baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 This site has a lot of members under the age of 30. This age demographic has obviously heard of people like John Wayne, Warren Beatty, Katherine Hepburn and many others. But have you ever wondered why these names are famous? I have. I was actually thinking about Warren Beatty today. That's an iconic name in Hollywood, but have you ever wondered why? What role made them the icon they are? We know guys like Stallone played Rocky and Rambo, Ford was Indy and Solo, but there are plenty of actors that are a bit of a mystery to me. I, for example, know Beatty did Bonnie and Clyde but really I don't know much else about him. When I looked a bit into his history on imdb, I was shocked to see how many times he had been nominated for an Oscar. So how about it. Share some of the names that you are kind of unsure about. This is kind of a good way to learn a bit more about some of the giants of the industry that maybe you didn't know about before. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) It's kind of amazing what Beatty did with BONNIE AND CLYDE. He wasn't just the star, he was the producer; and by producer, I meant he really produced. He got the rights, picked the writers and director, oversaw the script, picked the co-stars... he had total control. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and was one of the movies that directly forced a sea change in Hollywood. He was 29. With BONNIE AND CLYDE, the old driftwood of the studio system was pushed aside and fresh young talent seized control and power, which led to the amazing creative output of the 1970s as people like Beatty, Scorsese, Hopper, Coppola, Spielberg, Lucas, Friedkin, Milius, Altman, Nichols, and Ashby (among others) burst onto the scene. Edited March 21, 2014 by 7elemachos 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 I knew you'd have some input in this thread Tele, I was counting on it. I also read that Beatty made a pile of money from Bonnie and Clyde. The studio was so sure (stop me if this sounds familiar, it seems to be a common theme with a lot of studios in the 70's, not believing in the film and then turning over the rights to actors or directors) the film was going to bomb that they gave 40% of the GROSS to Beatty. Morons lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) What role made Jack Nicholson a superstar ? Chinatown ? Cuckoo's nest Other ? Edited March 21, 2014 by The Futurist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 The studios didn't have a clue. Their efforts were big-budget, bland, turgid epics and musicals, and they didn't realize there was a huge counter-culture shift towards a younger generation happening. So movies like BONNIE AND CLYDE and EASY RIDER were able to get made with no studio interference and/or with little money. WB wasn't thrilled about BONNIE AND CLYDE at all, it was super-violent and they didn't promote it heavily. But it did really well in limited release and Beatty threatened to sue them unless they gave it a general release. They did and it became a huge hit. With the traditional studio releases struggling, the execs gave these new kids carte blanche, essentially, which fueled both a creative boom and (eventually) wild personal excess. There's a really fascinating book by Peter Biskind called "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" that covers this period in detail and it's got all sorts of interesting and lurid stories about this period. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 What role made Jack Nicholson a superstar ? Chinatown ? Cuckoo's nest Other ? EASY RIDER was Nicholson's big break-through role. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 What role made Jack Nicholson a superstar ? Chinatown ? Cuckoo's nest Other ? I think Easy Rider is what put Jack on the map. I think Cuckoo's Nest was his first Oscar but he was famous, if I'm not mistaken, because of Easy Rider. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Jack also did Five Easy Pieces and of course, one of his most famous films, Chinatown, before he did Cuckoo's Nest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 There s a funny Nicholson quote out there where he said he wouldn't have enough life to spend the money he made with his percentage on Batman's (1989) grosses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 There s a funny Nicholson quote out there where he said he wouldn't have enough life to spend the money he made with his percentage on Batman's (1989) grosses. I think initially he made 70 million from it, but I think he gets a cut of everything. So that film keeps on giving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) And to think, if it hadn't been for EASY RIDER, he might've quit acting completely. He wasn't very successful as an actor at that point and had actually started to work behind the camera (he wrote the script for THE TRIP, another counter-culture movie), and he wasn't supposed to get the role in EASY RIDER: Rip Torn was gonna do it, but he dropped out, Nicholson managed to land it, and the rest is history. Edited March 21, 2014 by 7elemachos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 I think initially he made 70 million from it, but I think he gets a cut of everything. So that film keeps on giving. Yep & 70 million from 1989 are like 150 million in 2014 so that s why after Batman he basically started to not giving a fuck and worked when he wanted to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 We can stay with Jack, he's fascinating, but another guy I think is interesting, just to trace him back to his roots, is Bill Paxton. Everyone knows his from Aliens, but the role that really put him on the map was Weird Science, directed by John Hughes of course, but produced by Joel Silver, who later would cast him in Commando and Predator 2. Before he did Weird Science, he was in some smaller horror films like Mortuary. But his role as Chet made producers take notice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 It's crazy how many people (like Paxton) worked for Roger Corman at some point early in their careers. Many times it wasn't what they ended up doing for their career, but pretty much everyone who started in the industry in the 60s through the 80s went through Corman. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Paxton never achieved super stardom but he became a go to guy for years, working with so many famous A-list directors. Tom Hanks was once told that he was the nicest guy in Hollywood, he replied back that he was the second nicest guy in Hollywood next to Bill Paxton. Paxton has never been nominated for an Oscar, never really got leading man status, but guys like Jim Cameron (who cast him in 4 roles, plus Ghosts of the Abyss) love him and so do a lot of other directors. I hope he gets back into films again full time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 It's crazy how many people (like Paxton) worked for Roger Corman at some point early in their careers. Many times it wasn't what they ended up doing for their career, but pretty much everyone who started in the industry in the 60s through the 80s went through Corman. Including Jack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAR Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Well before he became a movie star and director, Clint Eastwood starred as Rowdy Yates in Rawhide for 8 seasons 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Paxton never achieved super stardom but he became a go to guy for years, working with so many famous A-list directors. Tom Hanks was once told that he was the nicest guy in Hollywood, he replied back that he was the second nicest guy in Hollywood next to Bill Paxton. Paxton has never been nominated for an Oscar, never really got leading man status, but guys like Jim Cameron (who cast him in 4 roles, plus Ghosts of the Abyss) love him and so do a lot of other directors. I hope he gets back into films again full time. I guess it's a little ironic that to many people, he's more familiar as Bill Henrickson on "Big Love" than any movies he's done. Then again, five years in a successful and popular HBO series ain't shabby at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Well before he became a movie star and director, Clint Eastwood starred as Rowdy Yates in Rawhide for 8 seasons 8 Years? Holy! I had no idea it was that long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 I guess it's a little ironic that to many people, he's more familiar as Bill Henrickson on "Big Love" than any movies he's done. Then again, five years in a successful and popular HBO series ain't shabby at all. Yea, that's weird to me because all of my friends from when I was a kid know his as Chet. I've never seen one episode of Big Love but I have heard it's a good show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
