Norman Mailer

Born: 1923-01-31

Norman Kingsley Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007) was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least one in each of the seven decades after World War II—more than any other post-war American writer. His novel The Naked and the Dead was published in 1948 and brought him early renown. His 1968 nonfiction novel Armies of the Night won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction as well as the National Book Award. His best-known work is widely considered to be The Executioner's Song, the 1979 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Mailer is considered an innovator of "creative non-fiction" or "New Journalism", along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe, a genre which uses the style and devices of literary fiction in factual journalism. He was a cultural commentator and critic, expressing his views through his novels, journalism, frequent press appearances and essays, the most famous and reprinted of which is "The White Negro". In 1955, he and three others founded The Village Voice, an arts and politics-oriented weekly newspaper distributed in Greenwich Village. In 1960, Mailer was convicted of assault and served a three-year probation after he stabbed his wife Adele Morales with a penknife, nearly killing her. In 1969, he ran an unsuccessful campaign to become the mayor of New York. Mailer was married six times and had nine children. Description above from the Wikipedia article Norman Mailer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


Placeholder

Ragtime

as Stanford White
Released: 1981-11-20

A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among...

Movie page

When We Were Kings

as Self
Released: 1996-10-25

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten...

Movie page

Inside Deep Throat

as Self
Released: 2005-02-11

In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel:...

Movie page

King Lear

as The Great Writer
Released: 1987-09-15

A descendant of Shakespeare tries to restore his plays in a world rebuilding itself after the...

Movie page

The Capote Tapes

as Self (voice) (archive footage)
Released: 2021-09-10

Newly discovered interviews with friends of Truman Capote made by Paris Review co-founder George...

Movie page

Empire City

as Self
Released: 1985-07-01

A film essay contrasting the modern metropolis with its "golden age" from 1830-1930, with the...

Movie page

Maidstone

as Norman T. Kingsley
Released: 1971-03-09

Over a booze-fueled, increasingly hectic five-day shoot in East Hampton, Norman Mailer and his...

Movie page

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

as Self
Released: 2019-03-22

Pauline Kael (1919–2001) was undoubtedly one of the greatest names in film criticism. A...

Movie page

Diaries, Notes, and Sketches

as Self
Released: 1968-03-01

An epic portrait of the New York avant-garde art scene of the 60s.

Movie page

The Outsider

as Self
Released: 2005-12-04

Nicholas Jarecki follows director James Toback on the 12-day shoot of his thriller, When Will I...

Movie page

Cremaster 2

as Harry Houdini
Released: 1999-10-13

CREMASTER 2 (1999) is rendered as a gothic Western that introduces conflict into the system. On...

Movie page

Hello Actors Studio

as Self
Released: 1988-11-09

After Lee Strasberg’s death in 1982, the most prestigious talents from the Actors Studio assumed...

Movie page

The Education of Gore Vidal

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2003-06-30

A contrarian and wickedly funny man, this PBS American Masters special explores Gore Vidal's...

Movie page

The 50 Year Argument

as Himself
Released: 2014-06-29

Follows the waves of literary, political, and cultural history as charted by the The New York...

Movie page

Wild 90

as Prince
Released: 1968-01-08

Norman Mailer’s first feature filmmaking effort stars the director and his two longtime...

Movie page

Baby Trouble Hole

as Interviewed
Released: 1996-09-29

Malga Kubiak stars in her exploration of sex and self. One woman's love to her own body...

Movie page

Henry Kissinger: Secrets of a Superpower

as Self
Released: 2008-12-15

Though Henry Kissinger is often giving short statements to the media, he refuses detailed...

Movie page

Beyond the Law

as Lt. Francis Xavier Pope
Released: 1968-04-02

Takes place over the course of one feverish night in a Manhattan police precinct and...

Movie page

Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale

as uncredited
Released: 2000-04-15

In 1955, Tobias Schneebaum disappeared into the depths of the Peruvian Amazon. He had no guide,...

Movie page

Norman Mailer: The American

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2012-05-18

A provocateur, a rebel, a performer, and a true American, Norman Mailer never stopped giving...

Movie page

Town Bloody Hall

as Himself
Released: 1979-04-03

Norman Mailer and a panel of feminists — Jacqueline Ceballos, Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston, and...

Movie page

Mailer on Mailer

as Himself
Released: 2000-10-04

Norman Mailer frankly discusses American culture, politics, literature, and his own tumultuous life.

Movie page

Will the Real Norman Mailer Please Stand Up?

as Self
Released: 1968-01-01

Portrait of Norman Mailer at the time of the Pentagon demonstrations in 1967, documenting...

Movie page

Double Pisces, Scorpio Rising

as uncredited
Released: 1970-09-12

One of the human trio is Dick Fontaine, the director, a thin, long-haired youth who has put...

Movie page

Gilmore Girls

as Norman Mailer
First aired: 2000-10-05

Set in the charming town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, the series follows the captivating lives...

TV Show page

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self
First aired: 1962-10-01

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight...

TV Show page

NDR Talk Show

as Self
First aired: 1979-02-09

TV Show page

The Dick Cavett Show

as Self - Guest
First aired: 1968-06-06

The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various...

TV Show page

The Merv Griffin Show

as Self
First aired: 1962-10-01

The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran...

TV Show page

Maybrit Illner

as Self
First aired: 1999-10-21

TV Show page

Apostrophes

as Self
First aired: 1975-01-10

Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and...

TV Show page

The Oscars

as Self
First aired: 1953-03-19

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The...

TV Show page

The David Susskind Show

as Self
First aired: 1959-01-18

The David Susskind Show is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind. The...

TV Show page

PBS NewsHour

as Self
First aired: 1975-10-20

America's first and longest running hour-long nightly news broadcast known for its in-depth...

TV Show page

Today

as Self
First aired: 1952-01-14

Today is a daily American morning television show that airs on NBC. The program debuted on...

TV Show page