Life and career

Lebowitz was born and raised in Morristown, New Jersey.

After being expelled from high school and receiving a GED, Lebowitz worked in many odd jobs before being hired by Andy Warhol as a columnist for Interview. This was followed by a stint at Mademoiselle. Her first book was a collection of essays titled Metropolitan Life, released in 1978, followed by Social Studies in 1981, both of which are collected in The Fran Lebowitz Reader.

She has been known, in part, for Exterior Signs of Wealth, a long-overdue, unfinished novel, purportedly about rich people who want to be artists, and artists who want to be rich. She also made several appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and had a recurring role as Judge Janice Goldberg on the television drama Law & Order from 2001 to 2007.

A heavy smoker, Lebowitz is known for her advocacy of smokers' rights.

In September 2007, Lebowitz was named one of the year's most stylish women in Vanity Fair's 68th Annual International Best-Dressed List; she is known for wearing several distinctive pieces:

• Men's suit jackets tailored by the Savile Row tailor Anderson & Sheppard
• Wing-tip cowboy boots
• Men's white button down shirt
• Levi's 501 jeans
• Tortishell glasses

On November 17, 2010, she returned to The Late Show with David Letterman after a 16-year absence. She discussed her years-long writer's block, which she jokingly referred to as a "writer's blockade." On November 22, 2010, HBO debuted Public Speaking, a documentary about her by Martin Scorsese containing interviews and clips from speaking engagements.

Lebowitz's upcoming book, Progress, was first excerpted in Vanity Fair in 2004 and in 2012 had a 2015 publication date.

An automobile enthusiast, in 2011 Lebowitz owned and drove a vintage pearl-gray 1979 Checker Marathon, which she kept in the East Village in Manhattan.

Books

• Metropolitan Life, Dutton, 1978. ISBN 978-0-525-15562-1
• Social Studies, Random House, 1981. ISBN 978-0-394-51245-7
• The Fran Lebowitz Reader, Vintage Books, 1994, ISBN 978-0-679-76180-8
• Mr. Chas and Lisa Sue Meet the Pandas, Knopf, 1994. ISBN 978-0-679-86052-5
• Progress
• Exterior Signs of Wealth

[ Source: Wikipedia ]