The Sexiest Man Alive
A Biography of Warren Beatty
By Ellis Amburn

       Warren Beatty's brooding face on the cover of Ellis Amburn's biography/film history opus reminds one of actor Jerry Orbach, and indeed, there is a resemblance between the Beatty in the book and Orbach's gay-blade debonair Lumiere in "Beauty and the Beast" (the only animated film ever nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture). Beatty has none of Orbach's workhorse credentials; to wit, the recurring role of Det. Lennie Briscoe on "Law & Order."

      However, Beatty has achieved an iconic status that seems reserved for Hollywood rebels without a cause. Certainly, like Kevin Costner, his output has been eclectic and iconoclastic. Amburn makes the point that Beatty, like a Don Juan Forrest Gump, inserted himself into the tumult of the New Hollywood era, the era of Pacino, Nicholson, and Roman Polanski. The insight into politics and into actors entering politics, seems particularly timely in the wake of Hollywood protests against the Iraq war and Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful gubernatorial run.

      Schwarzenegger is one of the many names and figures striking bold poses, vogueing like Beatty conquest Madonna, in Ellis Amburn's chronology of not only a swinging life in Hollywood but the times in which Beatty the artist, Beatty the brother of Shirley Maclaine, Beatty the lover, Beatty "Bulworth" the campaigner, and finally Beatty the doting husband of Annette Bening. Amburn's book reads like a "Beatty's Complaint" crossed with 1001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES, mixed in with Scott Thorson's LIFE WITH LIBERACE, which portrays a hypersexual performer who never quite grew up (though unlike Beatty, Liberace had little to do with politics or social issues).

      Never content to name-drop, Amburn skillfully probes, with love, exasperation, a certain detachment, and fascination, the inner life of an aging Lothario whose film career has been as mercurial as his love life. Indeed, Beatty's lasting achievements, "Reds," "Shampoo," and "Bonnie and Clyde," parallel his most lasting relationships, specifically with Julie Christie and Annette Bening, as well as his male friendships, specifically with Jack Nicholson (his relationships with gay filmmakers make an intriguing twist.) While Jerry Orbach's career may be a bright Lumiere, Beatty's wild flickering flame still compels.