Sign-In
Cart
Warren Oates: A Wild Life
Paperback
Series: Screen Classics
Entertainment & Performing ArtsFilm Studies
ISBN13: 9780813193465
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: Apr 2 2010
Pages: 512
Weight: 1.72
Height: 1.20 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Though he never reached the lead actor status he labored so relentlessly to achieve, Warren Oates (1928-1982) is one of the most memorable and skilled character actors of the 1970s. With his rugged looks and measured demeanor, Oates crafted complex characters who were at once brazen and thoughtful, wild and subdued. Friends remember the hard-living, hard-drinking actor as kind and caring, but also sometimes as mean as a blue-eyed devil. Married four times, partial to road trips in his RV affectionately known as the Roach Coach, and famous for performances for directors ranging from Sam Peckinpah to Steven Spielberg, Warren Oates remained a Hollywood outsider perfectly suited to the 1960s and 1970s counterculture.
Born in the small town of Depoy in rural western Kentucky and reared in Louisville, Oates began his career in the late 1950s with bit parts in television westerns. Though hardly lucrative work, it was during this time Oates met renegade director Sam Peckinpah, establishing the creative relationship and destructive friendship that produced some of Oates's most unforgettable roles in Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), and The Wild Bunch (1969), as well as a leading part in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Though Oates maintained a close association with Peckinpah, he had a penchant for working with a variety of visionary directors who understood his approach and were eager to enlist the subtle talents of the consummate character actor. With supporting roles in In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Hired Hand (1971), Badlands (1973), 1941 (1979), and Stripes (1981), Oates delivered solid performances for filmmakers as diverse and talented as Norman Jewison, Peter Fonda, Terrence Malick, Steven Spielberg, and Ivan Reitman.
Oates's offscreen personality was just as complex as his on-screen persona. Notorious for being a nightlife reveler, he was as sensitive and introspective as he was outgoing and prone to periods of exuberant, and at times illegal, excess. Though he never became a marquee name, Warren Oates continues to influence actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Benicio Del Toro, as well as directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Richard Linklater, all of whom have cited Oates as a major inspiration. In Warren Oates: A Wild Life, author Susan Compo skillfully captures the story of Oates's eventful life, indulgent lifestyle, and influential career.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Compo, Susan
Also in
Entertainment & Performing Arts
A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond
Tepedelen, Adem
Thayil, Kim
Hardcover
The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg--And the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema
Fischer, Paul
Hardcover
Kitchen Confidential Annotated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Bourdain, Anthony
Paperback
North of Ordinary: How One Woman Left It All Behind for Wilderness and Wonder in Alaska's Frozen Frontier
Aikens, Sue
Hardcover
Lil' John: Laughing My Way Through Life: Stories from an Accidental Career on Cleveland Tv--And More!
Rinaldi, John
Paperback
Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life
Sioux, Nia
Hardcover
Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum
Fox, Michael J.
Fortenberry, Nelle
Hardcover
Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days
Beard, Javon
Whitfield, Bill
Hardcover
Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black, New Edition: Collected Stories
Mueller, Cookie
Paperback
A Place Both Wonderful and Strange: The Extraordinary Untold History of Twin Peaks
Meslow, Scott
Hardcover
Don't Buy What I'm Selling: On Breaking Up with Advertising and Finally Learning to Love My Whole, Fat Self
Chekowsky, Lu
Hardcover
Dolly Parton Songteller: My Life in Lyrics: My Life in Lyrics
Oermann, Robert K.
Parton, Dolly
Hardcover
From Here to the Great Unknown: Oprah's Book Club: A Memoir
Keough, Riley
Presley, Lisa Marie
Paperback
Martin Scorsese All the Films: The Story Behind Every Movie, Episode, and Short
Schaller, Nicolas
Bousquet, Olivier
Devillard, Arnaud
Hardcover
Jess and Norma: A Lifetime of Laughter and Our Unbreakable Bond
Asquith, Jessica
Burton, Norma
Paperback
The Extended Universe: How Disney Killed the Movies and Took Over the World
Osterweil, Vicky
Hardcover
Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of the Strokes (and Rock 'n' Roll)
Hyden, Steven
Hardcover
Lucas Wars: The True Story of George Lucas and the Creation of Star Wars
Hopman, Laurent
Roche, Renaud
Hardcover
House of Psychotic Women: Expanded Edition: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films
Janisse, Kier-La
Paperback
The Way Love Goes: A Guide to Building a "Beaurtiful" and Everlasting Relationship
Da Brat &. Judy
Hardcover
Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan's Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend
Malkoff, Mark
Hardcover
Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth
King, Amy Duggar
Hardcover
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride
Elwes, Cary
Layden, Joe
Paperback
100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life (Large Print Edition)
Van Dyke, Dick
Hardcover
Book Meets World: The Definitive Inside Story of the Hit Sitcom Boy Meets World
Fishel, Danielle
Strong, Rider
Friedle, Will
Hardcover
The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership That Rocked the World
Guralnick, Peter
Hardcover
It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect But Plenty of Sex and Drugs
Dangerfield, Rodney
Paperback
Every Time a Bell Rings: The Legacy of It's a Wonderful Life, America's Most Beloved Holiday Film
Theisen, Lauren
St James, Emily
Hardcover
Infinite Steps: Thirty-Three Dancers and Their Lives in Ballet
Larsen, Gavin
Schiavone, Gene
Paperback
The Love Producer: My Unscripted Journey from a Reality TV Career to My Own Happily Ever After
Laplaca, Julie
Paperback
Pre-Code Essentials: Must-See Cinema from Hollywood's Untamed Era, 1930-1934
Luperi, Kim
Reid, Danny
Paperback
Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency
Ricca, Brad
Hardcover
Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knocked-Up Virgins Who Changed Comedy Forever
Singer, Matt
Hardcover