Warren Beatty

Beatty has been nominated for 14 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, three for Original Screenplay, and one for Adapted Screenplay – winning Best Director for Reds (1981). He was nominated for his performances as Clyde Barrow in the crime drama Bonnie and Clyde (1967), a quarterback mistakenly taken to heaven in the sports fantasy drama Heaven Can Wait (1978), John Reed in the historical epic Reds (1981), and Bugsy Siegel in the crime drama Bugsy (1991). Beatty made his acting debut as a teenager in love in the Elia Kazan drama Splendor in the Grass (1961). He later acted in John Frankenheimer's drama All Fall Down (1962), Robert Altman's revisionist western McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Alan J. Pakula's political thriller The Parallax View (1974), Hal Ashby's comedy Shampoo (1975), and Elaine May's road movie Ishtar (1987). He also directed and starred in the action crime film Dick Tracy (1990), the political satire Bulworth (1998), and the romance Rules Don't Apply (2016), all of which he also produced. On stage, Beatty made his Broadway debut in the William Inge kitchen sink drama A Loss of Roses (1960) for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Warren Beatty studied at Northwestern University School of Communication, Stella Adler Studio of Acting and Washington-Liberty High School. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are Western, adventure film, romance film and comedy film. Distinctions recorded are Writers Guild of America Award, Donostia Award, Directors Guild of America Award and Academy Award for Best Director.

• Name — Warren Beatty • Birth Name — Henry Warren Beaty • Born — 30 March 1937 • Birthplace — Richmond, Virginia, U.S. • Occupation — * Actor • filmmaker • Years Active — 1956–present • Known for — Full list • Children — 4, including Ella • Relatives — * Shirley MacLaine (sister) • Sachi Parker (niece) • Awards — Full list

Henry Warren Beaty was born on March 30, 1937, in Richmond, Virginia. His mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), was a teacher from Nova Scotia. His father, Ira Owens Beaty, studied for a PhD in educational psychology and was a teacher and school administrator, in addition to working in real estate. His grandparents were also teachers. The family was Baptist. During Warren's childhood, Ira Beaty moved his family from Richmond to Norfolk and then to Arlington and Waverly, then back to Arlington, eventually taking a position at Arlington's Thomas Jefferson Junior High School in 1945. During the 1950s the family resided in the Dominion Hills section of Arlington. Beatty's older sister is actress, dancer and writer Shirley MacLaine (who altered the phonetic spelling of her mother's maiden surname). His uncle by marriage was Canadian politician A.A. MacLeod. Beatty became interested in movies as a child, often accompanying his sister to theaters. One film that had an important early influence on him was The Philadelphia Story (1940), which he saw when it was re-released in the 1950s. He noticed a strong resemblance between its star, Katharine Hepburn, and his mother, in both appearance and personality, saying that they symbolized "perpetual integrity". Another film that influenced him was Love Affair (1939), starring one of his favorite actors, Charles Boyer. He found it "deeply moving", and recalled that "[t]his is a movie I always wanted to make." He remade Love Affair in 1994, starring alongside his wife Annette Bening and Katharine Hepburn. Among his favorite TV shows in the 1950s was the Texaco Star Theatre, and he began to mimic one of its regular host comedians, Milton Berle. Beatty learned to do a "superb imitation of Berle and his routine", said a friend, and often used Berle-type humor at home. His sister's memories of her brother include seeing him reading books by Eugene O'Neill or singing along to Al Jolson records. In Rules Don't Apply (2016), Beatty plays Howard Hughes, who is shown talking about and singing Jolson songs while flying his plane. MacLaine noted — on what made her brother want to become a filmmaker, sometimes writing, producing, directing and starring in his films: "That's why he's more comfortable behind the camera... He's in the total-control aspect. He has to have control over everything." Beatty doesn't deny that need; in speaking about his earliest parts, he said "When I acted in films I used to come with suggestions about the script, the lighting, the wardrobe, and people used to say 'Waddya want, to produce the picture as well?' And I used to say that I supposed I did." Beatty played football at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington. Encouraged to act by the success of his sister, who established herself as a Hollywood star, he decided to work as a stagehand at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. during the summer before his senior year. After graduation, he was reportedly offered ten college football scholarships, but turned them down to study liberal arts at Northwestern University (1954–55), where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. Beatty left college after his first year and moved to New York City to study acting under Stella Adler at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. He often subsisted on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and worked odd jobs, including dishwasher, piano player, bricklayer's assistant, construction worker, and, relatively briefly, a sandhog.

Beatty started his career making appearances on television shows such as Studio One (1957), Kraft Television Theatre (1957), and Playhouse 90 (1959). He was a semi-regular on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis during its first season (1959–1960). His performance in William Inge's A Loss of Roses on Broadway garnered him a 1960 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a 1960 Theatre World Award. It was his sole appearance on Broadway. In February 1960, Beatty enlisted as an airman third class in the California Air National Guard at Van Nuys to fulfill his military service obligation. He was discharged the following year due to a physical disability and remained on inactive duty after that time. • Illustration — Beatty in Photoplay (1961) Beatty made his film debut in Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961) opposite Natalie Wood. The film was a major critical and box office success; Beatty was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and received the award for New Star of the Year – Actor. The film was also nominated for two Oscars, winning one. Author Peter Biskind points out that Kazan "was the first in a string of major directors Beatty sought out, mentors or father figures from whom he wanted to learn." Years later during a Kennedy Center tribute to Kazan, Beatty told the audience that Kazan "had given him the most important break in his career." Biskind adds that they "were wildly dissimilar—mentor vs. protegé, director vs. actor, immigrant outsider vs. native son. Kazan was armed with the confidence born of age and success, while Beatty was virtually aflame with the arrogance of youth." Kazan recalls his impressions of Beatty: Beatty followed his initial film with Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961), with Vivien Leigh and Lotte Lenya, directed by Jose Quintero; All Fall Down (1962), with Angela Lansbury, Karl Malden and Eva Marie Saint, directed by John Frankenheimer; Lilith (1963), with Jean Seberg and Peter Fonda, directed by Robert Rossen; Promise Her Anything (1964), with Leslie Caron, Bob Cummings and Keenan Wynn, directed by Arthur Hiller; Mickey One (1965), with Alexandra Stewart and Hurd Hatfield, directed by Arthur Penn; and Kaleidoscope (1966), with Susannah York and Clive Revill, directed by Jack Smight. In 1965, he formed a production company, Tatira, which he named for Kathlyn (whose nickname was "Tat") and Ira.

At age 30, Beatty produced and acted in Bonnie and Clyde, released in 1967. He assembled a team that included the writers Robert Benton and David Newman, and the director Arthur Penn. Beatty selected most of the cast, including Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Gene Wilder and Michael J. Pollard. Beatty also oversaw the script and spearheaded the delivery of the film. Beatty chose Gene Hackman because he had acted with him in Lilith in 1964 and felt he was a "great" actor. Upon completion of the film, he credited Hackman with giving the "most authentic performance in the movie, so textured and so moving", recalls Dunaway. Beatty had been so impressed by Gene Wilder after seeing him in a play, that he cast him without an audition for what became Wilder's screen debut. Beatty already knew Pollard: "Michael J. Pollard was one of my oldest friends", Beatty said. "I'd known him forever; I met him the day I got my first television show. We did a play together on Broadway." Bonnie and Clyde became a critical and commercial success, despite the early misgivings by studio head Jack Warner who put up the production money. Before filming began, Warner said, "What does Warren Beatty think he's doing? How did he ever get us into this thing? This gangster stuff went out with Cagney." The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and seven Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Beatty was originally entitled to 40% of the film's profits but gave 10% to Penn, and his 30% share earned him more than US$6 million. After Bonnie and Clyde, Beatty acted with Elizabeth Taylor in The Only Game in Town (1970), directed by George Stevens; McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), directed by Robert Altman; and Dollars (1971), directed by Richard Brooks. • Illustration — Beatty in a promo photo for Bonnie and Clyde (1967) In 1972, Beatty produced a series of benefit concerts to help with publicity and fundraising in the George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign. Beatty first put together Four for McGovern at The Forum in the Los Angeles area, convincing Barbra Streisand, Carole King and James Taylor to perform. Streisand brought Quincy Jones and his Orchestra, and recorded the album Live Concert at the Forum. Two weeks later, Beatty mounted another concert at the Cleveland Arena, in which Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon joined James Taylor. In June 1972, Beatty produced Together for McGovern at Madison Square Garden, reuniting Simon and Garfunkel, Nichols and May, and Peter, Paul and Mary, and featuring Dionne Warwick. With these productions, campaign manager Gary Hart said that Beatty had "invented the political concert". He had mobilized Hollywood celebrities for a political cause on a scale previously unseen, creating a new power dynamic. Beatty appeared in the films The Parallax View (1974), directed by Alan Pakula; and The Fortune (1975), directed by Mike Nichols. Taking greater control, Beatty produced, co-wrote and acted in Shampoo (1975), directed by Hal Ashby, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay, as well as five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor. In 1978, Beatty directed, produced, wrote and acted in Heaven Can Wait (1978) (sharing co-directing credit with Buck Henry). The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. It also won three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor.

• Illustration — Warren Beatty on the set of the film Reds (1981) Beatty's next film was Reds (1981), a historical epic about American Communist journalist John Reed who observed the Russian October Revolution – a project Beatty had begun researching and filming for as far back as 1970. It was a critical and commercial success, despite being an American film about an American Communist, made and released at the height of the Cold War. It received 12 Academy Award nominations – including four for Beatty (for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay), winning three. Beatty won for Best Director, Maureen Stapleton won for Best Supporting Actress (playing anarchist Emma Goldman), and Vittorio Storaro won for Best Cinematography. The film received seven Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Director, Actor and Screenplay. Beatty won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. • Illustration — Beatty in 1981, with Diane Keaton and First Lady Nancy Reagan at a White House screening of Reds Following Reds, Beatty did not appear in a film for five years until 1987's Ishtar, written and directed by Elaine May. Following severe criticism in press reviews by the new British studio chief David Puttnam just prior to its release, the film received mixed reviews and was unimpressive commercially. Puttnam attacked several other over-budget American films greenlighted by his predecessor and was fired shortly thereafter. Under his second production company, Mulholland Productions, Beatty produced, directed and played the title role of comic strip-based detective Dick Tracy in the 1990 film of the same name. The film received positive reviews and was one of the highest-grossing films of the year. It received seven Academy Award nominations, winning three for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Original Song. It also received four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture. In 1991, he produced and starred as the real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel in the critically acclaimed and commercially successful film Bugsy, directed by Barry Levinson, which was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor; it later won two of the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. The film also received eight Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor, winning for Best Motion Picture. Beatty's next film, Love Affair (1994), directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure. In 1998, Beatty wrote, produced, directed and starred in the political satire Bulworth, which was critically acclaimed and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film also received three Golden Globe Award nominations, for Best Motion Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay. Beatty has appeared briefly in numerous documentaries, including Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) and One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern (2005). Following the poor box office performance of Town & Country (2001), in which Beatty starred, he did not appear in or direct another film for 15 years.

• Illustration — Beatty with his wife Annette Bening at the California Museum in 2013 Beatty has been married to actress Annette Bening since 1992. They have four children, including actress Ella Beatty. Prior to marrying Bening, Beatty was notorious for his large number of romantic relationships that received generous media coverage, having been linked to over 100 female celebrities. Early in his career, Beatty was engaged to Joan Collins; he later referred to the engagement as "an exaggeration." Cher, who briefly dated him, stated that "Warren has probably been with everybody I know." Leslie Caron said "Warren always had girlfriends who resembled his sister [Shirley MacLaine]". Caron thought he was too self-centered, and refused his marriage proposals. Carly Simon revealed in 2015 that the second verse of her 1972 song "You're So Vain" was about a previous romantic relationship with Beatty.

Beatty was a founding board member of the Center for National Policy, a founding member of the Progressive Majority, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has served as the Campaign Chair for the Permanent Charities Committee, and has participated in the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. He served on the Board of Trustees at the Scripps Research Institute, and the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation. He was named Honorary Chairman of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in 2004. Director and collaborator Arthur Penn described Beatty as "the perfect producer", adding, "He makes everyone demand the best of themselves. Warren stays with a picture through editing, mixing, and scoring. He plain works harder than anyone else I have ever seen."

Beatty is a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party. In 1972, he was part of the "inner circle" of Senator George McGovern's presidential campaign. He traveled extensively and was instrumental in organizing fundraising. Despite differences in politics, Beatty was also a friend of Republican Senator John McCain, with whom he agreed on the need for campaign finance reform. He was chosen by McCain to be one of the pallbearers at the senator's funeral in 2018.

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Notes • 2010 — Dick Tracy Special — Co-directed with Chris Merrill • 2023 — Dick Tracy Special: Tracy Zooms In Acting roles • Year — Title — Role — Episode(s) • 1957 — Kraft Television Theater — Roy Nicholas — "The Curly Headed Kid" • Westinghouse Studio One — 1st Card Player — "The Night America Trembled" • Suspicion — Boy — "Heartbeat" • 1959 — Look Up and Live — "The Square" • "The Family" • Playhouse 90 — "Dark December" • The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis — Milton Armitage — "The Best Dressed Man" • "The Sweet Singer of Central High" • "Dobie Gillis, Boy Actor" • 1960 — "The Smoke-Filled Room" • "The Fist Fighter" • Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond — Harry Grayson — "The Visitor" • 1998 — The Larry Sanders Show — Himself — "Flip" • 2010 — Dick Tracy Special — Dick Tracy — TV special • 2023 — Dick Tracy Special: Tracy Zooms In — Dick Tracy / Himself Theatre • Year — Title — Role — Venue — Ref. • 1959 — A Loss of Roses — Kenny — Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway

Warren Beatty was recorded at birth as Henry Warren Beaty. His recorded languages were English and American English. He was the child of Ira Owens Beaty and Kathlyn Corinne Maclean. He married Annette Bening. 3 children are recorded: Ella Beatty, Isabel Beatty and Stephen Ira Beatty.

Warren Beatty is recorded as having studied at Northwestern University School of Communication, Stella Adler Studio of Acting and Washington-Liberty High School.