Gore Vidal

Movie review: 'Plimpton!' an engaging life story told in his words

2013-06-07 08:40:00

George Plimpton spent a lifetime stepping into other people's shoes. It's only fitting that he's finally talking about what it was like to walk in his own. That this is possible, 10 years after his death in 2003 when Plimpton was a robust 76, is due...

Michael McKean is a man of many comedic faces

2013-06-03 06:15:00

When he played Lenny on ABC's popular 1976-83 sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," Michael McKean realized he could easily become typecast as his dumb, lovable Fonzie wannabe and pal of the knuckleheaded Squiggy. He vowed not to let it happen. "It's not your...

Review: 'Valentino's Ghost' hits media's portrayal of Arabs, Muslims

2013-05-16 17:55:00

Writer-director Michael Singh's documentary "Valentino's Ghost" connects the United States' Middle East foreign policy agenda to the American media's often negative portrayals of Arabs and Muslims. It's a provocative, absorbing — and at times...

The Sunday Conversation: Blake Bailey rediscovers 'Lost Weekend' author

2013-04-19 15:15:00

In his new biography, "Farther and Wilder: The Lost Weekends and Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson," Blake Bailey explores the tormented life of the author of "The Lost Weekend" — the once-celebrated 1944 novel that led to the Oscar-winning film...

Personality drives this Tribeca Film Festival

2013-04-16 19:20:00

NEW YORK — In 11 previous editions, the Tribeca Film Festival has showcased dozens of glitzy studio productions and stars — Tobey Maguire and his "Spider-Man 3" crew rode into town in 2007, Tom Cruise opened "Mission: Impossible III" here in...

'Cinderella': There's always a party at Chez Rossini

2013-03-16 06:40:00

Inevitably, our tastes change as we grow older. Most of the pop songs that once served as anthems are now exercises in nostalgia, calling up happy ghosts rather than anything new and urgent. The dense romantic adventure novel that we swore by in our teens...

Gore Vidal says nice things about women in the new Vanity Fair

2013-01-04 10:36:00

In his prime, writer Gore Vidal didn't have much nice to say about people, and he enjoyed sharing his opinions. On live television in 1968, he referred to fellow commentator William F. Buckley as a� "crypto-Nazi" (Buckley responded by calling Vidal...

Lincoln's slavery tactic

2013-01-02 00:00:00

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago this week, has often been criticized by blacks, by radicals and also by mainstream historians who doubt its significance as a turning point in the Civil War and in American...

Gore Vidal dies at 86; iconoclastic author

2012-07-31 22:56:00

Gore Vidal was impossible to categorize, which was exactly the way he liked it. The reading public knew him as a literary juggernaut who wrote 25 novels —from the historical "Lincoln" to the satirical "Myra Breckinridge" — and volumes of...

Connie Wald dies at 96; Hollywood wife known for low-key parties

2012-11-23 00:00:00

Connie Wald, an elegant matriarch of old Hollywood known for the low-key dinner parties she held for friends like Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn, died of natural causes Nov. 10 at her Beverly Hills home. She was 96. Her...

Richard Nelson Current dies at 100; Lincoln scholar fought distortions of 16th president

2012-11-04 16:42:00

Richard Nelson Current, a prolific and award-winning Abraham Lincoln scholar who for decades was a leader in his field and helped shape a more realistic view of the iconic president, has died of complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 100....

Gore Vidal's quotes, quips memorialized on Twitter

2012-08-01 09:43:55

The prolific author, playwright, screenwriter, novelist and critic died in July at 86 due to complications from pneumonia. Vidal's death came at the same time as a Broadway revival of his election-year play "The Best Man." His other works for the stage include "Romulus" and "Weekend.

2012-12-26 11:45:43

Gore Vidal, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and playwright, died July 31 in Los Angeles. He was 86.

2012-08-13 00:00:00

Author Gore Vidal Dies At 86

2012-08-01 00:00:00