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Summary
Summary
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.Author Notes
Ellis Amburn was born in Texas on August 2, 1933. He graduated from Texas Christian University in 1954. He worked as a reporter-researcher at Newsweek before becoming a book editor at Putnam, where he edited John le Carré and Jack Kerouac. Amburn was also an editor-in-chief at Delacorte and William Morrow. He worked as a ghostwriter with Priscilla Presley, Shelley Winters, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Sammy Davis, Jr. He wrote several biographies including Buddy Holly: A Biography, Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story, The Sexiest Man Alive: A Biography of Warren Beatty, Subterranean Kerouac, and Pearl: The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin. He died after a long illness on August 18, 2018 at the age of 85.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Warren wants the entire world to go to bed with him, explains an unidentified friend of the actor's, and Amburn's book attempts to prove it through a voyeuristic cataloguing of Beatty's sexual episodes, until the pretense of a balanced biography dissolves into a series of personal attacks. Discussions of Beatty's dysfunctional childhood and rivalry with sister Shirley MacLaine are sandwiched between chatter about carnal exploits that allegedly range from Cher to Barbra Streisand and gossip about bad behavior, such as the time Beatty left Natalie Wood in a restaurant and ran off for a three-day interlude with a checkroom girl. Madonna, his co-star in Dick Tracy, emerges as a viciously competitive woman who denigrated Beatty's success, age and lovemaking. More interesting is the actor's relationship with critic Pauline Kael and the elaborate revenge he took on her for an unfavorable review. Jack Nicholson, King of Kink; Roman Polanski, seducer of underage girls; and jaded Hugh Hefner steam up several pages. Amburn (a former William Morrow editor) crucifies most of Beatty's movies, save Reds and Shampoo even Bonnie and Clyde gets dismissed as a shamelessly amoral glamorization of crime. Then, as if apologetic for a harshly one-sided portrait, the author praises Beatty for helping raise money after September 11 (Warren's heart, as it had been so often in his life, was in the right place), but this upbeat conclusion fails to remove the aftertaste of character assassination. 8 pages b&w photos. Agent, Al Lowman. (July) Forecast: Readers willing to overlook the book's rampant and repetitive sensationalism may respond to its titillating, tabloid approach. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Aspiring to plumb the depths of Beatty, Amburn spills the beans on the star's various romantic entanglements, political efforts, and creative endeavors, and he tries to evaluate it all. Here are moment-by-moment accounts of Beatty's trysts; for instance, the one with a young model, who saw him on the street, phoned him, and, somewhat to her surprise, was in his intimate company the same day. «She was on the brink of discovering what most women in the world wanted to know . . . exactly what Warren Beatty was like in bed and what he looked like» naked. Too much? Well, inquiring minds want to know and have wanted to know ever since Beatty played Dobie's got-rocks rival for Thalia Meninger (Tuesday Weld) on early TV's Dobie Gillis. Nevertheless, much attention is given to Beatty's career, but it has often been entangled with his amorous adventuring, so the latter are really unavoidable. A tasty look at the world of Warren; if not the last word, filled with interesting words. Mike Tribby.
Kirkus Review
Thorough but twisted portrait of Warren Beatty as a sex maniac who somehow became a popular, powerful Hollywood actor and producer. Amburn, biographer of Roy Orbison (Dark Star, 1990) and many other performers, here offers a tabloid account of Beatty's hedonistic private life and his rise to fame. In this largely disapproving narrative, based on gossipy tidbits from other tell-all books and the anecdotes of movie extras, waitresses, and other passing acquaintances, the star's libido gets blamed for everything from the Manson Family murders to tooth decay. The author seems to relax and warm toward his protagonist only in the final pages when Beatty settles down to marriage and parenthood with the actress Annette Bening. It's unfortunate that Amburn is so intent on his subject's every indiscretion, because there actually is much interesting information here about how a handsome high-school football star rose from '50s art films and The Dobie Gillis Show to help create the New Hollywood, expanding the vocabulary and reach of American film with such innovative movies as Bonnie and Clyde, Shampoo, and Reds. There is also valuable background here about Beatty's formative friendships with playwrights William Inge and Tennessee Williams and movie directors Arthur Penn and Elia Kazan. No biography could ignore the actor's reputation as a man with a roving eye, but Amburn's credibility is undermined by his apparent loathing for his subject. He depicts Beatty by turns as a vain and untalented loser who likes to gaze at himself in mirrors; a cold-hearted lover (and premature ejaculator); a ruthless businessman who takes advantage of his friends; a sniping, disloyal sibling to older sister Shirley MacLaine; and a brown-noser with ambitions of becoming a politician. Once the author's bile gets stirred up, it can't help but splash onto several other people, including Barbra Streisand, Jack Nicholson, Roman Polanski, Goldie Hawn, and Hugh Hefner. They deserve better, as does Beatty himself.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The Sexiest Man Alive A Biography of Warren Beatty Preface Warren Beatty "Unclothed" (Part I: Sharon Washington) It was a typically bright, mild Southern California day, warm enough for Warren Beatty to have the top down on his chocolate 450 Mercedes convertible. Diane Keaton sat by his side as they sped along Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Beverly Hills. At Beverly Glen, they stopped for a light. As they waited for it to change, a youthful, exotic-looking black woman pulled up beside them. Warren didn't notice her, but Diane smiled and said, "Hi." At first, eighteen-year-old Sharon Washington, a broadcasting-school student who'd shortly win a production-assistant job with syndicated radio DJ Rick Dees at L.A. station KIIS, didn't realize who the famous driver of the Mercedes was. And Warren didn't take any notice of Sharon at all. When she finally looked around at him, Sharon was entranced and couldn't stop staring. Just then, the light changed. Warren peered over his sunglasses and shot a dazzling smile at Sharon as he steered into the turning lane and headed north on Beverly Glen. Interviewed two decades later, Sharon remembers what flashed through her mind: "Oh, my God, it's Warren Beatty again. Could this be fate? Somehow, some way I'm going to meet him." This marked the third time in as many weeks she'd seen Beatty, who at the time was still one of the world's leading movie stars, and her yearning to meet him had grown with each sighting. "After seeing him on Sunset," Sharon said in 2000, "I was having dinner one night with a friend, who'd brought along her boyfriend. This guy said he was staying at the Beverly Hillcrest Hotel, but had thought of getting a room at the Beverly Wilshire, where Warren Beatty and Joe Namath were staying. He didn't because he liked it a little more low profile. Suddenly, I saw my chance to meet Warren Beatty. I said, 'I know it sounds crazy, but I'm going to call the Beverly Wilshire and leave a message for him to call me.' " Over the next two weeks, she rang the hotel four times, leaving messages. Early one Saturday afternoon, she was watching television in her apartment in Culver City when Warren called. "Is this Sharon Washington?" he asked in a voice that was hushed and intimate. When she replied, "Yes," he said hesitantly, "This is Warren, Warren . . . Beatty." Sharon was momentarily speechless. Then Beatty asked, "Do I know you?" Fearing that if she told the truth, he'd dismiss her as just another groupie and hang up, she said, "Yes." But then she thought, I'm not going to make something up. "Well, kind of," she sputtered, "but not really." "Okay, slo-o-o-w down," he said. "Tell me what you're trying to say." After she explained how she'd seen him three times, he didn't hang up. Instead he wanted to know all about her. When he asked why she had called, she answered honestly. "I'm not big on writing fan letters, but I knew I had to contact you because I feel there's something between us that could mesh." "Okay," Beatty said matter-of-factly. "Describe what you look like." "I'm five foot four, a hundred and two pounds. My hair is dark brown, and I have big eyes, thick eyebrows, long lashes, dimples, and a slender frame." An hour and fifteen minutes of lively conversation followed. "This guy loves the telephone," she explains. "He asked me all about myself. I told him acting didn't interest me as a career, but I'd always been fascinated by the entertainment industry. Eventually I'd end up working at the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills." Toward the end of the conversation, Beatty asked Sharon if she'd do him a "favor." "What's that?" she inquired. "Would you mind dropping off a photo of yourself?" She agreed, and added that since she'd recently been doing some modeling, she had a professional portrait. Before hanging up, he asked about her family and wanted to know how she got along with them. She told him fine, and he said he'd wait for her picture. Without wasting a minute, Sharon rushed from Culver City to the Beverly Wilshire, a regal, rococo structure at the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard. In the lobby, she handed the envelope containing her photo to the concierge. She drove back to Culver City a half hour later, just as it was just beginning to get dark. Five minutes after she opened her door, Warren called and said he was looking at her picture. "My God, you certainly described yourself perfectly," he said. "The picture is exactly the way I thought you'd look." He wanted to see her in person. A few days later, he called and gave her the telephone number of his house on Mulholland Drive. He wanted to know more about why she'd contacted him and what had attracted her to him. "It's not just one thing," she said. "I just see us communicating as friends." "Be more specific." It was difficult, because she was focused on having a relationship, not just a roll in the hay. But his voice was warm, cozy, and insistent, and after they talked a while, a certain intimacy was achieved. Finally, she felt comfortable enough to admit to him, after he kept pressing for input regarding her attraction to him, "Well, I do have sexual fantasies about you." "Give me an example." "I see us on a date. What you're wearing is very preppy...blue jeans...a powder-blue cardigan sweater with a little insignia on it...a shirt with a pin-striped collar. I always think of you as a football player like you were in Heaven Can Wait. Then I see us unclothed, being intimate." She recalled in a 2000 interview, "It's not like we got..." The Sexiest Man Alive A Biography of Warren Beatty . Copyright © by Ellis Amburn. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from The Sexiest Man Alive: A Biography of Warren Beatty by Ellis Amburn All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
| Preface: Warren Beatty "Unclothed" (Part I: Sharon Washington) | p. ix |
| Chapter 1 Growing Up Insecure: 1937-1960 | p. 1 |
| Chapter 2 Natalie Wood: The Bisexual Blues | p. 33 |
| Chapter 3 Thank Heaven for Little Girls (& Bunnies & Playmates) | p. 57 |
| Chapter 4 Indescribably Indulgent | p. 115 |
| Chapter 5 La Ronde, L.A. Style | p. 177 |
| Chapter 6 Warren Beatty Naked (Part II) | p. 233 |
| Chapter 7 Yes, Yes, Annette | p. 301 |
| Acknowledgments: Present at the Creation | p. 355 |
| Notes | p. 365 |
| Index | p. 395 |
