Warren Beatty

Warren Beatty
Beatty in Shampoo (1975)
Born	Henry Warren Beaty (1937-03-30) March 30, 1937 Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Actor director producer screenwriter
Years active	1956–present
Spouse(s)	Annette Bening (m. 1992)
Children	4
Family	Shirley MacLaine (sister) A. A. MacLeod (uncle)

Henry Warren Beatty (/ˈbeɪti/ BAY-tee,^[1] or /ˈbiːti/ BEE-tee;^[2] born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been nominated for fourteen Academy Awards – four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, three for Original Screenplay, and one for Adapted Screenplay – winning Best Director for Reds (1981). Beatty is the first and only person to have been twice nominated for acting in, directing, writing, and producing the same film – first with Heaven Can Wait (1978), which was co-written by Elaine May and co-directed by Buck Henry, and again with Reds, which he co-wrote with Trevor Griffiths.

In 1999, he was awarded the Academy's highest honor, the Irving G. Thalberg Award. Beatty has been nominated for eighteen Golden Globe Awards, winning six, including the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, which he was honored with in 2007. Among his Golden Globe-nominated films are Splendor in the Grass (1961), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Shampoo (1975), Dick Tracy (1990), Bugsy (1991), Bulworth (1998) and more recently, Rules Don't Apply.

Early life

Henry Warren Beaty was born in Richmond, Virginia. His mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), who was Canadian, was a teacher from Nova Scotia, and his father, Ira Owens Beaty, had a PhD in educational psychology, was a public school administrator, and dealt in real estate.^[3] Beatty's grandparents were also educators. The family was Baptist.^[4][5] In 1945, the family moved from Richmond to Arlington, Virginia. During the 1950s, the family resided in the Dominion Hills section of Arlington.^[6] Beatty's elder sister is the actress, dancer and writer Shirley MacLaine. His uncle, by marriage, was Canadian politician A. A. MacLeod.

Education

Beatty was a star football player at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington. Encouraged to act by the success of his sister, who had recently established herself as a Hollywood star, he decided to work as a stagehand at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. during the summer before his senior year. He was reportedly offered ten football scholarships to college, but rejected them to study liberal arts at Northwestern University (1954–55), where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. After his first year, he left college to move to New York City, where he studied acting under Stella Adler at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.^[7]

Military service

Beatty enlisted in the California Air National Guard on February 11, 1960 under his original name, Henry W. Beaty.^[8] On January 1, 1961, Beatty was discharged from the Air National Guard due to physical disability. He was simultaneously discharged from the United States Air Force Reserve, and served on inactive duty only.^[9]

Career

1950s and 1960s

Beatty started his career making appearances on television shows such as Studio One (1957), Kraft Television Theatre (1957), and Playhouse 90 (1959). He was a semi-regular on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis during its first season (1959–60). His performance in William Inge's A Loss of Roses on Broadway garnered him a 1960 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a 1960 Theatre World Award. It was his sole appearance on Broadway.^[10]

He made his film debut in Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961), opposite Natalie Wood. The film was a critical and box office success and Beatty was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and received the award for New Star of the Year – Actor.^[11] The film was also nominated for two Oscars, winning one.

Author Peter Biskind points out that Kazan "was the first in a string of major directors Beatty sought out, mentors or father figures from whom he wanted to learn."^[12] Beatty, years later during a Kennedy Center tribute to Kazan, told the audience that Kazan "had given him the most important break in his career."^[12]:23 Biskind adds that they "were wildly dissimilar—mentor vs. protege, director vs. actor, immigrant outsider vs. native son. Kazan was armed with the confidence born of age and success, while Beatty was virtually aflame with the arrogance of youth."^[12] Kazan recalls his impressions of Beatty:

Warren—it was obvious the first time I saw him—wanted it all and wanted it his way. Why not? He had the energy, a very keen intelligence, and more chutzpah than any Jew I've ever known. Even more than me. Bright as they come, intrepid, and with that thing all women secretly respect: complete confidence in his sexual powers, confidence so great that he never had to advertise himself, even by hints.^[13]

He followed his initial film with Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961), with Vivien Leigh and Lotte Lenya, directed by Jose Quintero; All Fall Down (1962), with Angela Lansbury, Karl Malden and Eva Marie Saint, directed by John Frankenheimer; Lilith (1963), with Jean Seberg and Peter Fonda, directed by Robert Rossen; Promise Her Anything (1964), with Leslie Caron, Bob Cummings and Keenan Wynn, directed by Arthur Hiller; Mickey One (1965), with Alexandra Stewart and Hurd Hatfield, directed by Arthur Penn; and Kaleidoscope (1966), with Susannah York and Clive Revill, directed by Jack Smight.

In 1967, when he was 29 years old, he produced and acted in Bonnie and Clyde. He assembled a team that included the writers Robert Benton and David Newman and the director Arthur Penn, chose Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons for lead roles, oversaw the script and spearheaded the delivery of the film. It was a critical and commercial success, and was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and seven Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.^[11]

1970s and 1980s

After Bonnie and Clyde, Beatty acted with Elizabeth Taylor in The Only Game in Town (1970), directed by George Stevens; McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), directed by Robert Altman; Dollars (1971), directed by Richard Brooks; The Parallax View (1974), directed by Alan Pakula; and The Fortune (1975), directed by Mike Nichols. Beatty produced, co-wrote and acted in Shampoo (1975), directed by Hal Ashby, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay, as well as five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor. In 1978, Beatty directed, produced, wrote and acted in Heaven Can Wait (1978) (sharing co-directing credit with Buck Henry). The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. It also won three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor.

Beatty's next film was Reds (1981), an historical epic about American Communist journalist John Reed who observed the Russian October Revolution – a project Beatty had begun researching and filming for as far back as 1970. It was a critical and commercial success, despite being an American film about an American Communist made and released at the height of the Cold War. It received twelve Academy Award nominations – including four for Beatty (for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay), winning three; Beatty won for Best Director, Maureen Stapleton won for Best Supporting Actress (playing anarchist Emma Goldman), and Vittorio Storaro won for Best Cinematography.^[14] The film received seven Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Director, Actor and Screenplay. Beatty won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Following Reds, Beatty did not appear in a film for five years until 1987's Ishtar, written and directed by Elaine May.^[15] Following severe criticism in press reviews by the new British studio chief David Puttnam just prior to its release, the film received mixed reviews and was a box office bomb grossing only $14 million against a $55 million budget.^[16] Puttnam attacked several other over-budget U.S. films greenlit by his predecessor, and was fired shortly thereafter.^[17]

1990s and 2000s

Beatty at the 62nd Academy Awards (1990)

Beatty next produced, directed and played the title role as comic strip based detective Dick Tracy in the 1990 film of the same name. The film received critical acclaim and was one of the highest grossing films of the year.^[18] It received seven Academy Award nominations, winning three for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Original Song.^[19] It also received four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture.^[20]

In 1991, he produced and starred as the real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel in the critically and commercially acclaimed Bugsy, directed by Barry Levinson, which was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor; it later won two of the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.^[21] The film also received eight Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor, winning for Best Motion Picture. Beatty's next film, Love Affair (1994), directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, received mixed reviews and was unimpressive commercially.^[22]

In 1998, he wrote, produced, directed and starred in the political satire Bulworth, which was critically acclaimed and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.^[23] The film also received three Golden Globe Award nominations, for Best Motion Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay.^[24] Beatty has appeared briefly in numerous documentaries, including Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) and One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern (2005).

Following the disastrous box office performance of Town & Country (2001), in which Beatty starred, he did not appear in or direct another film for 15 years.

In May 2005, Beatty sued Tribune Media, claiming he still maintained the rights to Dick Tracy.^[25] On March 25, 2011, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson ruled in Beatty's favor.^[26]

2010s

In 2010, Beatty directed and reprised his role as Dick Tracy in a 30-minute comedy film titled Dick Tracy Special, which premiered on TCM. The short metafiction film stars Dick Tracy and film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, the latter of whom discusses the history and creation of Tracy. Tracy talks about how he admired Ralph Byrd and Morgan Conway who portrayed him in several films, but says he didn't care much for Beatty's portrayal of him or his film.^[28] In April 2016, at an event honoring producer Arnon Milchan, Beatty said he is "very serious" about making a Dick Tracy sequel with Milchan producing.^[29]

Rules Don't Apply (2016), is a fictionalized true-life romantic comedy about Howard Hughes, set in 1958 Hollywood and Las Vegas.^[30] It stars Beatty, who wrote, co-produced and directed the film. It co-stars Alden Ehrenreich and Lily Collins, with supporting actors including Annette Bening, Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick, Candice Bergen, Ed Harris and Martin Sheen. Some have said that Beatty's film is 40 years in the making.^{[31][lower-alpha 1]} It was released on November 23, 2016, and was Beatty's first film in 15 years.^{[36] [lower-alpha 2]} Reviews have been mixed, with one review saying it portrays an "absurdist vision of politics and show business" in early Hollywood."^[27]

Honors

Beatty at the 47th Venice Film Festival

Beatty has received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the Americans for Democratic Action,^[38] the Brennan Legacy Award from the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law,^[39] the Phillip Burton Public Service Award from the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights,^[40] and the Spirit of Hollywood Award from the Associates for Breast and Prostate Cancer Studies. Beatty was a founding board member of the Center for National Policy, a founding member of the Progressive Majority, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has served as the Campaign Chair for the Permanent Charities Committee, and has participated in the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. He served on the Board of Trustees at the Scripps Research Institute,^[41] and the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation. He was named Honorary Chairman of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in 2004.^[42]

The National Association of Theatre Owners awarded him with the Star of the Year Award in 1975, and in 1978 the Director of the Year Award and the Producer of the Year Award. He received the Alan J. Pakula Memorial Award from the National Board of Review in 1998.^[43] He received the Akira Kurosawa Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 from the San Francisco International Film Festival.^[44] He has received the Board of Governors Award from the American Society of Cinematographers,^[45] the Distinguished Director Award from the Costume Designers Guild,^[46] the Life Achievement Award from the Publicists Guild,^[47] and the Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award from the Art Directors Guild.^[48] In 2004, he received the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.,^[49] and the Milestone Award from the Producers Guild of America.^[50] He was honored with the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 2008.^[51] In March 2013, he was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.^[52]

Beatty has received a number of international awards: in 1992, he was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (France);^[53] in 1998, he was nominated for a Golden Lion for Best Film (Bulworth), and received a Career Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival;^[54] in 2001, he received the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Sebastián International Film Festival;^[55] in 2002, he received the British Academy Fellowship from BAFTA;^[56] and in 2011, he was awarded the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award.^[57]

Personal life

Beatty with Diane Keaton and first lady Nancy Reagan, at a White House screening of Reds (1981)

Beatty has been married to actress Annette Bening since 1992. They have four children: Stephen Ira (born January 8, 1992), Benjamin (born August 23, 1994), Isabel (born January 11, 1997), and Ella (born April 8, 2000). His eldest son Stephen Ira came out as transgender in 2012.^[58]

Prior to marrying Bening, Beatty was well known for his high-profile romantic relationships that received generous media coverage.^[59] Singer-songwriter Carly Simon also dated Beatty, and confirmed in November 2015 that she wrote a verse in her hit song "You're So Vain" about him.^[60]

Beatty is a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party. In 1972, Beatty was part of the "inner circle" of Senator George McGovern's presidential campaign. He traveled extensively and was instrumental in organizing fundraising.^[61]

Filmography

Unmade films

• Untitled Dick Tracy Sequel - Warren Beatty is currently developing this project as of 2016. He has been talking about doing a sequel ever since the original was released in 1990.^[62][63]
• Ocean of Storms - Beatty was set to produce and star in this aging astronaut love story. Annette Bening was set to co-star. The script was written by Tony Bill & Ben Young Mason with revisions by Wesley Strick, Robert Towne, Lawrence Wright, Stephen Harrigan and Aaron Sorkin. Martin Scorsese was at one point attached to direct. The project was in development from 1989 until around 2000.^[64]
• Bulworth 2000 - a sequel to his 1998 film that would have continued where the first film ended by satirizing the 2000 Presidential Election.
• Mermaid - Warren Beatty was attached to star in this love story about a sailboat racer who falls in love with a mermaid. The script was in development in the early 1980s from Robert Towne.
• The Duke of Deception - Warren Beatty was attached to star in this Steven Zaillian scripted and directed adaptation of the book by Geoffrey Wolff. He was attached to the project from 2000 til about 2005. Eventually the project was shelved after Beatty continued to procrastinate on his decision to star in it.
• Liberace - Warren Beatty was interested in the making a film based on the memoir Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace by Scott Thorson. The film would have been about the love affair between Liberace and Thorson and the death of Liberace in 1987. The film was intended to be a black comedy, a melodrama and a satire on the illusions of how people perceive celebrities, excess, materialism and the loneliness of wealthy people. The film was to star Robin Williams as Liberace, Justin Timberlake as Scott Thorson, Oliver Platt as Liberace's manager, Seymour Heller, Michael C. Hall as Thorson's first lover, Shirley MacLaine as Liberace's mother (which would have been the first time siblings, Beatty and MacLaine would have worked together on a project) and Johnny Depp as Liberace's drug addicted plastic surgeon, Dr. Startz. Aside from a few drafts of the script and casting decisions, the film was never made. Scott Thorson's memoirs were eventually made into a HBO TV movie in 2013.
• Megalopolis - Warren Beatty was attached to co-star in Francis Ford Coppola's epic during the late 90's and early 2000's, but the project was eventually shelved.
• Edie - Between Ishtar and Dick Tracy, Beatty considered directing and co-writing with James Toback a film about the life and death of Warhol Superstar, Edie Sedgwick, whom Beatty personally knew. The film was to star Jennifer Jason Leigh as Edie and Al Pacino as Andy Warhol, but never materialized.
• The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (Remake) - Brett Ratner tried for several years to convince Warren Beatty to star in the remake of this project during the late 1990s.
• Vicky - In the mid 1990's, Beatty was developing a biopic of Victoria Woodhull from screenwriter James Toback. Beatty was going to produce, possibly direct and co-star with wife Annette Bening. After the failure of Love Affair in 1994, the project struggled to get off the ground. Toback was also in talks as possibly directing it.
• Shrink - In the mid 1990's, Beatty was considering a comedy from screenwriter James Toback, that detailed the hectic life of a psychiatrist, which Beatty was to star in. However, Beatty and Toback could never get the ending just right, so the project died.

Notes

References

Further reading

• Ellis Amburn, The Sexiest Man Alive: A Biography of Warren Beatty, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, 2002. ISBN 0-06-018566-X
• Suzanne Finstad, Warren Beatty: A Private Man, Random House, Inc., New York, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4606-8
• Mark Harris, "Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of New Hollywood", Penguin Press, New York, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59420-152-3
• Suzanne Munshower, "Warren Beatty: His Life, His Loves, HIs Work", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1990. ISBN 0-8065-0670-9
• Lawrence Quirk, "The Films of Warren Beatty", Citadel Press, New Jersey, 1979. ISBN 0-8065-0670-9
• Stephen J. Ross, "Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics", Oxford Press, New York, 2011. ISBN 978-0-19-518172-2
• Peter Swirski, "1990s That Dirty Word, Socialism: Warren Beatty's Bulworth." Ars Americana Ars Politica. Montreal, London: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7735-3766-8
• David Thomson, "Warren Beatty: A Life and Story", Secker and Warburg, London, 1987. ISBN 0-436-52015-X
• David Thomson, "Warren Beatty and Desert Eyes", Doubleday and Co., Inc., New York, 1987. ISBN 0-385-18707-6
• Peter Biskind, Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America, Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7432-4658-3
• Peter Biskind, "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-drugs-and-rock-'n'-roll Generation Saved Hollywood", Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, 1998. ISBN 0-684-80996-6

External links

• Warren Beatty at the Internet Movie Database
• Warren Beatty at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Warren Beatty at AllMovie
• The Carolyn Jackson Collection, no. 13 – Interview with Warren Beatty, from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image
• AFI Tribute to Warren Beatty, 2008 on YouTube, with Elaine May speaking