TheWrap took home four first-place Southern California Journalism Awards at the Los Angeles Press Club’s 65th annual awards ceremony held Sunday at L.A.’s Millennium Biltmore Hotel.
Sharon Waxman, TheWrap’s founder and editor-in-chief, won the Entertainment Feature on Film category with her story about the HFPA’s failure to meet its reform goal and the embarrassing ouster of one of its members in her story, “Golden Globes Falls Short of 300 Voter Goal by 101, Expels Reformist Member Frank Rousseau for Falsifying Stories (Exclusive).
The category’s nominees included GQ and Variety, as well as TheWrap’s Andi Ortiz, who was nominated for her oral history of the cult that has grown around Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” since its 1993 release, “How ‘Hocus Pocus’ Went From Box Office Bomb to Disney’s Halloween Darling.“
Reporter Sharon Knolle was nominated for two awards and won in both categories. In the Entertainment Feature on TV/Radio,...
Sharon Waxman, TheWrap’s founder and editor-in-chief, won the Entertainment Feature on Film category with her story about the HFPA’s failure to meet its reform goal and the embarrassing ouster of one of its members in her story, “Golden Globes Falls Short of 300 Voter Goal by 101, Expels Reformist Member Frank Rousseau for Falsifying Stories (Exclusive).
The category’s nominees included GQ and Variety, as well as TheWrap’s Andi Ortiz, who was nominated for her oral history of the cult that has grown around Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” since its 1993 release, “How ‘Hocus Pocus’ Went From Box Office Bomb to Disney’s Halloween Darling.“
Reporter Sharon Knolle was nominated for two awards and won in both categories. In the Entertainment Feature on TV/Radio,...
- 6/26/2023
- by Rosemary Rossi
- The Wrap
Our latest roundup of new books related to the world of cinema is full of indelible imagery––the pale face of Lost Highway’s Mystery Man, John Ford’s craggy visage, and, of course, the Neverland sets from Hook.
Lost Highway: The Fist of Love by Scott Ryan (Tucker DS Press)
Last year, Scott Ryan covered David Lynch’s Twin Peaks prequel in Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared. (We featured it here.) In 2023, Ryan studies what he calls “the lowest-grossing, most forgotten film of [Lynch’s] career.” Ryan’s Lost Highway: The Fist of Love is every bit as enthralling and insightful as Your Laura Disappeared. The author zeroes in on the elements of Lost Highway that turned off most (but not all) audiences in 1997 but are titillating new (and revisiting) viewers today. Ryan should know; he was one of those who looked away in the nineties: “The first time I saw it,...
Lost Highway: The Fist of Love by Scott Ryan (Tucker DS Press)
Last year, Scott Ryan covered David Lynch’s Twin Peaks prequel in Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared. (We featured it here.) In 2023, Ryan studies what he calls “the lowest-grossing, most forgotten film of [Lynch’s] career.” Ryan’s Lost Highway: The Fist of Love is every bit as enthralling and insightful as Your Laura Disappeared. The author zeroes in on the elements of Lost Highway that turned off most (but not all) audiences in 1997 but are titillating new (and revisiting) viewers today. Ryan should know; he was one of those who looked away in the nineties: “The first time I saw it,...
- 5/30/2023
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
The Los Angeles Press Club has announced nominees for the 65th SoCal Journalism Awards, highlighting media excellence throughout the region, and TheWrap has earned 8 nominations.
The winners will be named during a ceremony held June 25, 2023 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
TheWrap’s founder and editor-in-chief, Sharon Waxman, was nominated as an individual for her ongoing WaxWord blog series.
Reporter Sharon Knolle received two nominations. First for her examination of the sequel series to “Sex and the City” and whether the show negatively portrays women in middle age, entitled “Is ‘And Just Like That’ … Ageist? Why Carrie and Her Friends Seem Over the Hill at 50.“
A second nod came for a look at how women fare in the current comedy scene: “Forget Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle – Female Comics Say Stand-Up Has ‘Never Been Safe’ for Women.”
Also Read:
Ben Smith Talks Digital Media’s Death Dive:...
The winners will be named during a ceremony held June 25, 2023 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
TheWrap’s founder and editor-in-chief, Sharon Waxman, was nominated as an individual for her ongoing WaxWord blog series.
Reporter Sharon Knolle received two nominations. First for her examination of the sequel series to “Sex and the City” and whether the show negatively portrays women in middle age, entitled “Is ‘And Just Like That’ … Ageist? Why Carrie and Her Friends Seem Over the Hill at 50.“
A second nod came for a look at how women fare in the current comedy scene: “Forget Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle – Female Comics Say Stand-Up Has ‘Never Been Safe’ for Women.”
Also Read:
Ben Smith Talks Digital Media’s Death Dive:...
- 5/13/2023
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Pat Loud, America’s first reality TV star, passed away on January 10 at her home in Los Angeles at age 94. I knew Pat through her oldest son, Lance, and it was clear to me from the beginning of our decades-long friendship that she never fully recovered from the negative reaction to that first reality TV show, “An American Family,” which aired on public television in 1973.
Pat and her husband, Bill, gave permission to filmmaker Craig Gilbert to document their family of five children over several months at their Santa Barbara home. He filmed 300 hours, and cut it down to 12 episodes of one hour each.
When the series aired, it shocked for two reasons: Pat asked her husband for a divorce on grounds of infidelity, and their 20-year-old son Lance, living in Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel, made no effort to hide his homosexuality. It was the latter controversy that most rocked the family.
Pat and her husband, Bill, gave permission to filmmaker Craig Gilbert to document their family of five children over several months at their Santa Barbara home. He filmed 300 hours, and cut it down to 12 episodes of one hour each.
When the series aired, it shocked for two reasons: Pat asked her husband for a divorce on grounds of infidelity, and their 20-year-old son Lance, living in Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel, made no effort to hide his homosexuality. It was the latter controversy that most rocked the family.
- 1/12/2021
- by Robert Hofler
- The Wrap
When Jim Parsons was approached for Netflix miniseries Hollywood, he jumped at the chance to play a complicated, real-life figure, unlike any he’d played before, whose experiences force us to reflect on the entertainment industry as it is today—and the extent to which it has or has not changed over the last 70+ years.
Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the drama follows a group of ambitious actors and filmmakers in Post-World War II Tinseltown, considering what might have happened, had inequality in entertainment been addressed decades ago.
In the series, Parsons plays Henry Wilson, the talent agent who launched the careers of stars like Rock Hudson. Vicious, vulnerable, calculating and unpredictable, Wilson is a victim of his times, who ends up becoming a villain. A closeted homosexual tormented by the bigotry with which he’s faced, he resorts to the life of a sexual predator, before attempting...
Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the drama follows a group of ambitious actors and filmmakers in Post-World War II Tinseltown, considering what might have happened, had inequality in entertainment been addressed decades ago.
In the series, Parsons plays Henry Wilson, the talent agent who launched the careers of stars like Rock Hudson. Vicious, vulnerable, calculating and unpredictable, Wilson is a victim of his times, who ends up becoming a villain. A closeted homosexual tormented by the bigotry with which he’s faced, he resorts to the life of a sexual predator, before attempting...
- 8/30/2020
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
When Jim Parsons was cast in Netflix’s limited series “Hollywood” as Henry Willson, the real-life agent best known for shepherding Rock Hudson to mega-stardom, the multiple Emmy-winning actor immediately turned to Google. While he couldn’t find any contemporaneous video of Willson, there were at least plenty of photographs. Looking at them, Parsons was struck with an immediate concern.
“My first thing was, could I look different at all?” he says.
Similar to several other supporting performers now nominated for taking on roles based on real people, however, Parsons’ transformation into Willson was ultimately a subtle one. He utilized understated false teeth, wore color contacts to change his eyes from blue to brown, and changed his hair just slightly to suggest that Willson was wearing a toupee.
“In several different shots, you can see his scalp from the back,” says Parsons. “That being said, a lot of it was...
“My first thing was, could I look different at all?” he says.
Similar to several other supporting performers now nominated for taking on roles based on real people, however, Parsons’ transformation into Willson was ultimately a subtle one. He utilized understated false teeth, wore color contacts to change his eyes from blue to brown, and changed his hair just slightly to suggest that Willson was wearing a toupee.
“In several different shots, you can see his scalp from the back,” says Parsons. “That being said, a lot of it was...
- 8/25/2020
- by Adam B. Vary
- Variety Film + TV
A version of this story about Jim Parsons and “Hollywood” first appeared in the Emmy Hot List issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.
When Jim Parsons was first offered the role of talent agent Henry Willson in Ryan Murphy’s limited series “Hollywood,” he was in what he figured would be a slow, contemplative stretch in his career. “I kind of had been preparing myself for the vast desert of ‘What’s next?’ that I knew was going to come after ‘The Big Bang Theory’ ended,” he said. “And I kind of looked forward to wandering around and figuring out more precisely, ‘What do you want?'”
But during the shooting of the upcoming, Murphy-produced and Joe Mantello-directed Netflix adaptation of the Broadway play “The Boys in the Band,” Murphy derailed Parsons’ plans for some time off by pitching him on “Hollywood.” The miniseries, which was nominated for a dozen Emmys,...
When Jim Parsons was first offered the role of talent agent Henry Willson in Ryan Murphy’s limited series “Hollywood,” he was in what he figured would be a slow, contemplative stretch in his career. “I kind of had been preparing myself for the vast desert of ‘What’s next?’ that I knew was going to come after ‘The Big Bang Theory’ ended,” he said. “And I kind of looked forward to wandering around and figuring out more precisely, ‘What do you want?'”
But during the shooting of the upcoming, Murphy-produced and Joe Mantello-directed Netflix adaptation of the Broadway play “The Boys in the Band,” Murphy derailed Parsons’ plans for some time off by pitching him on “Hollywood.” The miniseries, which was nominated for a dozen Emmys,...
- 8/20/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Jim Parsons plays Henry Willson, the infamous real-life agent of Rock Hudson, in the Netflix limited series “Hollywood.” The actor has four Emmys for his work on “The Big Bang Theory.”
Parsons recently spoke with Gold Derby contributing writer Tony Ruiz about what he knew about Willson, working alongside Jake Picking as Hudson and whether his character is truly redeemed in the end. Watch the exclusive interview above and read the complete transcript below.
SEEHolland Taylor Interview: ‘Hollywood’
Gold Derby: Jim, the real Henry Willson is is such a controversial figure. And so, I guess where I want to start is how much of the controversy of Henry Willson did you know in advance? And how did you go about learning about him?
Jim Parsons: Well, when we started, I knew nothing about Henry Willson. I had not even heard of him. Just one of those things that I had missed.
Parsons recently spoke with Gold Derby contributing writer Tony Ruiz about what he knew about Willson, working alongside Jake Picking as Hudson and whether his character is truly redeemed in the end. Watch the exclusive interview above and read the complete transcript below.
SEEHolland Taylor Interview: ‘Hollywood’
Gold Derby: Jim, the real Henry Willson is is such a controversial figure. And so, I guess where I want to start is how much of the controversy of Henry Willson did you know in advance? And how did you go about learning about him?
Jim Parsons: Well, when we started, I knew nothing about Henry Willson. I had not even heard of him. Just one of those things that I had missed.
- 7/10/2020
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
“He was obviously a little broken in some way,” declares Jim Parsons about his role of Henry Willson, the foul-mouthed and abusive agent on Netflix’s “Hollywood.” The series, created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, reimagines the film industry of the 1940s and depicts Willson as a sexually abusive and manipulative puppet master to the young Rock Hudson (Jake Picking). The role is a radical departure for Parsons, who won four Best Comedy Actor Emmys for playing Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Parsons above.
See‘Hollywood’ Emmy interviews: Jeremy Pope, David Corenswet, Patti LuPone, Mira Sorvino and more [Watch]
The actor, who also serves as an executive producer on the series, admits to knowing almost nothing about the real life Willson. Parsons relied heavily on Robert Hofler‘s book “The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson” to learn about Willson’s past, and...
See‘Hollywood’ Emmy interviews: Jeremy Pope, David Corenswet, Patti LuPone, Mira Sorvino and more [Watch]
The actor, who also serves as an executive producer on the series, admits to knowing almost nothing about the real life Willson. Parsons relied heavily on Robert Hofler‘s book “The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson” to learn about Willson’s past, and...
- 6/12/2020
- by Tony Ruiz
- Gold Derby
Playwright and AIDS activist Larry Kramer, who died Wednesday at age 84, got his start in the film business — including director Ken Russell’s Oscar-winning 1969 film “Women in Love,” an adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence novel that broke barriers with its depiction of frontal male nudity. In an excerpt from his 2014 book “Sexplosion,” TheWrap theater critic Robert Hofler looks back at Kramer’s work on the project.
Long before he became the world’s most famous AIDS activist, Larry Kramer made movies. Thinking back to his days as a production chief at Columbia in the 1960s, Kramer claimed, “Because of me, Columbia Pictures released ‘Darling.’ I told Columbia that this was a fantastic movie, and they took my advice and picked it up.”
He and the film’s director, John Schlesinger, were more than friends. “I met him. We went to bed a bunch of times. He was more serious than I was,...
Long before he became the world’s most famous AIDS activist, Larry Kramer made movies. Thinking back to his days as a production chief at Columbia in the 1960s, Kramer claimed, “Because of me, Columbia Pictures released ‘Darling.’ I told Columbia that this was a fantastic movie, and they took my advice and picked it up.”
He and the film’s director, John Schlesinger, were more than friends. “I met him. We went to bed a bunch of times. He was more serious than I was,...
- 5/27/2020
- by Robert Hofler
- The Wrap
Warning: This story contains spoilers from the second and third episodes of the Netflix miniseries “Hollywood.”
Most of the lead characters in Ryan Murphy’s limited series “Hollywood” are fictional, and most of the ones who were real people are movie stars from the 1940s: Rock Hudson, Anna May Wong, Hattie McDaniel, Vivien Leigh …
But there’s one character in the miniseries, Henry Willson, who was a real-life star-maker, not a star, and who dominates nearly every scene in which he appears.
Because “Hollywood” is a fantasy that very deliberately rewrites Hollywood history to give women, minorities and the Lgbt community more agency and acceptance than they had at the time, fact-checking its storylines is to some degree beside the point. But when an actual person whose real story isn’t well known is dropped into the narrative, it’s inevitable that viewers will wonder how close the character is to the real person.
Most of the lead characters in Ryan Murphy’s limited series “Hollywood” are fictional, and most of the ones who were real people are movie stars from the 1940s: Rock Hudson, Anna May Wong, Hattie McDaniel, Vivien Leigh …
But there’s one character in the miniseries, Henry Willson, who was a real-life star-maker, not a star, and who dominates nearly every scene in which he appears.
Because “Hollywood” is a fantasy that very deliberately rewrites Hollywood history to give women, minorities and the Lgbt community more agency and acceptance than they had at the time, fact-checking its storylines is to some degree beside the point. But when an actual person whose real story isn’t well known is dropped into the narrative, it’s inevitable that viewers will wonder how close the character is to the real person.
- 5/13/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Caution: This story contains mild spoilers for the first episode of “Hollywood.”
Ryan Murphy’s limited series “Hollywood” is a mixture of fiction and fact, with its fictional characters set against actual events and people in the movie industry during the years after World War II. And because of the way the Netflix limited series approaches its story, it can be tricky to tell the truth from the fantasy, particularly since the whole idea of “Hollywood” is to tell a story of what could have been, not what was.
But that alternative history uses real history as a jumping-off point, so viewers are bound to wonder about some of the events and settings depicted in the miniseries — particularly the first few episodes, before the story veers into obvious invention.
One of the prime settings for the series is a Hollywood gas station run by a suave operator named Ernie West...
Ryan Murphy’s limited series “Hollywood” is a mixture of fiction and fact, with its fictional characters set against actual events and people in the movie industry during the years after World War II. And because of the way the Netflix limited series approaches its story, it can be tricky to tell the truth from the fantasy, particularly since the whole idea of “Hollywood” is to tell a story of what could have been, not what was.
But that alternative history uses real history as a jumping-off point, so viewers are bound to wonder about some of the events and settings depicted in the miniseries — particularly the first few episodes, before the story veers into obvious invention.
One of the prime settings for the series is a Hollywood gas station run by a suave operator named Ernie West...
- 5/13/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Matt Tynauer’s frank, unrated documentary about the wild times of gay and straight hustler-procurer Scotty Bowers is built around his 2012 tell-all book about the Hollywood sex underground of the late ’40s and ’50s. Scotty tells his own story in a way that compels belief. It’s a fine docu but not for all audiences, as some hardcore content is included.
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
DVD
Kino Lorber/Greenwich Entertainment
2017 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date November 6, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Scotty Bowers, Peter Bart, Stephen Fry, Robert Hofler, William Mann.
Cinematography: Chris Dapkins
Film Editors: Bob Eisenhardt, Daniel Morfesis
Original Music: Jane Antonia Cornish
Produced by Josh Braun, Corey Reeser
Directed by Matt Tyrnauer
And now for something completely different. This well-produced and convincing documentary is about George ‘Scotty’ Bowers, a remarkable man who was ground zero for the Hollywood gay subculture of the post-war years.
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
DVD
Kino Lorber/Greenwich Entertainment
2017 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date November 6, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Scotty Bowers, Peter Bart, Stephen Fry, Robert Hofler, William Mann.
Cinematography: Chris Dapkins
Film Editors: Bob Eisenhardt, Daniel Morfesis
Original Music: Jane Antonia Cornish
Produced by Josh Braun, Corey Reeser
Directed by Matt Tyrnauer
And now for something completely different. This well-produced and convincing documentary is about George ‘Scotty’ Bowers, a remarkable man who was ground zero for the Hollywood gay subculture of the post-war years.
- 11/20/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
No one tells stories like Scotty Bowers. Dishy, sordid, and deliciously off-color, his firsthand accounts reveal a different side of the Dream Factory from the one that studios so carefully manufactured in their heyday, with Bowers at the epicenter as a kind of benevolent matchmaker. That’s an image director Matt Tyrnauer is all too eager to perpetuate in “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood,” which plays like a cheeky behind-the-scenes/in-the-bedroom companion to “The Celluloid Closet,” casting Bowers as a pioneering sexual revolutionary who bent over backward to help A-list gays and lesbians feed their desires off-screen.
That may be true, but it wouldn’t be incorrect to call him what he was: a procurer to the stars, tickled in his old age to spill the beans on who was gay, who was bisexual, and who were the “big users,” with the appetites to service 15 young men in...
That may be true, but it wouldn’t be incorrect to call him what he was: a procurer to the stars, tickled in his old age to spill the beans on who was gay, who was bisexual, and who were the “big users,” with the appetites to service 15 young men in...
- 7/25/2018
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
One of our favorite documentaries of last year’s Tiff, Greenwich Entertainment has released a new trailer for Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, the newest from documentary filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer. The film recounts journalist Scotty Bowers’ private life, and his work to indulge and connect many Hollywood stars with their at-the-time unorthodox sexual relationships.
When speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the film, Tyrnauer described his approach to the film: “I’m willing to follow the character and make a movie about what I find, so I didn’t really have a lot of preconceived notions. The one thing I didn’t want to do was an archival film about old Hollywood and their secret lives, so that was a whole point of Scotty being around and being in great shape mentally and physically. Once I’d established that, I was prepared to go down any road following him.
When speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the film, Tyrnauer described his approach to the film: “I’m willing to follow the character and make a movie about what I find, so I didn’t really have a lot of preconceived notions. The one thing I didn’t want to do was an archival film about old Hollywood and their secret lives, so that was a whole point of Scotty being around and being in great shape mentally and physically. Once I’d established that, I was prepared to go down any road following him.
- 6/19/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
As Tony Awards voters love to recognize transformative performances, Jin Ha of “M. Butterfly” is a strong contender for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In Julie Taymor’s revival of David Henry Hwang‘s play, he portrays Peking opera singer Song Liling. Song’s performance of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” enchants Clive Owen’s Rene Gallimard, a French diplomat. The two embark on a wild affair behind closed doors, but secrets abound. Most pressingly, Song is pulling a “Victor/Victoria” on Gallimard: He is a man pretending to be a woman in order to win over the Frenchman.
The role demands unparalleled versatility. Song must be feminine enough to convince Gallimard that he is actually a woman, and audiences must buy into this conceit. Jin Ha proved up to the task. As the relationship unfolds on stage, Ha embraces and then upends gender cliches to create a mesmerizing character full of contradictions.
The role demands unparalleled versatility. Song must be feminine enough to convince Gallimard that he is actually a woman, and audiences must buy into this conceit. Jin Ha proved up to the task. As the relationship unfolds on stage, Ha embraces and then upends gender cliches to create a mesmerizing character full of contradictions.
- 4/25/2018
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
If the phrase “tell-all” hadn’t been coined before 2012, Scotty Bowers’ memoir Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars would have done the job. Here’s a Marine Corps veteran of World War II born in Illinois who decided to land in Hollywood upon his return on a whim. He answered a “wanted” advertisement to work at a gas station, was hit on sexually by Walter Pidgeon while pumping gas, and realized he could use this well-trafficked locale to help pair off closeted male movie stars with young hustlers like himself for twenty bucks a pop. From there he met Cary Grant and Spencer Tracy, had a threesome with Lana Turner and Ava Gardner, and eventually spilled the beans about it all.
The book was an overnight sensation with ardent fans and vehement detractors alike. Was it his right to air so much dirty laundry?...
The book was an overnight sensation with ardent fans and vehement detractors alike. Was it his right to air so much dirty laundry?...
- 9/12/2017
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Rock Hudson Rock Hudson: Dark And Handsome Stranger Documentary The synopsis below of Andrew Davies and Andre Shafer's Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger is from the Berlin Film Festival website: Rock Hudson was a dream of a man; the epitome of masculinity: tall, slim and muscular, with a deep, mellifluous voice. His glossy black hair, sparkling eyes, high cheek bones and sensuous lips made Rock Hudson one of the sexiest film stars that Hollywood has ever produced. Twenty-five years ago, shortly before his sixtieth birthday, Rock Hudson died of Aids-related illnesses. He was the first Hollywood celebrity to succumb to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. But who was Rock Hudson really? This documentary sheds light on a famous actor star who performed a clandestine balancing act between his private and public lives; between the heterosexual world of an extremely manly looking screen idol and a darker side of forbidden...
- 6/26/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.