Gore Vidal, author and essayist of the last 50 years, has passed away at age 86, due to complications of pneumonia, according to his nephew.
In addition to a series of novels about American history and satirical novels, Vidal wrote dozens of plays, TV scripts and film scripts, often adapting one into one of the other media. He also wrote several novels under a pen name, and over a hundred essays, gathered in several volumes published between 1962 and 2001.
Vidal's career as an essayist culminated in 1993 when he won the National Book Award for "United States: Essays, 1952-1992." His credits as a novelist include: The City and the Pillar, Burr, 1876, Lincoln, Hollywood, The Golden Age, The Judgment of Paris, Messiah, Julian, Washington, D.C., Myra Breckinridge and Duluth.
Vidal's plays include Visit to a Small Planet, The Best Man, Romulus, Weekend, and An Evening with Richard Nixon.
As a screenwriter, his works include The Catered Affair, Ben-Hur (uncredited), Suddenly Last Summer, The Best Man, Is Paris Burning?, Caligula, Dress Grey and The Sicilian (uncredited). Vidal also did some acting with appearances in the films Gattaca and Bob Roberts, as well as various TV appearances.
He was a favorite of talk show hosts, and famously feuded at various times with William Buckley, Truman Capote and Norman Mailer. On a panel discussing the 1968 Democratic Convention, he called Buckley a “crypto-fascist” and Buckley responded by calling Vidal “a queer” (which was apparently at least partially true). Several of his disputes with other authors wound up in civil court, where Vidal often lost. He also often boasted about being related (by marriage) to Jaqueline Bovier Kennedy Onassis.
Vidal is currently represented on Broadway by the third revival of The Best Man, which is currently running on Broadway until September 9.
"Every four years the naive half who vote are encouraged to believe that if we can elect a really nice man or woman President everything will be all right. But it won't be. Any individual who is able to raise $25 million to be considered presidential is not going to be much use to the people at large. He will represent oil, or aerospace, or banking, or whatever moneyed entities are paying for him. Certainly he will never represent the people of the country, and they know it. Hence, the sense of despair throughout the land as incomes fall, businesses fail and there is no redress."
-The Decline and Fall of the American Empire (1992)
Yeah....except now the number is $1 billion........:'(
I remember all the people freaking out when it was thought that Ross Perot would spend $100 million to be elected president.
