Peter Bogdanovich

Most people strive their whole lives to make a name for themselves in just one field; Peter Bogdanovich is the rare person to have found success in many.

Besides directing the film classics The Last Picture Show, What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, and Texasville, he has earned critical acclaim as a screenwriter, actor, critic, and biographer. Bogdanovich also landed a recurring role on The Sopranos as psychiatrist Dr. Elliot Kupferberg. His achievements have been marked by Oscar nominations, film critic awards, and a spot on the bestseller list for his book, Who the Devil Made It?

An intimate look at film-making encompassing nearly the entire span of motion picture history, Who the Devil Made It? is a collection of Bogdanovich’s interviews with sixteen legendary film directors. Captured in its pages are the humor and wisdom of such blue-chip directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, and Fritz Lang, as well as of “B-movie Kings” like Joseph H. Lewis and Edgar G. Ulmer.

His latest title, Who the Hell’s In It?, features recollections of his experiences with the famous actors he’s directed, including stars Cybil Shepard, the late John Ritter, and Jeff Bridges who all made their debuts in his movies. Bogdanovich relives with lecture audiences his adventures from a lifetime of movie-making. His presentation is spiced with film clips - his own and those of the directors in his book - as well as with anecdotes brought wonderfully to life by humorous and dead-on impersonations of everyone from Hitchcock to Cary Grant.

Most recently, Bogdanovich's musings can be seen online on his blog, cleverly titled Blogdanovich.