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Biography
Even before he had made his mark onscreen, Warren Beatty had earned a reputation as a lover. Tall, athletic and almost preternaturally handsome, he first gained notice for his relationship with Joan Collins but as he began to work in various media, he became equally known for his talent. Beatty landed his first major role, that of Milton Armitage, the rival for the affection of Tuesday Weld's Thalia Menninger, on the CBS sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" in 1959, but he left after a few episodes. He debuted on Broadway in William Inge's "A Loss of Roses" and earned a Tony nomination before segueing to the big screen opposite Natalie Wood in Elia Kazan's study of teenage love, "Splendor in the Grass" (1961), scripted by Inge. His role as Wood's troubled but charismatic boyfriend established his early screen persona as an impish, sexy but earnest "bad boy". Similar role as an Italian gigolo opposite Vivian Leigh in "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone" (also 1961), the older brother in "All Fall Down" (1962) and as a nurse who becomes too involved with a mental patient in "Lilith" (1963) solidified his image. One of his best early roles in this vein was in the title role of Arthur Penn's "Mickey One" (1965), Portraying a paranoid nightclub performer, Beatty delivered a bracing, brilliant performance.

Beatty initiated his behind-the-camera career as producer of Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967). One of the seminal films of the 1960s, "Bonnie and Clyde" was initially reviled by critics, but appealed to audiences as a parable of the decade's youth culture. Unusual because it veered between lyricism and slapstick, the film set new standards for film violence. Beatty had championed the script and overseen the rewrites, helped to cast the film and proved a hands-on producer with the period detail. In addition, he delivered a subtle lead performance that anchored the picture. "Bonnie and Clyde" earned 10 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor.

Beatty subsequently divided his time between filmmaking and other interests. His seemed miscast in the occasional film roles he accepted (i.e., "The Only Game in Town" 1969) until Robert Altman's anti-Western "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971), in which he gave a great performance as a self-deluding frontiersman. Politically active (he played a visible role in McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign and served as an unofficial advisor in Gary Hart's ill-fated 1988 bid), he acted in two of the more socially astute films of the 1970s: "The Parallax View" (1974), about an organization of political conspirators, and "Shampoo" (1975), tangentially a satire of the amorality of the Nixon era. Beatty co-wrote the latter with Robert Towne as his casting as a lothario hairdresser was viewed by some as a lampoon of his own Hollywood image. It was the ultimate "bad boy" performance.

He continued in a similar vein. although tempered somewhat, in the lightweight fantasy "Heaven Can Wait" (1978), a loose remake of the far superior "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941), Beatty and former lover Julie Christie seemed miscast in the romantic leads, but supporting players Dyan Cannon, Charles Grodin and especially Jack Warden shone. A popular success, "Heaven Can Wait" garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director (Beatty and Buck Henry) and Best Screenplay (Beatty and Elaine May).

Beatty's acting, directing, screenwriting and producing efforts reached fruition (and earned a Best Director Oscar) with "Reds" (1981), an epic love story set against the Russian revolution and based on the life of journalist John Reed. Meticulously filmed, this sprawling passionate tale was intercut with documentary interviews of "witnesses", real-life individuals (like Rebecca West and Henry Miller) who were contemporaries of Reed and his paramour Louise Bryant. Beatty also elicited strong performances from his co-stars Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson (as Eugene O'Neill), Edward Hermann and Maureen Stapleton. Although its three-hour length and subject matter precluded its being a box-office success, it was truly a success d'estime for Beatty.

Beatty and Dustin Hoffman teamed as struggling singer-songwriters in Elaine May's "Ishtar" (1987), a loose homage to the Hope and Crosby road movies. Although savaged by the press and industry insiders as one of the worst films ever made, "Ishtar" was not really as bad as its detractors claimed. Both Hoffman and Beatty, cast against type, delivered charming turns as the musically-challenged duo and the deliberately awful songs written by Paul Williams perfectly suit the material. Beatty's subsequent output has been somewhat sporadic. He successfully directed and starred in the comic-strip hit "Dick Tracy" (1990). The film's stylized, primary colors production values, the deft performances from the supporting cast (including Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Glenne Headley and William Forsythe) and a delicious song score by Stephen Sondheim helped to make the film an audience pleaser. Beatty once again proved how good an actor he could be (and added to his gallery of rogues) starring as the mobster Benjamin Siegel in the Barry Levinson-directed "Bugsy" (1991). While the film received mixed reviews, it earned 10 Oscar nominations, including one for Beatty as Best Actor, and teamed him onscreen with Annette Bening, who later became his wife.

The two went on to star in "Love Affair" (1994), the third remake of a 1939 Leo McCarey film. Producer-writer Beatty, for his updated version, managed to charm screen legend Katharine Hepburn out of semi-retirement to play a one-scene role. With Beatty cast as a former playboy who settles down with an engaged woman, many were compelled to read parallels to Beatty and Bening's private life--which both vehemently denied. The generally old-fashioned sentiments of the film met with a less than enthusiastic reception and a weak box office.

Beatty waited nearly four years before returning to features, co-producing, directing, co-writing and starring in "Bulworth" (1998). Playing a politically-incorrect US Senator, Beatty married his off-screen interests in politics with his onscreen "bad boy" persona. Although it did spark many favorable reviews and even some awards nominations, the film failed to draw in much of an audience. Worse was "Town & Country" (2001), a comedic misfire that cast him and an assortment of his off-screen friends in the tale of a successful architect who, when his best friend (Garry Shandling) is caught cheating by his wife (Goldie Hawn) and caught in an ugly divorce drama, begins to re-evaluate his sturdy relationship with his wife (Diane Keaton) in terms of his own dalliances with a beautiful cellist (Nastassja Kinski)--the film made many critics' worst of the year lists. Notoriously finicky and noncommital when it came to film projects, Beatty flirted with the idea of taking the role of the mysterious and deadly Bill in writer-director Quentin Tarantino's two "Kill Bill" films, a part originally written for Beatty, but he ultimately passed on the role.

Increasingly immersed in politics, Beatty spent less time in front of or behind the camera and more time making speeches and fundraising for causes he championed, and following the shocking 2003 election of fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California, Beatty became an outspoken critic of his colleague's policymaking. "I’ve always liked him," said Beatty in 2005, "but I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.” He emerged as one of the governor’s most visible antagonists, fueling speculation that he might be the latest aging Hollywood superstar with an attractive and famous wife and four telegenic children considering a run for governor--what many called a "Bulworth vs. the Terminator" race. Beatty cleverly stoked that speculation, ensuring considerable publicity every time he spoke out against Schwarzenegger.

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