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Sam Wasson

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Sam Wasson
BornLos Angeles, California, United States
OccupationAuthor, publisher
Notable worksFosse
Improv Nation
The Big Goodbye
Hollywood: The Oral History
Website
www.samwasson.com

Sam Wasson is an American author and publisher, who often writes about the history of cinema in Hollywood. His works include the biography Fosse, the history books Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art and The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood and the co-authored Hollywood: The Oral History.

Early life and education

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Wasson was born in Los Angeles. His maternal grandfather was former Variety executive Hal “Lew” Scott.[1][2] Wasson attended Wesleyan University, and USC School of Cinematic Arts.[citation needed]

Career

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During the writing of his Bob Fosse biography, Wasson and researcher Jane Klein unearthed lost footage of Fosse's 1961 ABC television show Seasons of Youth.[3] In 2014, Fosse was one of six books shortlisted for the $10,000 Marfield Prize,[4] and received the Special Jury Prize at the George Freedley Memorial Award.[5] Production rights for a limited television series based on the book were purchased by television channel FX in 2018.[6]

In 2020, Wasson published a book about the making of the 1974 movie Chinatown, titled The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood.[7] Later that year, a film adaptation of The Big Goodbye was announced, with Lorne Michaels attached as producer and Ben Affleck as director.[8][9] Also in 2020, Wasson co-founded a publishing house with producer Brandon Millan.[10]

Wasson was a visiting professor at Wesleyan University[11] and Emerson College.[12]

In 2021, Wasson and William Rempel filed a lawsuit to unseal a 2010 deposition transcript of Roger Gunson, a former deputy district attorney, in relation to the Roman Polanski sexual abuse case.[13] In July 2022, the court ruled for the transcripts to be unsealed.[14][15][16][17]

In 2022, Wasson and Jeanine Basinger wrote an oral history book titled Hollywood: The Oral History.[18][19]

Bibliography

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Books

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  • A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards. Wesleyan University Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8195-6977-6.
  • Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman. HarperCollins. 2010. ISBN 978-0-0620-0013-2.[20]
  • Paul on Mazursky. Wesleyan University Press. 2011. ISBN 978-0-8195-7144-1.[21]
  • Fosse. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2013. ISBN 978-0-5475-5329-0.[22]
  • Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2017. ISBN 978-0-5445-5720-8.[23]
  • The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. Flatiron Books. 2019. ISBN 978-1-2502-6629-3.[24]
  • Hollywood: The Oral History. HarperCollins. 2022. ISBN 978-0-0630-5696-1.[25]

References

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  1. ^ Staff (April 12, 1996). "The Silver Fox". Variety.
  2. ^ Staff (April 12, 1996). "Obituary". The Hollywood Reporter.
  3. ^ Ginsberg, Merle & Gary Baum (November 7, 2013). "Bob Fosse Biographer Unearths Lost 1961 ABC Special". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  4. ^ Ron Charles (March 11, 2014). "Terry Teachout among finalists for $10,000 Marfield Prize for arts writing". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  5. ^ "Freedley Award Winners, 1969-Present". Theatre Library Association. September 12, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  6. ^ Otterson, Joe (July 24, 2018). "FX Orders Bob Fosse Limited Series Starring Sam Rockwell, Michelle Williams With Lin-Manuel Miranda Producing". Variety. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  7. ^ Maslin, Janet (February 4, 2020). "It's 'Chinatown,' Jake. On Second Thought, Don't Forget It". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Kroll, Justin (April 7, 2020). "Ben Affleck To Direct Adaptation of 'Big Goodbye' For Paramount; Behind-The-Scenes Story Of The Making of 'Chinatown'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  9. ^ Kiefer, Halle (2020-08-07). "Ben Affleck to Remind You It's Chinatown With His Adaptation of Making-Of Book The Big Goodbye". Vulture. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  10. ^ Hudson, David (August 17, 2022). "August Books". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  11. ^ Simon, Scott (November 2, 2013). "Fosse's Genius: Working Even As He Was Dying". NPR. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  12. ^ John, John (October 6, 2021). "Sam Wasson gives Chinatown The Big Goodbye". Writers on Film. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  13. ^ Cieply, Michael (November 28, 2021). "On Monday, A New Twist On The Quest For Sealed Testimony In The Polanski Case". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  14. ^ "Wasson et al. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County et al". Unicourt. April 14, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  15. ^ Qeally, James (July 13, 2022). "Roman Polanski criminal case transcripts must be unsealed, court rules". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  16. ^ Maddaus, Gene (July 13, 2022). "Appeals Court Orders Release of Roman Polanski Transcript". Variety. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  17. ^ Cieply, Michael (July 18, 2022). "Roger Gunson's Unsealed Polanski Testimony Offers Not Bombshells, But Details And A Path Through The Thicket". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  18. ^ Rich, Katie (October 5, 2019). "Hollywood, in Its Own Words". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  19. ^ Yogerst, Chris (December 5, 2022). "Hollywood on Hollywood: On Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson's Oral History "Hollywood"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  20. ^ Reviews of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman:
  21. ^ Reviews of Paul on Mazursky:
  22. ^ Reviews of Fosse:
  23. ^ Reviews of Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art:
  24. ^ Reviews of The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood:
  25. ^ Reviews of Hollywood: The Oral History:
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