Rudy Wurlitzer
Encyclopedia
Rudolph "Rudy" Wurlitzer (born January 3, 1937) is an American
novelist and screenwriter. He is known for his experimental style and has a large cult following for both his novels and screenplays. His fiction includes Nog
, Flats, Quake, Slow Fade, and Drop Edge of Yonder. He is also the author of the travel memoir, Hard Travel to Sacred Places, an account of his spiritual journey through Asia after the death of his wife Lynn Davis
' 21-year-old son.
, but the family moved to New York City shorty after his birth. He is a descendant of Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831–1914), founder of the jukebox company of the same name, but the family fortune had long since been diminished by the time Wurlitzer came of age in the 1950s. When he was 17, he found work oil tanker and it was on this first trip he began to write. He spent time at Columbia University and in the Army, and continued to travel, spending time in Paris, and on Majorca where he worked as a secretary for author Robert Graves
. He credits Graves with teaching him how to, "write short sentences." He returned to New York City in the mid 1960s where he met and befriended the artists Claes Oldenburg
, Robert Frank
, and Philip Glass
, all of whom he collaborated with at some point. He is married to photographer Lynn Davis
and splits his time between homes in upstate New York and Nova Scotia.
. It was followed by the minimalist and Beckett influenced Flats in 1970. Quake, published in 1974, takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles where mankind’s worst impulses are acted out in one long, unbroken narrative. 1984's Slow Fade, also dealing with Hollywood, is a portrait of an aging, once-brilliant film director attempting to make peace with his demons and his past. It has been suggested that Slow Fade was influenced by Wurlitzer's time with director Sam Peckinpah
on the set of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, for which he wrote the screenplay. His most recent novel is The Drop Edge Of Yonder, which had its origins in a screenplay called Zebulon that had existed in various versions over the years. Directors Sam Peckinpah
, Hal Ashby
, and Jim Jarmusch
where all attached to the project at some point, but the film was never made. Jarmusch's film Dead Man
is highly indebted to Wurlitzer's script, as several important themes were, in effect, lifted from Zebulon. Wurlitzer's novels explore the themes of identity, spirituality, and the frontier as epitomized by the old west, as well as the internal frontier of the mind.
, co-written with Jim McBride
and released in 1969, was another take on a post-apocalyptic world. At some point, Monte Hellman
, who had been directing films for Roger Corman
read Wurlitzer's novel Nog and approached him about writing the screenplay for Two-Lane Blacktop
. The film became a cult-classic, and the script was printed in its entirety in the April 1971 issue of Esquire
. During his time in Hollywood, Wurlitzer also wrote the screenplays Walker
(directed by Alex Cox
), 1987, Candy Mountain
which he co-directed with Robert Frank
, 1988, and Little Buddha
(directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
), 1993. Wurlitzer was working on a script with Michelangelo Antonioni at the time of Antonioni's death.
He wrote the libretto for Philip Glass' opera In The Penal Colony, and has also written four TV scripts for 100 Centre Street
, directed by Sidney Lumet
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist and screenwriter. He is known for his experimental style and has a large cult following for both his novels and screenplays. His fiction includes Nog
Nog (book)
Nog is a psychedelic novel by Rudolph Wurlitzer published in 1969. Written in an experimental style, the novel is described by Atlantic Monthly as being effective at replicating "the slight and continuous dissociation of reality...normally achieved by using soft drugs to tinker with the nervous...
, Flats, Quake, Slow Fade, and Drop Edge of Yonder. He is also the author of the travel memoir, Hard Travel to Sacred Places, an account of his spiritual journey through Asia after the death of his wife Lynn Davis
Lynn Davis
Lynn Davis is an American photographer known for her large-scale black-and-white photographs which are widely collected publicly and privately and are internationally exhibited.- Biography :...
' 21-year-old son.
Biography
Wurlitzer was born in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, but the family moved to New York City shorty after his birth. He is a descendant of Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831–1914), founder of the jukebox company of the same name, but the family fortune had long since been diminished by the time Wurlitzer came of age in the 1950s. When he was 17, he found work oil tanker and it was on this first trip he began to write. He spent time at Columbia University and in the Army, and continued to travel, spending time in Paris, and on Majorca where he worked as a secretary for author Robert Graves
Robert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
. He credits Graves with teaching him how to, "write short sentences." He returned to New York City in the mid 1960s where he met and befriended the artists Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects...
, Robert Frank
Robert Frank
Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
, and Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
, all of whom he collaborated with at some point. He is married to photographer Lynn Davis
Lynn Davis
Lynn Davis is an American photographer known for her large-scale black-and-white photographs which are widely collected publicly and privately and are internationally exhibited.- Biography :...
and splits his time between homes in upstate New York and Nova Scotia.
Novels
Wurlitzer's first novel was the highly experimental and psychedelic Nog (1969) which was compared to the work of Thomas PynchonThomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
. It was followed by the minimalist and Beckett influenced Flats in 1970. Quake, published in 1974, takes place in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles where mankind’s worst impulses are acted out in one long, unbroken narrative. 1984's Slow Fade, also dealing with Hollywood, is a portrait of an aging, once-brilliant film director attempting to make peace with his demons and his past. It has been suggested that Slow Fade was influenced by Wurlitzer's time with director Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
on the set of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, for which he wrote the screenplay. His most recent novel is The Drop Edge Of Yonder, which had its origins in a screenplay called Zebulon that had existed in various versions over the years. Directors Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
, Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby was an American film director and film editor.-Birth and early years:Born William Hal Ashby in Ogden, Utah, Ashby grew up in a Mormon household and had a tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family which included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide and his...
, and Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
where all attached to the project at some point, but the film was never made. Jarmusch's film Dead Man
Dead Man
Dead Man is a 1995 American Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, and Robert Mitchum . The film, dubbed an "Acid Western" by its director, includes twisted...
is highly indebted to Wurlitzer's script, as several important themes were, in effect, lifted from Zebulon. Wurlitzer's novels explore the themes of identity, spirituality, and the frontier as epitomized by the old west, as well as the internal frontier of the mind.
Screenplays & Other Work
Wurlitzer's first script Glen and RandaGlen and Randa
Glen and Randa is a 1971 rated X post-apocalypse movie directed by Jim McBride. It was co-written by McBride, Lorenzo Mans and Rudy Wurlitzer...
, co-written with Jim McBride
Jim McBride
Jim McBride is an American television and film director, film producer and screenwriter.-Filmography:* David Holzman's Diary * My Girlfriend's Wedding...
and released in 1969, was another take on a post-apocalyptic world. At some point, Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
, who had been directing films for Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
read Wurlitzer's novel Nog and approached him about writing the screenplay for Two-Lane Blacktop
Two-Lane Blacktop
Two-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 road movie directed by Monte Hellman, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. Esquire magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971, and even published the entire screenplay in its April, 1971...
. The film became a cult-classic, and the script was printed in its entirety in the April 1971 issue of Esquire
Esquire
Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...
. During his time in Hollywood, Wurlitzer also wrote the screenplays Walker
Walker (film)
Walker is a 1987 Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox. The film based on the life story of William Walker , the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also...
(directed by Alex Cox
Alex Cox
Alexander Cox is a British film director, screenwriter, nonfiction author and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts...
), 1987, Candy Mountain
Candy Mountain
-Plot:Julius is a struggling musician who sets off to find Elmore Silk in order to strike a deal with him and become famous. Along his search, he meets various people who have encountered Elmore, and can give him valuable insight into what kind of man Elmore is...
which he co-directed with Robert Frank
Robert Frank
Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
, 1988, and Little Buddha
Little Buddha
Little Buddha is a 1994 feature film by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Bridget Fonda and Keanu Reeves. Made by Bertolucci's regular partner, British producer Jeremy Thomas, it marked the team's return to the East after The Last Emperor....
(directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
), 1993. Wurlitzer was working on a script with Michelangelo Antonioni at the time of Antonioni's death.
He wrote the libretto for Philip Glass' opera In The Penal Colony, and has also written four TV scripts for 100 Centre Street
100 Centre Street
100 Centre Street is an American legal drama created by Sidney Lumet and starring Alan Arkin.-Premise:The show takes its name for the street address of the criminal division of the New York Supreme Court for New York County. The show aired in the United States on the A&E Network cable television...
, directed by Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
.
Filmography
Among his many screenplays are:- Glen and RandaGlen and RandaGlen and Randa is a 1971 rated X post-apocalypse movie directed by Jim McBride. It was co-written by McBride, Lorenzo Mans and Rudy Wurlitzer...
(co-written with Jim McBrideJim McBrideJim McBride is an American television and film director, film producer and screenwriter.-Filmography:* David Holzman's Diary * My Girlfriend's Wedding...
), 1969 - Two-Lane BlacktopTwo-Lane BlacktopTwo-Lane Blacktop is a 1971 road movie directed by Monte Hellman, starring singer-songwriter James Taylor, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. Esquire magazine declared the film its movie of the year for 1971, and even published the entire screenplay in its April, 1971...
(directed by Monte HellmanMonte HellmanMonte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
), 1971 - Pat Garrett and Billy the KidPat Garrett and Billy the KidPat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a 1973 Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson. Co-star Bob Dylan composed multiple songs for the movie's score and the album Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid was released the same year.The film was noted for...
(directed by Sam PeckinpahSam PeckinpahDavid Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
), 1973 - WalkerWalker (film)Walker is a 1987 Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox. The film based on the life story of William Walker , the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also...
(directed by Alex CoxAlex CoxAlexander Cox is a British film director, screenwriter, nonfiction author and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts...
), 1987 - Candy MountainCandy Mountain-Plot:Julius is a struggling musician who sets off to find Elmore Silk in order to strike a deal with him and become famous. Along his search, he meets various people who have encountered Elmore, and can give him valuable insight into what kind of man Elmore is...
(co-directed with Robert FrankRobert FrankRobert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
), 1988 - Homo Faber (aka Voyager) (directed by Volker SchlöndorffVolker SchlöndorffVolker Schlöndorff is a Berlin-based German filmmaker who has worked in Germany, France and the United States...
), 1991 - WindWind (film)Wind is a film released in 1992. The movie was directed by Carroll Ballard and starred Matthew Modine, Jennifer Grey, and Cliff Robertson.- Plot summary :...
(directed by Carroll BallardCarroll Ballard-Biography:Carroll Ballard started out making documentaries for the U.S. Information Agency, Beyond This Winter's Wheat and Harvest ; the latter was nominated for an Academy Award...
), 1992 - Little BuddhaLittle BuddhaLittle Buddha is a 1994 feature film by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Bridget Fonda and Keanu Reeves. Made by Bertolucci's regular partner, British producer Jeremy Thomas, it marked the team's return to the East after The Last Emperor....
(directed by Bernardo BertolucciBernardo BertolucciBernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
), 1993
Publications
- NogNogNog, played by Aron Eisenberg, is a recurring character on the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He becomes the first Ferengi to join Starfleet...
, published 1969 by Random House; reissued in 2009 by Two Dollar Radio - Flats, published 1971 by Random House, reissued in 2009 by Two Dollar Radio
- Quake, published 1974 by E. P. Dutton, reissued in 2009 by Two Dollar Radio
- Slow Fade, published 1984 by Alfred A. Knopf, reissued in 2011 by Drag CityDrag CityDrag City may refer to:*"Drag City" , a 1963 song from Jan & Dean's album of the same name*Drag City , an indie record label...
- The Drop Edge of Yonder, published 2008 by Two Dollar Radio
External links
- Official site of Rudy Wurlitzer
- Official site for Wurlitzer's latest novel
- Vertigo magazine interview
- Conversing with Rudy Wurlitzer: A Beaten-Up Old Scribbler, Pop Matters
- Rudy Wurlitzer, Bob Dylan, Bloody Sam, and the Jornado del Muerto, Pop Matters
- Scott McClanahan Interviews Rudolph Wurlitzer, Ain't It Cool News