theatre, playing the blind girl in a school production of ''Through a Glass Darkly'', in which she claimed to be "terrible". After more than a year of studies, she returned to England, dropped her medical studies and turned to acting.

Career

Wynter began her cinema career in 1951, playing small roles, often uncredited, in British films. One such was ''Lady Godiva Rides Again'' (1951) in which other future leading ladies, Kay Kendall, Diana Dors and Joan Collins played similarly small roles. She was appearing in the play ''Hammersmith'' when an American agent told her he wanted to represent her. She was again uncredited when she played Morgan Le Fay's servant in the MGM film ''Knights of the Round Table'' (1953). Wynter left for New York on 5 November 1953, Guy Fawkes Day (which commemorates a failed attempt in 1605 to blow up the Parliament building). "There were all sorts of fireworks going off," she later told an interviewer, "and I couldn't help thinking it was a fitting send-off for my departure to the New World."

Wynter had more success in New York than in London. She appeared on the stage and on TV, where she had leading roles in ''Robert Montgomery Presents'' (1953), ''Suspense'' (1954, with Otto Preminger) and ''Studio One'' (1955, with Barry Sullivan), and a 1955 episode of ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'': "An Unlocked Window" (winner of an Edgar Award), among others.

She relocated to Hollywood where, in 1955, she was placed under contract by 20th Century Fox. In that same year, she won the Golden Globe award for Most Promising Newcomer, a title she shared with Anita Ekberg and Victoria Shaw. She graduated to playing major roles in major films. In 1956, she co-starred with Kevin McCarthy, Larry Gates, and Carolyn Jones, playing Becky Driscoll in the original film version of ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1956).

She starred opposite Robert Taylor in ''D-Day the Sixth of June'' (1956), alongside Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier in ''Something of Value'' (1957), Mel Ferrer in ''Fräulein'' (1958), Robert Wagner in ''In Love and War'' (1958), James Cagney and Don Murray in ''Shake Hands with the Devil'' (1959), Kenneth More in ''Sink the Bismarck!'' (1960), Danny Kaye in ''On the Double'' (1961), and George C. Scott in ''The List of Adrian Messenger'' (1963).

Over the following twenty years, she appeared as a guest star in dozens of television series and in occasional cameo roles in films such as ''Airport'' (1970). She appeared as various British women in the ABC television series ''Twelve O'Clock High,'' 1964-66. In 1966-67, she co-starred with Robert Lansing (who had been the original star of ''Twelve O'Clock High'') on the television series ''The Man Who Never Was'', but the series lasted only one season. She guest starred in 1969 on the second version of ''The Donald O'Connor Show''. She appeared in an Irish soap opera, ''Bracken'' (which also starred a young Gabriel Byrne), from 1978-80. In 1993, she returned to television to play Raymond Burr's wife in ''The Return of Ironside.''

Personal life

In 1956, Wynter married her only husband, celebrity attorney Greg Bautzer: then, in 1981, she divorced him. She and Bautzer had one child — Mark Ragan Bautzer, born on 29 January 1960. Wynter, once referred to as Hollywood's "oasis of elegance," divided her time between her homes in California and Glendalough, County Wicklow, Ireland.

In the late 1980s, Wynter authored the column "Grassroots" for the newspaper ''The Guardian'' in London. Writing in both California and Ireland, her works concentrated mainly on life in both locations leading her to use the titles ''Irish Eyes'' and ''California Eyes'' for a number of her publications.

July 2008 saw Wynter involved in a legal dispute over the proceeds of the sale of a €125,000 Paul Henry painting, ''Evening on Achill Sound''. The painting, which hung in the family home in County Wicklow, was said to have been bought for her in 1996 by her son, Mark Bautzer, as a gift. The dispute was resolved in the High Court in 2009.

Death

Dana Wynter died on 5 May 2011 from congestive heart failure at the Ojai Valley Community Hospital's Continuing Care Center; she was 79 years old. She had suffered from heart disease in later years, and was transferred from the hospital's intensive care unit earlier in the day. Her son Mark said she was not expected to survive, and "she stepped off the bus very peacefully."

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role
1951	''White Corridors''
1951	''Lady Godiva Rides Again''	Uncredited
1952	''The Woman's Angle''
1952	''The Crimson Pirate''
1952	''It Started in Paradise''
1953		Uncredited
1955	''The View from Pompey's Head''
1956	''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''	Becky Driscoll
1956	''D-Day the Sixth of June''	Valerie Russell
1957	''Something of Value''
1958
1958
1959
1960	''Sink the Bismarck!''	Second Officer Anne Davies
1961
1963	''The List of Adrian Messenger''	Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm
1968	''Companions in Nightmare''
1970
1973

Television

!Air Date	!Show	!Episode Title	!Character
2/13/1963		If You Have Tears
1/13/1966	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	An Unlocked Window	"Stella"
	My Three Sons	From Maggie with Love	Maggie
1966–67		18 episodes	Eva Wainwright

Awards

! Year	! Award	! Notes
1956	Golden Globes - Most Promising Newcomer - Female

References

External links

"Actress Dana Wynter dies in Ojai", ''Ojai Valley News''

Obituary in ''L.A. Times''

Dana Wynter in episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour": "The Unlocked Window" (winner of an Edgar Award), licensed by NBC to Hulu.com

Category:1931 births Category:2011 deaths Category:British film actors Category:British television actors Category:Rhodes University alumni Category:British expatriates in Ireland Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:German people of British descent Category:German people of Hungarian descent Category:British people of Hungarian descent Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California

de:Dana Wynter es:Dana Wynter (Actriz) fr:Dana Wynter gl:Dana Wynter it:Dana Wynter no:Dana Wynter pl:Dana Wynter fi:Dana Wynter

birth name	Nathalie Kay Hedren
birth date	January 19, 1930
birth place	New Ulm, Minnesota, U.S.
occupation	Actress
years active	1950–present
spouse	Peter Griffith (1952–61)Noel Marshall (1964–82)Luis Barrenechea (1985–95)
children	Melanie Griffith }}

Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is an American actress and former fashion model. She is primarily known for her roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films, ''The Birds'' and ''Marnie'' (in which she played the title role), and her extensive efforts in animal rescue at Shambala Preserve, an wildlife habitat which she founded in 1983.

Hedren is the mother of actress Melanie Griffith, with whom she shares credits on several productions, notably ''Pacific Heights'' (1990).

Early life

Hedren was born in New Ulm, Minnesota, in 1930, the daughter of Dorothea Henrietta née Eckhardt) and Bernard Carl Hedren. Her paternal grandparents were immigrants from Sweden, and her maternal ancestry is German and Norwegian. Her father ran a small general store in the small town of Lafayette, Minnesota and gave her the nickname "Tippi." "My father thought Nathalie was a little bit much for a brand new baby," Hedren explained at a 2004 screening of ''The Birds.''

As a teenager, Hedren took part in department store fashion shows. Her parents relocated to California while she was still a high school student. When she reached her 18th birthday, she bought a ticket to New York and began a professional modeling career. Within a year she made her film debut (minus dialogue) as a Petty Girl model in ''The Petty Girl'' (1950) musical comedy, although in interviews she refers to ''The Birds'' (1963) as her first film.

Career

Discovery

Hedren had a successful modeling career from 1950 to 1961, appearing on covers of national magazines, such as ''Life'' magazine. She was discovered by Hitchcock, who was watching ''The Today Show'' when he saw Hedren in a commercial for Sego, a diet drink. Hitchcock was looking for an actress who possessed something of the sophistication, self-assurance and cool-blonde sex appeal of Grace Kelly, with whom he had made three films.

Hitchcock put Hedren through a then-costly $25,000 screen test, doing scenes from his previous films, such as ''Rebecca'', ''Notorious'' and ''To Catch a Thief'' with actor Martin Balsam. He signed her to a multi-year exclusive personal contract, something he had done in the 1950s with Vera Miles. Hitchcock's plan to mold Hedren's public image went so far as to carefully control her style of dressing and grooming. Hitchcock insisted for publicity purposes that her name should be printed only in single quotes, 'Tippi'. The press mostly ignored this directive from the director, who felt that the single quotes added distinction and mystery to Hedren's name. In interviews, Hitchcock compared his newcomer not only to her predecessor Grace Kelly but also to what he referred to as such "ladylike", intelligent, and stylish stars of more glamorous eras as Irene Dunne and Jean Arthur. Later, Hedren indicated that she didn't want to be known as the next Grace Kelly but rather as the first Tippi Hedren.

''The Birds'' and ''Marnie''

Hitchcock directed Hedren in her debut film, ''The Birds''. For the final attack scene in a second-floor bedroom, filmed on a closed set at Universal-International Studios, Hedren had been assured by Hitchcock that mechanical birds would be used. Instead, Hedren endured five solid days of prop men, protected by thick leather gloves, flinging dozens of live gulls, ravens and crows at her (their beaks clamped shut with elastic bands). Cary Grant visited the set and told Hedren, "I think you're the bravest lady I've ever met." In a state of exhaustion, when one of the birds gouged her cheek and narrowly missed her eye, Hedren sat down on the set and began crying. A physician ordered a week's rest, which Hedren said at the time was riddled with "nightmares filled with flapping wings". In 1964 Hedren received a Golden Globe Award for 'Most Promising Newcomer - Female', tied with Elke Sommer and Ursula Andress.

That same year she co-starred with Sean Connery in a second Hitchcock film, ''Marnie'' (1964), a romantic drama and psychological thriller from the novel by Winston Graham. She recalls it as her favorite of the two for the challenge of playing an emotionally battered young woman who travels from city to city assuming various guises in order to rob her employers. On release, the film was greeted by mixed reviews and indifferent box-office returns. Although Hitchcock continued to have Hedren in mind for several other films after ''Marnie'', the actress declined any further work with him. Other directors who wanted to hire her had to go through Hitchcock, who would inform them she was unavailable. "It grew to be impossible. He was a very controlling type of person, and I guess I'm not about to be controlled", said Hedren. When Hedren tried to get out of her contract, she recalls Hitchcock telling her he'd ruin her career. "And he did: kept me under contract, kept paying me every week for almost two years to do nothing."

By the time Hitchcock sold her contract to Universal and she was fired for refusing work on one of its television shows, Hedren's career had stalled after just two films.

On April 13, 2011, at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY, Hedren stated in an interview with Turner Classic Movie‘s Ben Mankiewicz that because she refused Hitchcock’s sexual advances, Hitchcock effectively stunted her career.

Other work

Hedren has since appeared in nearly 50 films, though most of them have been low-budget independent features and TV movies. She made a cameo appearance as Marlon Brando's estranged wife in the shipboard comedy ''A Countess from Hong Kong'' (1967). Other credits include ''Pacific Heights'' (1990), ''The Harrad Experiment'' (1973), ''Citizen Ruth'' (1996), and ''I Heart Huckabees'' (2004). On television, she has appeared in episodes of ''The 4400'' and ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' in 2006. She was also a cast member of the night-time soap opera ''Fashion House'' in 2006. In 2009, she appeared in the Lifetime movie ''Tribute'', which starred the late actress Brittany Murphy in one of her last roles.

Influence

A Louis Vuitton ad campaign in 2006 paid tribute to Hedren and Hitchcock with a modern-day interpretation of the deserted railway station opening sequence of ''Marnie''. Bridget Fonda, who played Hedren's daughter in the straight-to-cable film ''Break Up'' (1998), gushed to her that she had watched ''Marnie'' "a million times." In interviews, Naomi Watts has stated that her character interpretation in ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001) was influenced by the look and performances of Hedren in Hitchcock films. Watts and Hedren later acted in ''I Heart Huckabees'' (2004) but didn't share any scenes together onscreen. Off-screen, the film's director David O. Russell introduced them both, and Watts has said about Hedren, "I was pretty fascinated by her then because people have often said that we're alike." Watts dressed up as Hedren's title character from ''Marnie'' for a photo shoot for March 2008 issue of ''Vanity Fair''. In the same issue, Jodie Foster dressed up as Hedren's character, Melanie Daniels from ''The Birds''.

Another issue of Vanity Fair referred to January Jones's character in ''Mad Men'' as "Tippi Hedren's soul sister from ''Marnie''". The ''New York Times'' television critic earlier had echoed the same sentiment in his review of ''Mad Men''. January Jones said that she "takes it a compliment of sorts" when compared to Grace Kelly and Hedren. Actress Tea Leoni said that her character in the film ''Manure'' (2009) is made up to look like Hedren.

Shambala Preserve

In 1981, Hedren produced ''Roar,'' an 11-year project that ended up costing $17 million and starring dozens of African lions. "This was probably one of the most dangerous films that Hollywood has ever seen", remarked the actress. "It's amazing no one was killed." During the production of ''Roar'', Hedren, her husband at the time, Noel Marshall, and daughter Melanie were attacked by lions; Jan de Bont, the director of photography, was scalped. She later co-wrote the book ''Cats of Shambala'' (1985) about the experience. ''Roar'' made only $2 million worldwide. Hedren ended her marriage to Marshall a year later in 1982. The film directly led to the 1983 establishment of the non-profit Roar Foundation and Hedren's Shambala Preserve, located at the edge of the Mojave Desert in Acton, California between the Antelope Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley northeast of Los Angeles. Shambala currently houses some 70 animals, including African lions, Siberian and Bengal tigers, leopards, servals, mountain lions and bobcats. Hedren lives on the Shambala site and conducts monthly tours of the preserve for the public. Hedren took in and cared for Togar, a lion that belonged to Anton LaVey, after he was told by San Francisco officials that he couldn't keep a fully grown lion as a house pet. More recently, Shambala became the new home for Michael Jackson’s two Bengal tigers, Sabu and Thriller, after he decided to close his zoo at his Neverland Valley Ranch in Los Olivos, California. On December 3, 2007, Shambala Preserve made headlines when Chris Orr, a caretaker for the animals, was mauled by a tiger named Alexander.

Several documentaries have focused on Shambala Preserve, including the 30-minute ''Lions: Kings of the Serengeti'' (1995), narrated by Melanie Griffith, and Animal Planet's ''Life with Big Cats'' (1998), which won the Genesis Award for best documentary in 1999. The animals at the preserve served as the initial inspiration for the life's work of artist A. E. London, who started her career working for Hedren.

Personal life

Hedren met and married actor/producer Peter Griffith in 1952. Their daughter, actress Melanie Griffith, was born on August 9, 1957. They were divorced in 1961. She married her then-agent Noel Marshall, who later produced three of her films, in 1964; they divorced in 1982. She married businessman Luis Barrenechea in 1985 and divorced in 1995.

Hedren has three grandchildren from daughter Griffith: Alexander Bauer, Dakota Johnson and Stella Banderas. Her son-in-law is Antonio Banderas.

In a ''Los Angeles Times'' article and featured on a CBC news story, Hedren was described as being a pivotal figure in the modern development of Vietnamese-owned nail salons in the United States that later spread rapidly along the East and to Canada. Drawn to the plight of refugees from the Vietnam War, she began visiting a tent city at Hope Village, and in 1975, helped Vietnamese immigrants, primarily female, by having her manicurist teach them the skills of the trade and working with a local beauty school to help them find jobs. In Canada, the nail parlour industry is now dominated by Vietnamese immigrants and refugees.

Selected filmography

PAWS Companion for Life Award (2004)

"Best Actress" Award for the short film ''Rose's Garden'' from the Los Angeles TV Short Film Festival (2004)

Animal Rights Advocacy Award at Artivist Film Festival (2004)

Living Legacy Award (2005)

Conservationist of the Year—Dino Award from the Las Vegas Natural History Museum (2006)

Lifetime Achievement Award—Riverside Film Festival (2007)

Jules Verne "Nature" Award — the 1st Annual Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival of Los Angeles (2007)

Academy of Art University's 2nd Epidemic Film Festival Award (2008)

Jules Verne Legendaire Award (2008)

Thespian Award-La Femme Film Festival (2008)

Woman's Club of Hollywood (2009)">"When a Woman Wills She Will!" Award by the Woman's Club of Hollywood (2009)

Workhouse's first Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award (2009)

Received the First Star on the Orinda Theater Walk of Fame (2009) Received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th Annual Genesis Awards show from the Humane Society of the United States (2010)

BraveHeart Award (2010)

Who-Manitarian Award (2010)

Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce at its 90th Annual Installation & Awards Luncheon (2011)

"The Women Together Award" from the United Nations (2011)

Vietnamese-American Marton Saint Award from the Boat People SOS Organization (2011)

Omni Youth Humanitarian/Career Achievement award (2011) Honorary Masters of Fine Arts Degree from New York Film Academy (2012)

References

External links

Tippi Hedren at NNDB

Tippi Hedren's Roar Foundation and the Shambala Preserve

TV Interview with Tippi Hedren, March 6, 2005 (free online viewing)

TV Interview with Tippi Hedren on location at Shambala, 2008 (free online viewing)

Book interview with Tippi Hedren Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie

Category:American female models Category:American film actors Category:Animal attack victims Category:Actors from Minnesota Category:Challenge Records artists Category:Apex Records artists Category:People from Brown County, Minnesota Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:Animal rights advocates Category:Individuals associated with animal welfare

az:Tippi Hedren ca:Tippi Hedren da:Tippi Hedren de:Tippi Hedren es:Tippi Hedren eo:Tippi Hedren fr:Tippi Hedren id:Tippi Hedren it:Tippi Hedren nl:Tippi Hedren ja:ティッピ・ヘドレン no:Tippi Hedren pl:Tippi Hedren pt:Tippi Hedren ro:Tippi Hedren ru:Хедрен, Типпи simple:Tippi Hedren fi:Tippi Hedren sv:Tippi Hedren tr:Tippi Hedren