Peter Bogdanovich, a name synonymous with cinematic brilliance and turbulent personal life, was born in Kingston, New York, though his roots were deeply embedded in Europe. His parents, Herma (Robinson) and Borislav Bogdanovich, were immigrants who fled Nazi persecution, shaping his early life with a blend of European heritage and American aspirations. Borislav was a painter and pianist, while Herma hailed from a wealthy Austrian Jewish family, and Peter was raised in a culturally rich environment. Initially drawn to acting in the 1950s, Peter Bogdanovich honed his skills under the tutelage of the renowned Stella Adler, appearing in television roles and summer stock productions. However, the early 1960s marked a turning point as he gained prominence for his film programming at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
A voracious cinephile, reportedly watching up to 400 films annually in his youth, Bogdanovich championed American directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks, whose works he meticulously showcased at MOMA. His deep dive into their filmographies led to a book on John Ford, expanding upon his MOMA retrospective notes and further solidifying his reputation as a film scholar. Peter Bogdanovich also played a crucial role in bringing to light the contributions of overlooked pioneers of American cinema, such as Allan Dwan, demonstrating his commitment to film history beyond mainstream recognition.
Inspired by the French critics of Cahiers du Cinema, particularly François Truffaut, Peter Bogdanovich transitioned from critic to director, mirroring the path of the French New Wave filmmakers. Before stepping behind the camera, he established himself as a sharp film writer with articles in Esquire Magazine. In 1968, influenced by Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, and Éric Rohmer, Bogdanovich embarked on his directorial journey. He started his directing career under the mentorship of low-budget filmmaker Roger Corman, directing Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968) (originally Planet of Storms) and Targets (1968). Targets, in particular, garnered critical acclaim and showcased Bogdanovich’s early talent.
During an interview with Orson Welles on the set of Mike Nichols’ Catch-22 (1970), Peter Bogdanovich forged a lasting friendship with the legendary director. This encounter profoundly influenced Bogdanovich’s career, leading him to become a key figure in interpreting and documenting Welles’s life and work. His book “This is Orson Welles” (1992) stands as a testament to this dedication. Bogdanovich’s contributions to cinema scholarship are further highlighted by “Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors,” a highly regarded compilation that places him alongside Kevin Brownlow as a leading English-language film historian and chronicler.
The year 1971 marked a pivotal moment in Peter Bogdanovich’s career with the release of The Last Picture Show. At just 32, he was lauded as a Wellesian prodigy by critics. The Last Picture Show received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Director for Bogdanovich, and won two Oscars for supporting actors Cloris Leachman and Ben Johnson. Beyond critical acclaim, the film also ignited a personal upheaval in Bogdanovich’s life. Casting the then 19-year-old model Cybill Shepherd, Peter Bogdanovich fell in love with her, leading to his divorce from Polly Platt, his long-time artistic collaborator and the mother of his children.
Following the success of The Last Picture Show, Peter Bogdanovich directed another hit, the screwball comedy What’s Up, Doc? (1972), starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal. Heavily inspired by Howard Hawks’ comedies like Bringing Up Baby (1938) and His Girl Friday (1940), What’s Up, Doc? solidified Bogdanovich’s position among the new wave of A-list directors, alongside Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin. Together, they formed The Directors Company, a unique production deal with Paramount Pictures that granted them creative freedom within budget constraints. Under this banner, Bogdanovich produced another critical and commercial success, Paper Moon (1973).
Paper Moon, a Depression-era comedy starring Ryan O’Neal and his then ten-year-old daughter Tatum O’Neal (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), proved to be the zenith of Peter Bogdanovich’s directorial career. However, the collaborative nature of The Directors Company, requiring profit sharing, led to Bogdanovich’s dissatisfaction. The company produced only two more films: Coppola’s critically acclaimed The Conversation (1974), nominated for Best Picture and earning Coppola a Best Director nomination, and Bogdanovich’s Daisy Miller (1974), which faced a starkly different reception.
Daisy Miller, an adaptation of the Henry James novella starring Cybill Shepherd, marked the beginning of a downturn in Peter Bogdanovich’s career as a popular and critically acclaimed director. The film was heavily criticized and failed at the box office. His next venture, At Long Last Love (1975), a Cole Porter musical also starring Shepherd, was even more disastrous. Deemed by some critics as one of the worst films ever made, it earned a place in “The Golden Turkey Awards.” Despite featuring Burt Reynolds, then a rising star, the film bombed commercially, further damaging Bogdanovich’s reputation.
Bogdanovich’s insistence on recording the musical numbers for At Long Last Love live, a technique not used since the early days of sound films, was widely mocked. None of the lead actors were known for their singing abilities, and Bogdanovich himself had produced a poorly received album of Cybill Shepherd singing Cole Porter songs prior to the film. Public perception of Peter Bogdanovich shifted towards that of an arrogant director undone by his own ego.
In an attempt to recapture his early success, Peter Bogdanovich once again looked to the past with Nickelodeon (1976), a comedy about the early days of Hollywood. Reuniting Ryan O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal from Paper Moon with Burt Reynolds, the film, however, failed to replicate the magic of his earlier hit. Advised against casting Cybill Shepherd, Bogdanovich instead introduced newcomer Jane Hitchcock, but Nickelodeon also flopped at the box office, and Hitchcock’s career was short-lived.
After a three-year hiatus, Peter Bogdanovich returned with Saint Jack (1979), a film produced by Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Productions Inc., which was also financially underwhelming. His relationship with Cybill Shepherd ended in 1978, and Hefner’s involvement stemmed from a settlement related to nude photos of Shepherd published in Playboy. Bogdanovich’s career reached its nadir with They All Laughed (1981), an ensemble comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Dorothy Stratten. During filming, Bogdanovich fell in love with Stratten, who was tragically murdered by her estranged husband, Paul Snider.
They All Laughed struggled to find distribution due to the negative publicity surrounding Stratten’s murder. Despite being one of Audrey Hepburn’s few post-retirement films, it received limited release, weak reviews, and significant financial losses for Bogdanovich, leading to bankruptcy. Turning back to writing, Peter Bogdanovich penned a memoir, “The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten (1960-1980)” (1984), as a response to a Pulitzer Prize-winning article that criticized his and Hefner’s role in Stratten’s tragedy. This article also served as the basis for Bob Fosse’s film Star 80 (1983), where Bogdanovich was portrayed as a fictional director.
Although Peter Bogdanovich experienced modest success with Mask (1985), and a sequel to The Last Picture Show, Texasville (1990), his later directorial efforts failed to recapture his early acclaim. He directed a few more theatrical films, including The Cat’s Meow (2001), which explored the alleged murder of Thomas H. Ince, but these too were largely unsuccessful. In later years, Peter Bogdanovich also returned to acting, notably with a recurring role in The Sopranos.
Peter Bogdanovich’s personal life continued to attract controversy, particularly his marriage to Dorothy Stratten’s younger sister, Louise Stratten, who was significantly younger than him. This relationship drew comparisons to the film Vertigo, suggesting a morbid attempt to recreate his past. The marriage ended in divorce in 2001.
In his later years, Peter Bogdanovich’s career trajectory mirrored that of his hero Orson Welles, marked by early brilliance followed by a struggle to regain former acclaim. Unlike Welles, however, Bogdanovich’s reputation never fully recovered from its peak in the early 1970s. Some speculate that Peter Bogdanovich’s career decline began with his separation from Polly Platt, suggesting her crucial role in his early successes, particularly The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon. Without Platt, Bogdanovich’s subsequent films, such as Daisy Miller and At Long Last Love, were considered missteps, solidifying his fall from wunderkind status.
Despite the later career setbacks, The Last Picture Show was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1998, recognizing its cultural significance and enduring legacy within American cinema, forever cementing Peter Bogdanovich’s place in film history.
