Paul Bartel | |
|---|---|
 An undated photo of Bartel | |
| Born | (1938-08-06)August 6, 1938 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | May 13, 2000(2000-05-13) (aged 61) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, director, writer |
| Years active | 1968–2000 |
Paul Bartel (August 6, 1938 – May 13, 2000) was an American actor, writer and director. He was perhaps most known for his 1982 hitblack comedyEating Raoul, which he co-wrote, starred in and directed.
Bartel appeared in over 90 movies and TV episodes, including such titles asEat My Dust! (1976),Hollywood Boulevard (1976),Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979),Get Crazy (1983),Chopping Mall (1986), andAmazon Women on the Moon (1987). He frequently co-starred with friend and former Warhol girlMary Woronov; the pair appeared in 17 films together, often as husband and wife.
Bartel also directed 11 low-budget films, many of which he also acted in or wrote. He started in 1968 with the shortThe Secret Cinema, a paranoid delusional fantasy of self-referential cinema. He graduated to features in 1972 with the horror-comedyPrivate Parts. He would go on to direct such cult films asDeath Race 2000 (1975),Eating Raoul (1982),Lust in the Dust (1985) andScenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989).
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Bartel studied film and theatre atUCLA, and spent a year on aFulbright scholarship at the Centro Sperimentale film school in Rome, before returning to the US. He fulfilled his military service by talking his way into theU.S. ArmySignal Corps Pictorial Center inLong Island City and later made films for theUnited States Information Agency.[1]
Bartel's first films were made in high school, primarily abstract and animated 16mm shorts, including titles such asCinema Experimental (1954),Non Objective Film (1956),Margaret Whiting Sings "The Money Tree" (1956), andCamel Rock (1957). After making the 35mm short Italian-language filmProgetti (1962) while attending the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, Bartel producedThe Secret Cinema (1966). Shot on an extremely low budget in 35mm and with his own money,[2]The Secret Cinema was the film that began his reputation as a new and unusual independent voice in narrative cinema.
He followed it with another short he wrote and directed,Naughty Nurse (1969). He co-wrote the featureUtterly Without Redeeming Social Value (1969), also starring in the lead. He worked as an actor only inHi, Mom! (1970) directed byBrian De Palma.
Bartel's first feature as director wasPrivate Parts (1972), a comedy horror film forMGM. It was produced byGene Corman and Bartel was in the cast.
Gene Corman's brother,Roger, ran a production company,New World Pictures, and hired Bartel to be second unit director onBig Bad Mama (1974), an action film. Bartel also played a small role.
Roger Corman gave Bartel the job of directingDeath Race 2000 (1975), a satirical action comedy starringDavid Carradine,Sylvester Stallone andMary Woronov. Bartel also played a small role. The film was a huge success at the box office and quickly established itself as a cult favorite.
Corman promptly offered Bartel the chance to direct a similar action film with Carradine for New World,Cannonball (1976). Bartel also worked on the script. The film is littered with cameos from people such asJoe Dante andMartin Scorsese. Bartel later said he worked for a year onDeath Race 2000 for $5,000 "so when it was finished I desperately needed money. The only thing anybody wanted from me was another car picture, henceCannonball. Corman had drummed into me the idea that ifDeath Race had been "harder" and "more real" it would have been more popular. Like a fool, I believed him. I am not, and never have been, very much interested in cars and racing" so he decided to load up the film with "cameos and character gimmicks that did interest me."[2]
Bartel was in much demand from other directors at New World to play small parts in their pictures: he appeared inEat My Dust! (1976) forCharles B. Griffith,Hollywood Boulevard (1976) forJoe Dante andAlan Arkush (quite a large role, as a director, which Bartel credited for really kicking off his acting career[2]),Mr Billions (1977) forJonathan Kaplan (not a New World film but Bartel met Kaplan at the company),Grand Theft Auto (1977) forRon Howard,Piranha (1978) for Dante, andRock 'n' Roll High School (1979) for Arkush. Outside New World he appeared inThe Hustler of Muscle Beach (1980) for Kaplan andHeartbeeps (1981) for Arkush.
Bartel wrote a script with Richard Blackburn,Eating Raoul (1982). Bartel managed to raise the finance and starred in the film along with Woronov. Made for $230,000 (raised by himself and his parents) it was a hit on the art house circuit, grossing $10 million, and became a cult movie.
Bartel had small roles inWhite Dog (1982), directed bySam Fuller and produced by New World alumniJon Davison,Trick or Treats (1982),Heart Like a Wheel (1983) for Kaplan, andGet Crazy (1983) for Arkush.
The success ofEating Raoul enabled Bartel to raise $3 million in finance (ten times the budget ofRaoul) for a screwball comedy he had co written and wanted to direct,Not for Publication (1984). It was a box-office disaster.[3][4] More successful wasLust in the Dust (1985) starringTab Hunter andDivine.
Bartel continued to be in demand as an actor, appearing inFrankenweenie (1984), a short forTim Burton,Into the Night (1985) forJohn Landis,European Vacation (1985) forAmy Heckerling, andSesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985).
Bartel directedThe Longshot (1986) based on a script byTim Conway who starred. Bartel said he was a "director for hire" on the project. "My sensibility was on some level antipathetic to what Tim Conway wanted. I was trying to find interesting things under the surface, and he just wanted more surface."[5]
He appeared in an episode ofFame directed by Arkush, and reprised hisRaoul character inChopping Mall (1986) forJim Wynorski produced byJulie Corman (Wynorski says Bartel and Woronov adlibbed their roles[6]). He appeared in "The Jar", an episode ofAlfred Hitchcock Presents directed by Burton, as well as the filmKiller Party (1986).
He directed two episodes ofAmazing Stories, both from his own scripts, both featuring him as an actor: "Secret Cinema" (a remake of his short film of the same name) and "Gershwin's Trunk".
He had roles inMunchies (1987) (produced by Roger Corman),Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) (in a segment directed by Dante), an episode ofCrime Story,Baja Oklahoma (1988), andShakedown (1988).
Bartel co wrote but did not directMortuary Academy (1988); he and Woronov also played small roles. He was an executive producer onOut of the Dark (1988), in which he had a small role. He had a role inCaddyshack II (1988) directed by Arkush.[7]
Bartel directedScenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), based on a story of his.[8]
He wrote a sequel toEating Raoul calledBland Ambition, where Paul and Mary wind up running for Governor of California.[5] It was about 10 days from the start of filming whenVestron withdrew its financial backing.[5]
Bartel appeared inPucker Up and Bark Like a Dog (1989),Far Out Man (1990),Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) (for Dante),Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective (1990), an episodeL.A. Law directed by Arkush,Liquid Dreams (1991), andDesire and Hell at Sunset Motel (1991).
Bartel had a large supporting role inThe Pope Must Diet (1991), directed byPeter Richardson ofThe Comic Strip, and was inThe Living End (1992) fromGregg Araki,Soulmates (1992), andPosse (1993).
A musical adaptation ofEating Raoul premiered off Broadway in 1992.[9]
Bartel appeared in some episodes ofThe Comic Strip Presents..., even directing one ("Demonella"). He was inActing on Impulse,Tales of the City andGrief (1993).
Bartel's last feature as director wasShelf Life (1993). Based on a play and done for a low budget, it struggled to find distribution.[10]
Bartel appeared inTwin Sitters (1993),The Usual Suspects (1995), andThe Jerky Boys (1995). He had a rare star role inThe Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley (1995) but was normally seen in minor parts:Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge (1995),Not Like Us (1995) for Corman's new companyConcorde Pictures,A Bucket of Blood (1995) also for Concorde,Number One Fan (1995),Red Ribbon Blues (1996),Joe's Apartment (1996),Escape from L.A. (1996), andBasquiat (1996).
He directed 2 episodes ofClueless, "We Shall Overpack" and "Cher Inc". He also appeared in both.
He was inPrey of the Jaguar (1996),The Elevator (1996),Lewis & Clark & George (1997),Boston Common,Skeletons (1997),The Inheritance (1997),Chicago Hope,The Devil's Child (1997),Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998),More Tales of the City,Race,Vengeance Unlimited,Dreamers,Hard Time: The Premonition, episodes ofAlly McBeal andSnoops directed by Arkush,Good vs Evil,Zoo (1999),Hamlet (2000),Dinner and a Movie (2001) andPerfect Fit (2001).[11]
Bartel was openly gay; this influenced his career choice, as he found himself more accepted and afforded more opportunities within the independent film industry than he would have in Hollywood.[12]
In 1979, he was a member of the jury at the29th Berlin International Film Festival.[13]
Bartel died May 13, 2000, of a heart attack two weeks afterliver cancer surgery; he was 61 years old. His final screen appearance was a posthumous role as "Dad" alongsideMary Woronov ("Mom") in the 2001 independent filmPerfect Fit.
The Belgian horror movieCalvaire paid a tribute to the late Bartel – the mad innkeeper character is named "Paul Bartel".
Two of Bartel's early directorial efforts,Progetti andThe Secret Cinema, were restored by theAcademy Film Archive.[14]
