Winchell (film)

Last updated
Winchell
Based onWinchell, His Life and Times
by Herman Klurfeld
Written by Scott Abbott
Directed by Paul Mazursky
Starring
Composer Bill Conti
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producer Robert N. Fried
ProducerStan Wlodkowski
Cinematography Robbie Greenberg
EditorStuart H. Pappé
Running time108 minutes
Production companyFried Films
Original release
Network HBO
ReleaseNovember 21, 1998 (1998-11-21)

Winchell is a 1998 American biographical drama television film directed by Paul Mazursky and written by Scott Abbott, based on the 1976 book Winchell, His Life and Times by Herman Klurfeld. It stars Stanley Tucci as Walter Winchell, with Glenne Headly, Paul Giamatti, Xander Berkeley, Kevin Tighe, and Christopher Plummer in supporting roles.

Contents

The film won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Tucci, who also received a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his performance.

Premise

The film follows Walter Winchell from his early days as a tabloid gossip columnist to his rise as he takes on the United States' most powerful propagandist. [1] [2]

Cast

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryRecipient(s)Result
1999 13th American Society of Cinematographers Awards Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Movies of the Week, Pilots or Miniseries Robbie Greenberg Won
3rd Art Directors Guild Awards Excellence in Production Design for a Television Movie or Mini-Series Marcia Hinds
Bo Johnson
Nominated
15th Artios Awards Best Casting for TV Movie of the WeekJuel BestropNominated
6th Cinema Audio Society Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television – Movie of the Week, Mini-Series or Specials Richard Van Dyke
Dan Hiland
Gary D. Rogers
Nominated
1st Costume Designers Guild Awards Excellence in Costume Design for TelevisionHope HanafinNominated
56th Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Stanley Tucci Won
51st Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Won
Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie Cindy Coburn
Marcia Hinds
Bo Johnson
Nominated
Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or Movie Juel BestropWon
Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie Robbie Greenberg Won
5th Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Stanley Tucci Nominated

Notes

  1. A fictionalized version of Winchell's confidante Texas Guinan.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Spacey</span> American actor (born 1959)

Kevin Spacey Fowler is an American actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two Laurence Olivier Awards. Spacey was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Giamatti</span> American actor (born 1967)

Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Winchell</span> American gossip columnist (1897–1972)

Walter Winchell was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and columnist for New York tabloids. He rose to national celebrity in the 1930s with Hearst newspaper chain syndication and a popular radio program. He was known for an innovative style of gossipy staccato news briefs, jokes, and Jazz Age slang. Biographer Neal Gabler claimed that his popularity and influence "turned journalism into a form of entertainment".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Plummer</span> Canadian actor (1929–2021)

Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making him the only Canadian recipient of the "Triple Crown of Acting". He also received a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Mazursky</span> American director, screenwriter, and actor (1930-2014)

Irwin Lawrence "Paul" Mazursky was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Known for his dramatic comedies that often dealt with modern social issues, he was nominated for five Academy Awards for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), An Unmarried Woman (1978), Harry and Tonto (1974), and Enemies, A Love Story (1989). He is also known for directing such films as Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Moon over Parador (1988), and Scenes from a Mall (1991).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Tucci</span> American actor (born 1960)

Stanley Oliver Tucci Jr. is an American actor. Known as a character actor, he has played a wide variety of roles ranging from menacing to sophisticated. Tucci has earned numerous accolades, including six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Tony Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xander Berkeley</span> American actor (born 1955)

Alexander Harper Berkeley is an American actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His films include Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Candyman (1992), Barb Wire (1996), Air Force One (1997), Gattaca (1997), and Shanghai Noon (2000). He also appeared in the crime dramas L.A. Takedown (1989) and its remake Heat (1995), although he played two different characters in the two different films. On television, he headlined the Citytv psychological thriller The Booth at the End (2010–2012) and was a series regular on the Fox action drama 24 (2001–2003) and The CW action thriller Nikita (2010–2012). As a guest star, Berkeley portrayed Sheriff Thomas McAllister on the CBS drama The Mentalist (2008–2013) and Gregory on the AMC post-apocalyptic horror The Walking Dead (2016–2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenne Headly</span> American actress (1955–2017)

Glenne Aimee Headly was an American actress. She was widely known for her roles in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dick Tracy, and Mr. Holland's Opus. Headly received a Theatre World Award and four Joseph Jefferson Awards and was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Tighe</span> American actor

Kevin Tighe is an American actor who has worked in television, film, and theatre since the late 1960s. He is best known for his character, firefighter-paramedic Roy DeSoto, on the 1972-77 NBC series Emergency!

<i>Timecode</i> (2000 film) 2000 film by Mike Figgis

Timecode is a 2000 American experimental film written and directed by Mike Figgis and featuring a large ensemble cast, including Salma Hayek, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Suzy Nakamura, Kyle MacLachlan, Saffron Burrows, Holly Hunter, Julian Sands, Xander Berkeley, Leslie Mann and Mía Maestro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie</span> Award given by the Screen Actors Guild

The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest acting achievements in Miniseries or Television Movie.

<i>Billy Bathgate</i> (film) 1991 film by Robert Benton

Billy Bathgate is a 1991 American biographical gangster film directed by Robert Benton, starring Loren Dean as the title character and Dustin Hoffman as real-life gangster Dutch Schultz. The film co-stars Nicole Kidman, Steven Hill, Steve Buscemi and Bruce Willis. Although Billy is a fictional character, at least four of the other characters in the film were real people. The screenplay was adapted by British writer Tom Stoppard from E.L. Doctorow's 1989 novel of the same name. Doctorow distanced himself from the film for the extensive deviations from the book. It received negative reviews and was a box-office bomb, grossing a mere $15.5 million against its $48 million budget.

<i>What Just Happened</i> (2008 film) 2008 American film

What Just Happened is a 2008 American satirical comedy-drama directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert De Niro. The supporting cast includes Catherine Keener, Robin Wright Penn, Stanley Tucci, Moon Bloodgood, John Turturro, Sean Penn, Michael Wincott, and Bruce Willis. It is an independent film, produced by 2929 Productions, Art Linson Productions and Tribeca Productions, and it was released on October 17, 2008.

<i>Next Stop, Greenwich Village</i> 1976 film by Paul Mazursky

Next Stop, Greenwich Village is a 1976 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky, featuring Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Lois Smith, and Christopher Walken.

The Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast is one of the annual film awards given by the Boston Society of Film Critics.

<i>The Last Station</i> 2009 English-language German biographical film

The Last Station is a 2009 English-language German biographical drama film written and directed by Michael Hoffman, and based on Jay Parini's 1990 biographical novel of the same name, which chronicled the final months of Leo Tolstoy's life. The film stars Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife Sofya Tolstaya. The film is about the battle between Sofya and his disciple Vladimir Chertkov for his legacy and the copyright of his works. The film premiered at the 2009 Telluride Film Festival.

<i>All the Money in the World</i> 2017 biographical crime thriller film by Ridley Scott

All the Money in the World is a 2017 biographical crime thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa. Based on John Pearson's 1995 book Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty, it depicts the events surrounding the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III and the refusal of his grandfather, the multi-billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, to cooperate with the kidnappers' extortion demands. The film stars Michelle Williams as Gail Harris Getty, John Paul Getty III's mother, Christopher Plummer as Getty, and Mark Wahlberg as Fletcher Chace, an adviser of the Getty family.

<i>Barrymore</i> (film) 2011 Canadian film

Barrymore is a 2011 Canadian drama film directed and screen adaptation by Érik Canuel based on William Luce's 1996 play of the same name. It stars Christopher Plummer reprising his Tony Award-winning role as John Barrymore.

References

  1. Goodman, Walter (November 21, 1998). "Putting Down the Big Shots While Snuggling Up". The New York Times . Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  2. Rose, Judd; Walls, Scott (December 9, 1998). "Walter Winchell, ex-big shot, resurrected on the small screen". CNN . New York. Retrieved August 20, 2012.