Table Of Content'L5lc*sj
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DON SIMPSON
AND THE
HOLLYWOOD
CULTURE OF EXCESS
v|
DOUBLEDAY
NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY AUCKLAND
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036
Doubleday and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are
trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell
Publishing Group, Inc.
Book design by Brian Mulligan
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fleming, Charles.
High concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood culture of excess / Charles Fleming. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Simpson, Don, 1945-1996. 2. Motion picture producers and directors—
United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN1998.3.S5358F64 1998
791.43'0232'092—dc21
[B] 97-42067
CIP
ISBN 0-385-48694-4
Copyright © 1998 by Charles Fleming
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
April 1998
First Edition
13579 10 8642
This book was
written under adverse conditions: Don Simpson's
family and several of his closest friends opposed the reporting and writing
of it. Inquiries and requests for interviews were met with refusals, or
silence, from many Simpson acquaintances, colleagues and former em¬
ployees. Some simply were too depressed or disgusted by Simpson to even
discuss him. One former employee said of his time with Simpson, "It was
the bleakest period of my life and it almost killed me. I just can't go back
there." Some of them were silent out of loyalty to Simpson and his
family. Others were silent out of fear that they themselves would come
under scrutiny. Their peccadilloes and misadventures are chronicled in
these pages. Others still were silent for fear of reprisal from the powerful
men and women who control their careers. They already occupy the inner
circle of hell they deserve. Simpson, who despite everything else was not a
coward, would have despised them.
To those who did speak, often at risk to themselves, some under the
cloak of anonymity, I am grateful.
I would also like to thank the many, many people whose help, advice,
guidance and encouragement made this book possible. Among them are
my agent David Vigliano; my book editors Shawn Coyne, Pat Mulcahy
and Charlie Conrad; my former editor Peter Bart and current editor Sue
Acknowledgments
V
Horton; my colleagues John Connolly, Mark Schwed, Michael Fleming, J.
Max Robins, John Brodie, Gordon Dillow, Patrick Goldstein, Richard Na-
tale, Max Alexander, Jeffrey Ressner and Jeffrey Wells; my research assis¬
tants Jennifer Fox, Linda Lee, Michelle Perone and Chandler Cook; and my
friends Mark Gill, Michael Cieply, Howard Brandy, Dr. Steven Woods,
Eric and Jennifer Berkowitz, and Tony De Toro. For the editorial education
that enabled me to tackle this project I am indebted to Jeff Silverman, Ray
Bennett, Clay Felker, Mike Meyer, Stryker Maguire and Doug Stumpf,
and for their unwavering personal support I am indebted to Christopher
Hall and Bruce MacKenzie. For their great hospitality I thank Connie and
Marty Stone. For two decades of guidance and good advice, I thank my
friend A. J. Langguth.
In the writing and researching of this book I received invaluable infor¬
mation and assistance from the many people whose names appear in these
pages. I especially want to thank Paul Schrader, Joe Eszterhas, Lynda Obst,
Jay Mclnerney, Steve Roth, Paul Rosenfeld and the film editor Billy
Weber, all of whom knew and loved Simpson and were not afraid to say so.
I also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the many journalists who
came before I did to some parts of Simpson's story—among them John H.
Richardson, Peter Biskind, Shawn Hubler, Chuck Phillips, Maureen Orth,
Bernard Weinraub, Nancy Griffin, Kim Masters, Tony Schwartz and Lynn
Hirschberg. Their hard work made mine easier, and demonstrates that
Hollywood journalism need not be mindless celebrity idolatry.
I could not have written this book without the love and support of my
father, mother and stepmother, and my two daughters. I could not write at
all were it not for the patience of my wife, Julie Singer—to whom this
book is dedicated.
