Synopses & Reviews
Though he never reached the lead actor status he labored so relentlessly to achieve, Warren Oates (1928–1982) is one of the most memorable and skilled character actors of the 1970s. With his rugged looks and measured demeanor, Oates crafted complex characters who were at once brazen and thoughtful, wild and subdued. Friends remember the hard-living, hard-drinking actor as kind and caring, but also sometimes as mean as a blue-eyed devil. Married four times, partial to road trips in his RV affectionately known as the “Roach Coach,” and famous for performances for directors ranging from Sam Peckinpah to Steven Spielberg, Warren Oates remained a Hollywood outsider perfectly suited to the 1960s and 1970s counterculture.
Born in the small town of Depoy in rural western Kentucky and reared in Louisville, Oates began his career in the late 1950s with bit parts in television westerns. Though hardly lucrative work, it was during this time Oates met renegade director Sam Peckinpah, establishing the creative relationship and destructive friendship that produced some of Oatess most unforgettable roles in Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), and The Wild Bunch (1969), as well as a leading part in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Though Oates maintained a close association with Peckinpah, he had a penchant for working with a variety of visionary directors who understood his approach and were eager to enlist the subtle talents of the consummate character actor. With supporting roles in In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Hired Hand (1971), Badlands (1973), 1941 (1979), and Stripes (1981), Oates delivered solid performances for filmmakers as diverse and talented as Norman Jewison, Peter Fonda, Terrence Malick, Steven Spielberg, and Ivan Reitman.
Oatess offscreen personality was just as complex as his on-screen persona. Notorious for being a nightlife reveler, he was as sensitive and introspective as he was outgoing and prone to periods of exuberant, and at times illegal, excess. Though he never became a marquee name, Warren Oates continues to influence actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Benicio Del Toro, as well as directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Richard Linklater, all of whom have cited Oates as a major inspiration. In Warren Oates: A Wild Life, author Susan Compo skillfully captures the story of Oatess eventful life, indulgent lifestyle, and influential career.
Review
"A finely drawn and deeply researched portrait of Warren Oates, set against the rich cultural and social landscape of a long-gone American and filled with a fascinating supporting cast that includes Robert Culp, Monte Hellman, Ed "Kookie" Byrnes, and Sam Peckinpah. In writing this book, Susan Compo has done for the actor what he did for so many of lifes misunderstood characters--give him depth, dignity, and importance. To paraphrase a line from Ride the High Country, one of the actors first films, Compo can enter her house justified."--Deanne Stillman, author of Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West
Review
"Susan Compo has written a garrulous and superbly readable biography of a genuine working actor--in the most honorable meaning of the term--and for that reason alone, her book will inspire anyone who believes that the love of the craft is about acting, not stardom.--Nat Segaloff, author of Hurricane Billy: The Stormy Life and Films of William Friedkin
Review
"Warren Oates: A Wild Life tells an evocative story of a true maverick set against the background of one of the richest and most fascinating periods in American cinematic history. Susan compos passion for her subject is evident on every page. She displays a rare flair for the telling detail."--Eddi Fiegel, author of John Barry: A Sixties Theme
Review
Compo seamlessly melds together quotations, analysis, and description. She discusses Oates's private and professional life, and her details on the creation of individual movies and involved personalities will appeal both to fans of the actor and to those interested in the cinema of the era.
Synopsis
Though he never quite reached the lead actor status he worked so relentlessly to achieve, Warren Oates (1928-1982) is known today as one of the most memorable and skilled character actors of the 1960s and 1970s. With his rugged looks and measured demeanor, Oates crafted complex characters that were at once brazen and thoughtful, wild and subdued. Warren Oates: A Wild Life is the first book-length look at the actor whom friends remember as a hard-living, hard-drinking man who was kind and caring, but also as mean as a blue-eyed devil.
Born in the small town of Depoy in rural western Kentucky, Oates began his career in the late 1950s with bit parts in television westerns. During this time he met infamous director Sam Peckinpah, establishing a creative relationship and destructive friendship that would spawn some of Oates’s most celebrated and unforgettable roles in films such as Ride the High Country (1962), The Wild Bunch (1969), and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Parts in Major Dundee (1965), In the Heat of the Night (1967) Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Badlands (1973), and Stripes (1981) show Oates’s penchant for working with seminal filmmakers—directors as diverse and talented as Monte Hellman, Terrence Malick, Ivan Reitman, and Steven Spielberg.With remarkable range and depth he created colorful characters onscreen even as his life offscreen was full of drama, alcohol and drugs. With an engaging style and through careful research, author Susan Compo skillfully captures the nuances of Oates’s life in the first biography of this beloved actor.
About the Author
Susan Compo is a lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. She is the author of three works of fiction, including Pretty Things and Life After Death and Other Stories.