Terry Southern(1924-1995)
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Terry Southern began writing satirical, outrageous fiction at the age
of 12, when he took it upon himself to rewrite various
Edgar Allan Poe stories "because they
didn't go far enough". After serving as a lieutenant in the army in
World War II, he began writing short stories in earnest while studying
at the Sorbonne. "The Accident", published in the premier issue of The
Paris Review, was the first short story to appear in that magazine.
According to Peter Matthiessen, "The Sun and the Stillborn Stars", also
by Terry, determined the course of The Paris Review as a venue for
short fiction. He admired and befriended influential British novelist
Henry Green, who convinced Andre Deutsch to publish his first novel,
"Flash and Filigree" (1958). Residing with his first wife Carol in
Geneva, he spent days conjuring surrealistic exploits for billionaire
trickster Guy Grand in "The Magic Christian" (1958) while at the same
time writing Candy (1958) for Maurice Girodias' Olympia Press. He and
Gregory Corso presented William Burroughs' beat masterwork "Naked
Lunch" to Girodias, convincing him to publish it. Terry published
numerous short stories in England, France and America, (anthologized in
"Red Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes"), and co-edited "Writers in
Revolt; an Anthology of the Most Controversial Writing in the World
Today" (1962) with Alex Trocchi and Richard Seaver.
After settling in an old farmhouse in Connecticut, Terry began
contributing regularly to Esquire Magazine. One of his assignments was
to interview director Stanley Kubrick,
who subsequently invited him to employ his satirical skills on the "Dr.
Strangelove" screenplay (1964). A rewarding period in Hollywood
followed, including screenplays for the films
The Loved One (1965),
The Collector (1965),
The Cincinnati Kid (1965),
Casino Royale (1967) and
Barbarella (1968). Terry helped
inaugurate the independent film movement by co-authoring
Easy Rider (1969) and writing and
co-producing
The End of the Road (1976)
with his old Paris/Greenwich Village hipster soulmate Aram Avakian -
filmed entirely on-location in the Berkshires with Actors Studio cast
and a non-union crew (including
James Earl Jones,
Stacy Keach and
Gordon Willis). After the
publication of the novel "Blue Movie" (1970), he turned to
screenwriting full-time, working on original scripts, adaptations and
speculative assignments throughout the 70s and 80s.
During this difficult period, when films and "quality-lit" (a phrase he
coined) moved from character-driven stories to action-packed
blockbuster, the IRS repeatedly attempted to reclaim over $150,000 in
unpaid taxes owed from the mid-sixties. He was hired in the
early-eighties by Michael O'Donoghue to write for
Saturday Night Live (1975),
and wrote "The Telephone" (1986) with singer-songwriter
Harry Nilsson. With legitimate film work
increasingly elusive, Terry taught Screenwriting at both NYU and
Columbia University from the late 80s until his death in 1995. His last
novel, "Texas Summer", was released by Arcade Books in 1992. His novels
"The Magic Christian", "Flash and Filigree", "Blue Movie" and "Candy"
are available through Grove Atlantic. A new collection, "Now Dig This;
The Unspeakable Writings of Terry Southern 1950-1995" was released by
Grove in 2001, as was Terry's biography by Lee Hill, "A Grand Guy, the
Art and Life of Terry Southern" (Harper Collins).
of 12, when he took it upon himself to rewrite various
Edgar Allan Poe stories "because they
didn't go far enough". After serving as a lieutenant in the army in
World War II, he began writing short stories in earnest while studying
at the Sorbonne. "The Accident", published in the premier issue of The
Paris Review, was the first short story to appear in that magazine.
According to Peter Matthiessen, "The Sun and the Stillborn Stars", also
by Terry, determined the course of The Paris Review as a venue for
short fiction. He admired and befriended influential British novelist
Henry Green, who convinced Andre Deutsch to publish his first novel,
"Flash and Filigree" (1958). Residing with his first wife Carol in
Geneva, he spent days conjuring surrealistic exploits for billionaire
trickster Guy Grand in "The Magic Christian" (1958) while at the same
time writing Candy (1958) for Maurice Girodias' Olympia Press. He and
Gregory Corso presented William Burroughs' beat masterwork "Naked
Lunch" to Girodias, convincing him to publish it. Terry published
numerous short stories in England, France and America, (anthologized in
"Red Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes"), and co-edited "Writers in
Revolt; an Anthology of the Most Controversial Writing in the World
Today" (1962) with Alex Trocchi and Richard Seaver.
After settling in an old farmhouse in Connecticut, Terry began
contributing regularly to Esquire Magazine. One of his assignments was
to interview director Stanley Kubrick,
who subsequently invited him to employ his satirical skills on the "Dr.
Strangelove" screenplay (1964). A rewarding period in Hollywood
followed, including screenplays for the films
The Loved One (1965),
The Collector (1965),
The Cincinnati Kid (1965),
Casino Royale (1967) and
Barbarella (1968). Terry helped
inaugurate the independent film movement by co-authoring
Easy Rider (1969) and writing and
co-producing
The End of the Road (1976)
with his old Paris/Greenwich Village hipster soulmate Aram Avakian -
filmed entirely on-location in the Berkshires with Actors Studio cast
and a non-union crew (including
James Earl Jones,
Stacy Keach and
Gordon Willis). After the
publication of the novel "Blue Movie" (1970), he turned to
screenwriting full-time, working on original scripts, adaptations and
speculative assignments throughout the 70s and 80s.
During this difficult period, when films and "quality-lit" (a phrase he
coined) moved from character-driven stories to action-packed
blockbuster, the IRS repeatedly attempted to reclaim over $150,000 in
unpaid taxes owed from the mid-sixties. He was hired in the
early-eighties by Michael O'Donoghue to write for
Saturday Night Live (1975),
and wrote "The Telephone" (1986) with singer-songwriter
Harry Nilsson. With legitimate film work
increasingly elusive, Terry taught Screenwriting at both NYU and
Columbia University from the late 80s until his death in 1995. His last
novel, "Texas Summer", was released by Arcade Books in 1992. His novels
"The Magic Christian", "Flash and Filigree", "Blue Movie" and "Candy"
are available through Grove Atlantic. A new collection, "Now Dig This;
The Unspeakable Writings of Terry Southern 1950-1995" was released by
Grove in 2001, as was Terry's biography by Lee Hill, "A Grand Guy, the
Art and Life of Terry Southern" (Harper Collins).