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Star, January 2010
Hardcover
How Warren Beatty Seduced America
Simon & Schuster
January 2010
On Sale: January 12, 2010
640 pages
ISBN: 0743246586
EAN: 9780743246583
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography
In this compulsively readable and constantly surprising
book, Peter Biskind, the author of the film classics Easy
Riders, Raging Bulls and Down and Dirty Pictures,
writes the most intimate, revealing, and balanced biography
ever of Hollywood legend Warren Beatty.
Famously
a playboy, Beatty has also been one of the most ambitious
and successful stars in Hollywood. Several Beatty films have
passed the test of time, from Bonnie and Clyde (which
confirmed for him the importance of controlling the projects
he was involved in) to Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait, Reds
(for which he won the best director Oscar), Bugsy,
and Bulworth. Few filmgoers realize that along with
Orson Welles, Beatty is the only person ever nominated for
four Academy Awards for a single film -- and unlike Welles,
Beatty did it twice, with Heaven Can Wait and
Reds. Biskind shows how Beatty used star power,
commercial success, savvy, and charm to bend Hollywood
moguls to his will, establishing an unprecedented level of
independence while still working within the studio
system. Beatty's private life has been the subject of
gossip for decades, and Star confirms his status as
Hollywood's leading man in the bedroom, describing his
affairs with Joan Collins, Natalie Wood, Leslie Caron, Julie
Christie, Michelle Phillips, Diane Keaton, and Madonna,
among many others. Throughout his career, Beatty has
demonstrated a fascination for politics. He was influential
in the 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns of Gary Hart. It
was said of Hart and Beatty that each wanted to be the
other, and Biskind shows that there was considerable truth
in that wry observation. As recently as a few years ago,
Beatty was speaking out about California politics and
contemplating a run for governor. Biskind explains how
Beatty exercised unique control, often hiring screenwriters
out of his own pocket (and frequently collaborating with
them), producing, directing, and acting in his own films,
becoming an auteur before anyone in Hollywood knew
what the word meant. He was arguably one of the most
successful and creative figures in Hollywood during the
second half of the twentieth century, and in this
fascinating biography, Warren Beatty comes to life --
complete with excesses and achievements -- as never before.
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