Everybody knew at the studio and outside the studio, while Minnelli was an enigma. So what inspired you to brave the "troubled waters" of this remarkable filmmaker's life? Well, I wrote a biography about George Cukor, and in that book I drew some comparisons between Cukor and Minnelli because they were both top directors at MGM and competing for the same projects - only Cukor was openly gay. But everyone knows when you write about a major director, you have to deal with his personal life.
#Was vincent minelli gay full#
Vincente was full of contradictions and he had a troubled sexuality, so maybe people thought was troubled waters. Some of it could be that he was painfully shy and did not write much and his own memoir was very subjective and biased - it doesn't talk at all about his sexuality. Why do you think Minnelli's been neglected up until this point? Emanuel Levy: I don't have a good reason for the neglect, but I benefited from being - shockingly - the first biographer. Unfortunately, the town that made him a legend also pressured him back into the closet, and while moviegoers certainly benefited from the sublimation of Minnelli's sexuality into art, one wonders how things might have differed had he lived in the modern era.Ī recently had the chance to dish with Levy about his provocative and revelatory new book right before he took off for the Cannes Film Festival, where Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood's Dark Dreamer will have a lavish launch party, presumably in old Hollywood style.Ī: In the introduction to your book, you note that dozens of biographies have been written about other famed directors like Howard Hawks and John Ford. Perhaps the most striking revelation in Hollywood's Dark Dreamer is evidence that Minnelli did, in fact, live as an openly gay man in New York prior to his arrival in Hollywood. Having previously authored a book about gay director and Minnelli contemporary George Cukor, Levy is the first to write a full-length biography of the legendary filmmaker and, in researching his enigmatic subject, was granted special access to letters and correspondence from Minnelli's last wife. Now, 35 years later, film critic Emanuel Levy seeks to offer a more honest and thorough examination of the remarkable career and complicated life of the late director with the fascinating new biography Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood's Dark Dreamer. While many of his closest intimates never doubted his true identity as that of a gay or bisexual man, Minnelli remained deeply private about the issue and avoided it completely in his 1974 memoir, I Remember It Well.
Minnelli was married four times, including a short-lived union with troubled actress Judy Garland that resulted in daughter Liza, and his sexual orientation has long been the subject of gossip and speculation. Although these films endure as Hollywood classics, Minnelli's reputation as a filmmaker is often eclipsed by a fascination with his complex personal life. But when he came to Hollywood, I think he made the decision to repress that part of himself or to become bisexual.Vincente Minnelli rose to fame as the flamboyant, wildly stylistic director of such beloved MGM musicals as An American in Paris, Gigi, and Meet Me in St. Levy stated: “He was openly gay in New York – we were able to document names of companions and stories from Dorothy Parker.
A biography by Emanuel Levy, Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood’s Dark Dreamer, claims evidence that Minnelli lived as an openly gay man in New York before moving to Hollywood. There was speculation in the entertainment industry for years that Minnelli was either gay or bisexual. He later married Georgette Magnani from 1954 until 1958, Danica “Denise” Radosavljevic (1962-1971), and Margaretta Lee Anderson from 1980 until his death in July 1986. His first marriage was to actress Judy Garland from 1945 until 1951 and they were the parents of Liza Minnelli. Louis, Gigi, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris.
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The late stage and film director is famous for classic movie musicals such as Meet Me in St.
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