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Harvard, Hollywood, Hitmen, and Holy Men: A Memoir
The movie director Paul Williams is a real-life Forrest Gump. Williams' experiences form a unique and often wild constellation of encounters with star power, political power, and spiritual power—a life cycle that led to fame and fortune and to integrity and anonymity.
In a mad childhood created by an autocratic English teacher father and an infantilizing mother, he develops a precocious visual acuity to avoid wallops and a writing ability that mollified his father. This skill set wins him a scholarship to Harvard, where he needs to learn how the Wisemen think. He seeks out tutors who reveal themselves: Kissinger, Skinner, Galbraith, Erikson, Alpert, Leary, the Hubleys and Jean Renoir. Howard Gardner is his roommate and Michael Crichton is an editor friend on the college daily, The Crimson. After months, his lover reveals she is the heiress of a great American fortune.
A member of the inner circle of the "Movie Brats" who led the charge of American New Wave cinema in the 1970s, Williams' idiosyncrasies make him a darling of the era. His stories about his pals—Scorsese, Voight, Christie, DePalma, Coppola, Dreyfuss, Spielberg, De Niro, Lucas—shed new light on a world bursting with creativity and possibility. He helps Terrence Malick make his first film, tries to adjust to the tyranny of the fabulously wealthy, and turns down the offer to direct the smash hits Animal House and Stepford Wives, and to partner on a new Parisian restaurant—The Hard Rock Cafe; and turns down Lorne Michaels' offer to help him create Saturday Night Live. With amazing honesty, Williams recounts the unexpected details of making his own seminal cult classics, Out of It (1969), The Revolutionary (1970) and Dealing (1972). And his adventures with Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver in Algiers, Fidel Castro in Havana, Huey P. Newton in Oakland, and Pope John Paul II in Vatican City.
Harvard, Hollywood, Hitmen and Holy Men is an extraordinary odyssey—large, experimental, fearlessly audacious and eventually self-knowing. Through his anecdotes, shocking and delightful in their humor and authenticity, Williams takes readers on his unique journey to answer life's big questions—with aides Mescalito (the Peyote guide), Ichazo (the Gurdjieffian Sufi master), and Dilgo Khyentse (the current Dali Lama's principal teacher), and finally, Vivian (a transcendent love).
In a mad childhood created by an autocratic English teacher father and an infantilizing mother, he develops a precocious visual acuity to avoid wallops and a writing ability that mollified his father. This skill set wins him a scholarship to Harvard, where he needs to learn how the Wisemen think. He seeks out tutors who reveal themselves: Kissinger, Skinner, Galbraith, Erikson, Alpert, Leary, the Hubleys and Jean Renoir. Howard Gardner is his roommate and Michael Crichton is an editor friend on the college daily, The Crimson. After months, his lover reveals she is the heiress of a great American fortune.
A member of the inner circle of the "Movie Brats" who led the charge of American New Wave cinema in the 1970s, Williams' idiosyncrasies make him a darling of the era. His stories about his pals—Scorsese, Voight, Christie, DePalma, Coppola, Dreyfuss, Spielberg, De Niro, Lucas—shed new light on a world bursting with creativity and possibility. He helps Terrence Malick make his first film, tries to adjust to the tyranny of the fabulously wealthy, and turns down the offer to direct the smash hits Animal House and Stepford Wives, and to partner on a new Parisian restaurant—The Hard Rock Cafe; and turns down Lorne Michaels' offer to help him create Saturday Night Live. With amazing honesty, Williams recounts the unexpected details of making his own seminal cult classics, Out of It (1969), The Revolutionary (1970) and Dealing (1972). And his adventures with Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver in Algiers, Fidel Castro in Havana, Huey P. Newton in Oakland, and Pope John Paul II in Vatican City.
Harvard, Hollywood, Hitmen and Holy Men is an extraordinary odyssey—large, experimental, fearlessly audacious and eventually self-knowing. Through his anecdotes, shocking and delightful in their humor and authenticity, Williams takes readers on his unique journey to answer life's big questions—with aides Mescalito (the Peyote guide), Ichazo (the Gurdjieffian Sufi master), and Dilgo Khyentse (the current Dali Lama's principal teacher), and finally, Vivian (a transcendent love).
- GenresFilm
312 pages, Hardcover
Published February 14, 2023
44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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May 28, 2023What courage, humor, frankness! Here is a fabulous name-dropper!
Being rather close in age to the author, I can greatly appreciate his recollections of old times, scorched on my memory. For example, I listened to the Lone Ranger, only it was on radio. We were the rare War Babies, older than your Boomers. I, too, punched out a window. Only I was probably 5 years old in comparison with Mr. Williams’s 4 years. My sister had locked me out of our home, Mother was taking a nap & my anger & shouting at sister was to no avail.
About the poem mentioned “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock,” my sister had a Harvard boyfriend (debate team) who courted her by reciting that same poem in a canoe. But she, a closet bisexual, broke his heart. Same English teacher? What are Mr. Williams’s classmates reactions to his biography & what do they think of him? I would expect sympathy & understanding from those who count.
How did Mr. Williams get out of the Vietnam War draft? What crazy act did the trick? This is one of many un-answered questions I have. All the guys I knew were successfully dodged it, strenuously, at great expense or great personal cost. I remember the FBI tracking me down at work to ask if I knew the where-abouts of my draft-evading brother. The mores were a-changing & this book is an exemplar of these dramatic shifts & their psychological costs.
One of my siblings (and there were 6 of us) was caught up in the drug culture, went to San Francisco. How did all that come about? First I ever heard of marijuana was through a friend, whose boyfriend took to drugs fighting in the Vietnam War. Word’s out there was a CIA psy-op to drug the counter-culture into becoming hippies. I smoked marijuana for some years (until I married an abstainer who turned out to have far worse vices) & I tried LSD twice. The first time it was pleasant, mildly enhancing. The second & final time I experimented with LSD it could have been rat poison, gave me a headache. Of course, there was no quality control. And what are its lasting neuronal effects?
Clearly this book needs a follow-up book or a documentary either by the author or someone who puts upon it the perspective of a younger generation. This book would need to be profusely illustrated and completely indexed. Explanations are needed for younger people about the dichotomies of the time, brief explanations of current events, emphasis upon the ethical struggles of the time: racial, financial or class, sexual. For example, did non-committal men result in women’s Lib? Mr. Williams lightly touches his apparent break with trad Jew/ancestral beliefs. What was he thinking? Many of our generation were led to escape cognitive dissonance, conflict between ideals & reality, through drugs. Culture seemed rigid, black & white, reified & there seemed to be no escape.
By the way, I know one of Mr. Williams’s old girlfriends, clearly characterized. I assume she was a good influence on him. I was thrilled to see her name-dropped.
Unfortunately, I have never seen his movies. Mr. Williams, please have a retrospective movie showing in New Orleans! There is an annual big film festival here. Anyhow, I rapidly skimmed over the movie-directing parts of the book, about half of the book, because these technical aspects do not interest me. I realize the book was published as part of a series on movie directors, so this emphasis is natural. Other than that, I relished a slow reading of the book, especially Mr. Williams’s youth and years at Harvard College.
For some reason, it is hard for me to write this book review. Can’t be summarized. The book is a very mixed bag. Mr. Williams has an exquisite sense of irony, yes, humor! I know the zeitgeist, origins of his rebellious behavior, & know his name-dropping is always in context, appropriate, and these folk were very influential. Mr. Williams took great risk in writing honestly about a lot of people. Some might be embarrassed, or maybe decadence has left them enfeebled.
About Mr. Williams heiress marriage: a lot of this is hard for me to comprehend. Did extreme wealth somehow un-moor Mr. Williams anchor of morality, or affix it more deeply? I understand his involvement with the Black Panthers. In 1971 I visited them at their fund-raising breakfast to feed poor children in the New Orleans ghetto. They were at the time rebelling against over-policing of the ghetto. By the way, my mother was a Yankee.
About the encounter with Fidel Castro: I would like to have had more than a couple of paragraphs about this. I’d like the historic context & significance of Cuba then. Newspaper articles could provide perspective in a follow-up documentary or 2nd book. I remember in junior high how my Spanish teacher valorized the heroic Fidel in his victory over the corrupt Batista.
When my military officer father caught wind of this, he had me invite said teacher over for supper, invitation accepted & Mr. Sachs choked over supper as father harangued him. I learned early to see through propaganda & its purpose. I had lived in Colombia & Father referred to Presidente Rojas-Pinilla as “our" dictator. Under certain circumstances, one becomes circumspect about international relations that are far deeper than a class conflict.
So read this book! But be prepared to skip over the arduous drug scenes & numerous yukky folk. Is this like the Damon Runyon of theater? I wouldn’t know. I’d like more attention to be given Mr. Williams investigation of assorted spiritual practices. What has been the long-term effect of Mr. Williams’s movies on culture & how have they changed it?
Posterity will thank Mr. Williams for his reveal-all! Or partial reveal-all: more details needed.
p.s. also I liked the appendix of lessons-learned
Being rather close in age to the author, I can greatly appreciate his recollections of old times, scorched on my memory. For example, I listened to the Lone Ranger, only it was on radio. We were the rare War Babies, older than your Boomers. I, too, punched out a window. Only I was probably 5 years old in comparison with Mr. Williams’s 4 years. My sister had locked me out of our home, Mother was taking a nap & my anger & shouting at sister was to no avail.
About the poem mentioned “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock,” my sister had a Harvard boyfriend (debate team) who courted her by reciting that same poem in a canoe. But she, a closet bisexual, broke his heart. Same English teacher? What are Mr. Williams’s classmates reactions to his biography & what do they think of him? I would expect sympathy & understanding from those who count.
How did Mr. Williams get out of the Vietnam War draft? What crazy act did the trick? This is one of many un-answered questions I have. All the guys I knew were successfully dodged it, strenuously, at great expense or great personal cost. I remember the FBI tracking me down at work to ask if I knew the where-abouts of my draft-evading brother. The mores were a-changing & this book is an exemplar of these dramatic shifts & their psychological costs.
One of my siblings (and there were 6 of us) was caught up in the drug culture, went to San Francisco. How did all that come about? First I ever heard of marijuana was through a friend, whose boyfriend took to drugs fighting in the Vietnam War. Word’s out there was a CIA psy-op to drug the counter-culture into becoming hippies. I smoked marijuana for some years (until I married an abstainer who turned out to have far worse vices) & I tried LSD twice. The first time it was pleasant, mildly enhancing. The second & final time I experimented with LSD it could have been rat poison, gave me a headache. Of course, there was no quality control. And what are its lasting neuronal effects?
Clearly this book needs a follow-up book or a documentary either by the author or someone who puts upon it the perspective of a younger generation. This book would need to be profusely illustrated and completely indexed. Explanations are needed for younger people about the dichotomies of the time, brief explanations of current events, emphasis upon the ethical struggles of the time: racial, financial or class, sexual. For example, did non-committal men result in women’s Lib? Mr. Williams lightly touches his apparent break with trad Jew/ancestral beliefs. What was he thinking? Many of our generation were led to escape cognitive dissonance, conflict between ideals & reality, through drugs. Culture seemed rigid, black & white, reified & there seemed to be no escape.
By the way, I know one of Mr. Williams’s old girlfriends, clearly characterized. I assume she was a good influence on him. I was thrilled to see her name-dropped.
Unfortunately, I have never seen his movies. Mr. Williams, please have a retrospective movie showing in New Orleans! There is an annual big film festival here. Anyhow, I rapidly skimmed over the movie-directing parts of the book, about half of the book, because these technical aspects do not interest me. I realize the book was published as part of a series on movie directors, so this emphasis is natural. Other than that, I relished a slow reading of the book, especially Mr. Williams’s youth and years at Harvard College.
For some reason, it is hard for me to write this book review. Can’t be summarized. The book is a very mixed bag. Mr. Williams has an exquisite sense of irony, yes, humor! I know the zeitgeist, origins of his rebellious behavior, & know his name-dropping is always in context, appropriate, and these folk were very influential. Mr. Williams took great risk in writing honestly about a lot of people. Some might be embarrassed, or maybe decadence has left them enfeebled.
About Mr. Williams heiress marriage: a lot of this is hard for me to comprehend. Did extreme wealth somehow un-moor Mr. Williams anchor of morality, or affix it more deeply? I understand his involvement with the Black Panthers. In 1971 I visited them at their fund-raising breakfast to feed poor children in the New Orleans ghetto. They were at the time rebelling against over-policing of the ghetto. By the way, my mother was a Yankee.
About the encounter with Fidel Castro: I would like to have had more than a couple of paragraphs about this. I’d like the historic context & significance of Cuba then. Newspaper articles could provide perspective in a follow-up documentary or 2nd book. I remember in junior high how my Spanish teacher valorized the heroic Fidel in his victory over the corrupt Batista.
When my military officer father caught wind of this, he had me invite said teacher over for supper, invitation accepted & Mr. Sachs choked over supper as father harangued him. I learned early to see through propaganda & its purpose. I had lived in Colombia & Father referred to Presidente Rojas-Pinilla as “our" dictator. Under certain circumstances, one becomes circumspect about international relations that are far deeper than a class conflict.
So read this book! But be prepared to skip over the arduous drug scenes & numerous yukky folk. Is this like the Damon Runyon of theater? I wouldn’t know. I’d like more attention to be given Mr. Williams investigation of assorted spiritual practices. What has been the long-term effect of Mr. Williams’s movies on culture & how have they changed it?
Posterity will thank Mr. Williams for his reveal-all! Or partial reveal-all: more details needed.
p.s. also I liked the appendix of lessons-learned
April 10, 2023
I’ve been reading the Cassavettes book for almost 4 months but I read this in like 3 sittings. Last summer I told my gf I was going to write my memoir but instead I started to write a screenplay. I finished it 6 months later. After we broke up. Now I’m tired of thinking about the movie and want to write a memoir again. But I haven’t really done anything. So I should probably make the movie first. Shes special and will probably be famous like all the women paul falls in love with and then abandons. i felt very comfortable talking to him and think we have similar new york eastern europe jew trickling that made it that way. I need to be more optimistic if I want to accomplish anything and i really need to start chronicling my thoughts.
i felt inspired by this book and the way he lived
i felt inspired by this book and the way he lived
June 4, 2025
I didn't really know who Williams is when I started the book. In fact, I thought he was a different Paul Williams, but it turned out to be a fortuitous error on my part. The book was less about New Hollywood (although that part had drawn me to it in the first place) and more about an all-round spiritual experience with some Hollywood (and the other H's from the title) through in. Lots of drugs too.
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July 29, 2023“I say, ‘I didn’t become anything.’
She says, ‘You became everything.’”
Shocking that this is a single man’s life. Paul Williams’ story is labeled in descriptions for this book as “the real life Forrest Gump.” I understand the comparison, but Williams’ life is more interesting, and he never made a film as terrible as Forrest Gump.
She says, ‘You became everything.’”
Shocking that this is a single man’s life. Paul Williams’ story is labeled in descriptions for this book as “the real life Forrest Gump.” I understand the comparison, but Williams’ life is more interesting, and he never made a film as terrible as Forrest Gump.
February 3, 2023
Amazing read. So many stories and so stylishly done.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews