Warren beatty actor biography examples

At the end of Suzanne Finstad's compelling biography of Warren Beatty, the actor/writer/director/producer is quoted, "I grew up as a fairly puritanical, Protestant, football-playing boy in Virginia. I don't know that I've changed very much."

After plowing through the densely researched Warren Beatty: A Private Man, readers will come to agree with that seemingly preposterous reference to "fairly puritanical."

Despite the throngs of satiated beauties who have romped in Beatty's bed, Finstad's admiring portrait of the actor is rooted in his childhood

And the background was especially remarkable because it also produced Beatty's talented and fascinating sister, Shirley MacLaine. Their mother was an actress, teacher and small-town theater director. Their father was a violinist and failed Ph.D. candidate who sold real estate.

Both were enormously gifted yet never fulfilled their dreams. Their two affectionate children became overachievers in response to the atmosphere of failure that permeated their house in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C.

As depicted by Finstad, Beatty is that rarest of human beings, a man blessed with many gifts: good looks, charm, talent, drive and sex appeal.

But just as crucial to his success have been the strong bonds he forged with mentors, colleagues, icons and younger people throughout his career. The list ranges from Katharine Hepburn to Gary Hart to writers and publicists.

Finstad also makes it clear that producing, writing and directing films such as Bonnie and Clyde, Reds and Shampoo are more fulfilling to Beatty than acting.

Still, it is as a lover of talented goddesses such as Julie Christie, Natalie Wood, Leslie Caron, Madonna and legions more that Beatty reigns supreme in the public's imagination. Finstad argues that Beatty is not a heartless Casanova but a conflicted Puritan who has experienced genuine love and loss in his life.

She makes the reader believe

This is the in-depth biography of Warren Beatty, Hollywood legend, and the first person to receive Academy Award nominations twice as an actor, director, producer and writer for a single film. His movies include "Bonnie and Clyde", "Shampoo", "Reds", "Heaven Can Wait", and "Bugsy". A well-known womaniser, the notches on Beatty's bedpost read like a who's who of female stardom. His liaisons have included Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Linda Eastman (later McCartney), Maria Callas, Cher, Brigitte Bardot, Barbara Streisand and Jane Fonda. Including a wealth of previously unreported information on early affairs with Joan Collins and Natalie Wood, to his relationship with Madonna, this book also unearths Beatty's intriguing family background - including his highly charged and competitive relationship with his older sister Shirley MacLaine - and how he left his reputation as an international Casanova behind to finally construct a solid marriage to Annette Bening. Extraordinarily driven and motivated, Warren Beatty was one of the young film-makers who revolutionised Hollywood in the sixties and seventies, working alongside such greats as Faye Dunaway, Roman Polanski, Jack Nicholson, Hal Ashby, Robert Altman and Al Pacino. Along with figures like Clint Eastwood, he became a Hollywood player in every aspect of the movie business - a new breed of star. Through interviews with his colleagues, the book aims to shed light on his films and his unique way of working. This book tells the story of how movie making changed in the sixties and seventies. Beatty was one of the first actors to take a greater role in movie production, ending up with a much higher stake in his movies' fates. Later he also blazed a trail in politics, becoming a key power broker within the Democratic Party and attracting controversy along the way.

Henry Warren Beaty (born March 30, 1937) is an Americanactor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has been nominated for 15 Academy Awards. He won the Best Director Award. He has been nominated for 16 Golden Globe Awards and won six. Beatty was nominated for four Oscars for Heaven Can Wait. He won an Oscar for Reds.

Early life

Beatty was born in Richmond, Virginia. His mother was Canadian teacher Kathlyn Corinne and doctor Ira Owens. He was raised in Arlington, Virginia. His older sister is actress Shirley MacLaine. He studied at Northwestern University for a year from 1954 through 1955.

Beatty enlisted in the California Air National Guard on February 11, 1960 under his original name, Henry W. Beaty. On January 1, 1961, Beatty was discharged from the Air National Guard due to physical disability.

Career

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). Beatty made his movie debut in Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961), opposite Natalie Wood.

In 1967, when he was 28, he produced and acted alongside Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman in Bonnie and Clyde. 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.

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 J. Pakula; and The Fortune (1975), directed by Mike Nichols.

Beatty starred in Re