Gus Van Sant: An Unauthorized Biography

by James Robert Parish

Enigmatic, retiring, and openly gay, Gus Van Sant is one of the best-known independent filmmakers. An active and honored director for two decades, noted for his rapport with actors, Van Sant nevertheless remains aloof from Hollywood, preferring to live and write in Portland, OR. Extensively researched and based on interviews with the director, Gus Van Sant examines his career from the inauspicious debut Mala Noche to the haunting Drugstore Cowboy; from the angst-ridden My Own Private Idaho and the mainstream black comedy To Die For to the Oscar-nominated Good Will Hunting and the high-profile Finding Forrester. Van Sant remains committed to exploring themes of the outsider and presenting an idiosyncratic vision in an unobtrusive but compelling style. Equally important, under Van Sant's guidance many actors (Matt Dillon, River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, Nicole Kidman, Matt Damon, and acclaimed newcomer Robert Brown, whom Van Sant discovered) have done their best work. The first full-length biography of the Oscar nominated director, author Parish has interviewed Van Sant exclusively for this book.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2001

About the author

James Robert Parish, a former entertainment reporter, publicist, and book series editor, is the author of many published major biographies and reference books on the entertainment industry including Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You; The Hollywood Book of Extravagance; It’s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks; The Hollywood Book of Breakups; Fiascos: Hollywood’s Iconic Flops; The Hollywood Book of Love; Jet Li; The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood; The Hollywood Book of Death; Gus Van Sant; Whoopi Goldberg; Rosie O’Donnell’s Story; The Unofficial “Murder, She Wrote” Casebook; Today’s Black Hollywood; Let’s Talk! America’s Favorite TV Talk Show Hosts; Prison Pictures from Hollywood; Prostitution in Hollywood Films; The Great Cop Pictures; Ghosts and Angels in Hollywood Films; Pirates and Seafaring Swashbucklers on the Hollywood Screen; Gays and Lesbians in Mainstream Cinema; Hollywood’s Great Love Teams; and The Fox Girls. Mr. Parish is a frequent oncamera interviewee on cable and network TV for documentaries on the performing arts. The author resides in Studio City, California.