by Conan Simmons – January 6, 2022 – 7:48 pm
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with the correction to previously published typo. The article was published with the typo “Oscar winning writer”, that typo has now been corrected for accuracy.
Film critic, historian, Oscar nominated writer and Grammy winning director Peter Bogdanovich has passed away today in Los Angeles, California at 82 years of age.
Born on July 30, 1939 in Kingston, New York to parents who had recently immigrated to the United States, his mother was Austrian and his father Serbian, Peter Bogdanovich fell in love with films at an early age. After graduating high school, Peter Bogdanovich studied acting at Stella Adler’s Conservatory, even gaining his first on screen appearance in a 1958 episode of ‘Kraft Theatre’ on television.
At the beginning of the 1960’s, Peter Bogdanovich became the film programmer at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Bogdanovich also became a prolific film critic during that decade, a collection of his work that appeared in Esquire was published as a book in 1973.
In 1966 and upon relocating to Los Angeles with his then wife Polly Platt, Peter Bogdanovich was hired by Roger Corman to be assistant director on the biker flick, ‘The Wild Angels’. Corman soon hired Bogdanovich again, this time to make his feature directorial debut with the 1968 thriller, ‘Targets’, starring Boris Karloff. Around this same time Bogdanovich turned out another cheapie for Corman, as director and narrator of ‘Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women’.
Bogdanovich would become one of the top names in the New Hollywood system that emerged after the collapse of the studio era when he directed ‘The Last Picture Show’ in 1971, a film that earned him Oscar nominations for Best Director and, with Larry McMurtry whose book the film was based, Best Adapted Screenplay. It was during the making of ‘The Last Picture Show’ that Bogdanovich began a romance with the films leading lady, Cybill Shepherd, resulting in a divorce from his then wife.
A couple of hit films followed, ‘What’s Up Doc?’ starring Barbara Streisand and Ryan O’Neal in 1972 and ‘Paper Moon’ in 1973 also starring Ryan O’Neal.
By the late 1970’s his Hollywood status began losing luster as box office disappointments became frequent for his films such as the homage to the early days of filmmaking, ‘Nickelodeon’ starring Burt Reynolds in 1976.
Peter Bogdanovich directed another failed comedy released in 1981, ‘They All Laughed’ starring Audrey Hepburn and Playboy Playmate centerfold model Dorothy Stratten. Bogdanovich and Stratten were dating at the time of making the film. Before the film could be released Dorothy Stratten was murdered by her husband, Paul Snider. The murder became one of the biggest scandals of the decade and, after distributing ‘They All Lauged’ himself, Bogdanovich took four years away from filmmaking to write a book about Stratten, The Killing of a Unicorn, published in 1984.
Peter Bogdanovich returned to filmmaking with the 1985 hit, ‘Mask’ starring Cher. However, once again he fell into a slump of box office disappointments with films such as 1988’s ‘Illegally Yours’ starring Rob Lowe and 1992’s satire of the legitimate stage ‘Noises Off…’ starring Michael Caine.
With big screen hits being elusive for him, Bogdanovich turned to directing television, mostly made for tv movies such as ‘To Sir, with Love II’ and ‘Naked City: A Killer Christmas’ in 1996 and 1998 respectively.
Peter Bogdanovich did return to directing films for the silver screen such as the critically acclaimed 2001 film ‘The Cat’s Meow’ starring Kirsten Dunst. The film focused on the alleged murder of filmmaker Thomas Ince by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Bogdanovich claimed he heard the story of alleged controversy from Orson Welles, whom Bogdanovich lived with for several years in the 1970’s and early 80’s. Peter Bogdanovich would be instrumental as executive producer for bringing Orson Welles’ final film, ‘The Other Side of the Wind’, to completion in 2018.
Among the last feature films Peter Bogdanovich made was the 2014 romantic comedy ‘She’s Funny That Way’, which he wrote alongside his then ex-wife Louise Stratten, the younger sister of Dorothy Stratten. Bogdanovich and Louise Stratten had married in 1988 and divorced in 2001. The film starred Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson.
In keeping with his affection for film history Peter Bogdanovich also made a few documentaries over the course of his career. Most notably ‘Directed by John Ford’ in 1971 and, his final directorial piece, ‘The Great Buster’ in 2018 focusing on silent film star Buster Keaton. Peter Bogdanovich also won a Grammy for Best Music Film in 2007 for his documentary ‘Tom Petty: Runnin’ Down a Dream’.
Peter Bogdanovich also kept up with acting over the decades. He appeared in a 1987 episode of hit television series ‘Moonlighting’ which starred his former paramour Cybill Shepherd. He also showed up in an early Ryan Reynolds comedy, ‘Coming Soon’, in 1999 and played a part in the Emilio Estevez directed ‘Rated X’, which starred Estevez alongside Charlie Sheen. Bogdanovich was a regular on the tv series ‘The Sopranos’, even directing one episode, and had roles in the horror film ‘It Chapter Two’ and the tv series ‘Get Shorty’. Voice work was also in his wheelhouse where he would sometimes play a radio DJ, both in his own films from ‘The Last Picture Show’ and ‘They All Laughed’ as well as the Quentin Tarantino actioners ‘Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2’.
Always prolific, Peter Bogdanovich wrote over a dozen books about film often filled with interviews of the great filmmakers and film stars of yesteryear, in titles like Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors and Who the Hell’s in It: Portraits and Conversations.