COVER STORY

Hollywood Hellraisers by Robert Sellers

For When: The sheriff gon' come for you

by Janet Anderson

Published: Jun 16, 2010


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When a book's titled Hollywood Hellraisers: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson, you know it's not a Pulitzer contender. British author Robert Sellers explores the hair-raising escapades of the aforementioned film legends, all of whom were much more than troublemakers — they were really bad, and they liked it that way. If much of the inflammatory information didn't come from quoted sources, you'd be inclined to think the account of this naughty foursome's high jinks came straight from the tabloids. But it all seems to be true, testifying to the bold, fearless, lusty personalities of these guys. They recklessly pursued women, drank excessively and tried every drug available.

That was back in the wild '60s and '70s. Things started changing in 2004 when Brando, the original bad boy and perhaps the most significant talent, died of lung failure. Beatty married and became a family man — and a Hollywood force. Jack Nicholson never married, although at age 74 seems to have decided that running around chasing women 30 years his junior no longer works. Most recently, cancer caught up with Hopper, in the middle of a divorce from his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy, bringing his life to a close just weeks ago. Through it all, it's doubtful that any current Hollywood Lothario has had half the success — or gotten away with half as much — as this foursome, though many will try to re-create the bad-boy persona.

Skyhorse, 336 pp., $24.95, July 13

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