The Sexiest Man Alive is the first in-depth biography of Warren Beatty, a man who blazed a trail of sex and high artistic achievement across the twentieth century as Hollywood matinee idol, founder of the New Hollywood with his groundbreaking Bonnie and Clyde, and international Don Juan.Through interviews with friends and associates, Ellis Amburn reveals new details about Beatty's well-known conquests and tells of many others that have not heretofore been reported, from early affairs with Joan Collins and Natalie Wood to encounters with such unknowns as a Playboy bunny and a young black student to such recent romances with Madonna and Annette Bening, the woman he finally married. The notches on his belt read like a who's who of feminine beauty and power, making him the Casanova of the century. A partial list of his conquests include Jackie Kennedy Onassis, H.R.H. Princess Margaret, Barbara Harris, Lillian Hellman, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Linda Eastman McCartney, Inger Stevens, Dewi Sukarno, Vanessa Redgrave, Jean Seberg, Susannah York, Brooke Hayward, Maria Callas, Julie Christie, Cher, Brigitte Bardot, Candice Bergen, Jessica Savitch, Connie Chung, Diane Sawyer, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Barbara Streisand, Jane Fonda, Lana Wood, Leslie Caron, Diane Keaton, Michelle Phillips, Mamie Van Doren, Britt Ekland, Barbara Hershey, Goldie Hawn, Barbara Minty, Margaux Hemingway, Elle MacPherson, Dayle Haddon, Carol Alt, Sippi Levine, Isabelle Adjani, Kate Jackson, Justine Bateman, Robin Menken, Darryl Hannah, and Mary Tyler Moore. Along the way, Amburn tells the exciting story of the young filmmakers who revolutionized Hollywood in the sixties and seventies, the people Warren knew and worked with, played with, sometimes made love with, and fought with -- Diane Keaton, Faye Dunaway, Julie Christie, Roman Polanski, Jack Nicholson, Hal Ashby, Robert Altman, Arthur Penn, Al Pacino, and Robert Evans.Amburn also explores Beatty's fascinating forays into Democratic politics -- his embattled relationship with Hubert Humphrey, how he wooed Barbra Streisand to raise millions for George McGovern, and the misadventure with Gary Hart, whose partying at Warren's bachelor pad -- and subsequent Donna Rice scandal -- some blame for his withdrawal from the 1988 presidential race. The Sexiest Man Alive is one of the most sizzling, revealing books about Hollywood, weaving together the rich material of Warren Beatty's life and art.
I enjoyed this book so much I carried it around with me for any chances I got to read it. I liked Amburn's style of writing and plan to read his other works.
I guess i'm the only reviewer who read his other bios...
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 17 years ago
...because this one is better than most of them. There is more info on Beatty here than in any other bio (and photos i haven't seen anywhere else). I should complain that there are hundreds of quotes from other books and articles etc.? Um, no. I don't care where the info came from. The fact is, it's here, in this biography, where it belongs. If you have a problem with Beatty as a person, don't read a bio of him.
Biography and film history opus as sexy as Beatty
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Warren Beatty's brooding face on the cover of Ellis Amburn's biography/film history opus indicates why he has achieved an iconic status that seems reserved for Hollywood rebels without a cause. Certainly, like Kevin Costner, his output has been eclectic and iconoclastic. Amburn makes the point that Beatty, like a Don Juan Forrest Gump, inserted himself into the tumult of the New Hollywood era, the era of Pacino, Nicholson, and Roman Polanski. The insight into politics and into actors entering politics, seems particularly timely in the wake of Hollywood (brain trust) protests against the Iraq war and Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful gubernatorial run. Schwarzenegger is one of the many names and figures striking bold poses, vogueing like Beatty conquest Madonna, in Ellis Amburn's prose, which reads like a "Beatty's Complaint" crossed with 1001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES, mixed in with Scott Thorson's LIFE WITH LIBERACE, which portrays a hypersexual performer who never quite grew up (though unlike Beatty, Liberace had little to do with politics or social issues). Never content to name-drop, Amburn skillfully probes, with love, exasperation, a certain detachment, and fascination, the inner life of an aging Lothario whose film career and political carrer haves been as mercurial as his love life. Interestingly, Beatty's lasting achievements, "Reds," "Shampoo," and "Bonnie and Clyde," parallel his most lasting relationships, specifically with Julie Christie and Annette Bening, as well as his male friendships, specifically with Jack Nicholson (his relationships with gay filmmakers make an intriguing twist.) Has Beatty the rebel been tamed by Annette? If so, we'll always have the bad-boy image on the cover.
Informative and entertaining
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
While this book doesn't exactly go deep into the mind of Warren Beatty, and probably castigates him too much for his sexual desires and the numberous paramours he has had, it's a great book about a truly enigmatic genius, who should go down as a much better actor, director, producer, and writer than he will ever be given credit for. While it details his difficult relationship with men, his sister, and the numerous women he has spent time with, it never gets to the core of Warren Beatty and what is truly on his mind. I have to give this book 5 stars because no one else has ever even come close, and this book makes a hell of a stab....Worth the time if you are a fan of Old Hollywood.
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