Early life

Henry Warren Beaty was born in Richmond, Virginia. His mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), who was Canadian, was a teacher from Nova Scotia, and his father, Ira Owens Beaty, had a PhD in educational psychology, was a public school administrator, and dealt in real estate. Beatty's grandparents were also educators. The family was Baptist. In 1945, the family moved from Richmond to Arlington, Virginia. During the 1950s, the family resided in the Dominion Hills section of Arlington. Beatty's elder sister is the actress, dancer and writer Shirley MacLaine. His uncle, by marriage, was Canadian politician A. A. MacLeod. Beatty is not related to actor Ned Beatty (who was also born in 1937).

Education

Beatty was a star football player at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington. Encouraged to act by the success of his sister, who had recently established herself as a Hollywood star, he decided to work as a stagehand at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. during the summer before his senior year. He was reportedly offered ten football scholarships to college, but rejected them to study liberal arts at Northwestern University (1954-55), where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. After his first year, he left college to move to New York City, where he studied acting under Stella Adler at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

Military service

Beatty enlisted in the California Air National Guard on February 11, 1960 under his original name, Henry W. Beaty. On January 1, 1961, Beatty was discharged from the Air National Guard due to physical disability. He was simultaneously discharged from the United States Air Force Reserve, and served on inactive duty only.

Career

1950s and 1960s

Beatty started his career making appearances on television shows such as Studio One (1957), Kraft Television Theatre (1957), and Playhouse 90 (1959). He was a semi-regular on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis during its first season (1959-60). His performance in William Inge's A Loss of Roses on Broadway garnered him a 1960 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a 1960 Theatre World Award. It was his sole appearance on Broadway. He made his film debut in Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961), opposite Natalie Wood. The film was a critical and box office success and Beatty was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and received the award for New Star of the Year - Actor.

He followed his initial film with Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961), with Vivien Leigh and Lotte Lenya, directed by Jose Quintero; All Fall Down (1962), with Angela Lansbury, Karl Malden and Eva Marie Saint, directed by John Frankenheimer; Lilith (1963), with Jean Seberg and Peter Fonda, directed by Robert Rossen; Promise Her Anything (1964), with Leslie Caron, Bob Cummings and Keenan Wynn, directed by Arthur Hiller; Mickey One (1965), with Alexandra Stewart and Hurd Hatfield, directed by Arthur Penn; and Kaleidoscope (1966), with Susannah York and Clive Revill, directed by Jack Smight.

In 1967, when he was 29 years old, he produced and acted in Bonnie and Clyde. He assembled a team that included the writers Robert Benton and David Newman and the director Arthur Penn, chose Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons for lead roles, oversaw the script and spearheaded the delivery of the film. It was a critical and commercial success, and was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and seven Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

1970s and 1980s

After Bonnie and Clyde, Beatty acted with Elizabeth Taylor in The Only Game in Town (1970), directed by George Stevens; McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), directed by Robert Altman; Dollars (1971), directed by Richard Brooks; The Parallax View (1974), directed by Alan Pakula; and The Fortune (1975), directed by Mike Nichols. Beatty produced, co-wrote and acted in Shampoo (1975), directed by Hal Ashby, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay, as well as five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor. In 1978, Beatty directed, produced, wrote and acted in Heaven Can Wait (1978) (sharing co-directing credit with Buck Henry). The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. It also won three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor.

Beatty's next film was Reds (1981), an historical epic about American Communist journalist John Reed who observed the Russian October Revolution - a project Beatty had begun researching and filming for as far back as 1970. It was a critical and commercial success, despite being an American film about an American Communist made and released at the height of the Cold War. It received twelve Academy Award nominations - including four for Beatty (for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Original Screenplay), winning three; Beatty won for Best Director, Maureen Stapleton won for Best Supporting Actress (playing anarchist Emma Goldman), and Vittorio Storaro won for Best Cinematography. The film received seven Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Director, Actor and Screenplay. Beatty won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Following Reds, Beatty did not appear in a film for five years until 1987's Ishtar, written and directed by Elaine May. Following severe criticism in press reviews by the new British studio chief David Puttnam just prior to its release, the film received mixed reviews and was commercially unsuccessful. Puttnam attacked several other over-budget U.S. films greenlit by his predecessor, and was fired shortly thereafter.

1990s and 2000s

Beatty next produced, directed and played the title role as comic strip based detective Dick Tracy in the 1990 film of the same name. The film received critical acclaim and was one of the highest grossing of the year. It received seven Academy Award nominations, winning three for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Original Song. It also received four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture.

In 1991, he produced and starred as the real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel in the critically and commercially acclaimed Bugsy, directed by Barry Levinson, which was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor; it later won two of the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. The film also received eight Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor, winning for Best Motion Picture. Beatty's next film, Love Affair (1994), directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, received mixed reviews and was unimpressive commercially.

In 1998, he wrote, produced, directed and starred in the political satire Bulworth, which was critically acclaimed and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film also received three Golden Globe Award nominations, for Best Motion Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay. Beatty has appeared briefly in numerous documentaries, including Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) and One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern (2005).

Following the disastrous box office performance of Town & Country (2001), in which Beatty starred, he did not appear in or direct another film until Rules Don't Apply. The latter movie is slated for release in 2016.

2010s

In 2010, Beatty directed and reprised his role as Dick Tracy in a 30-minute comedy film titled Dick Tracy Special, which premiered on TCM. The short metafiction film stars Dick Tracy and film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, the latter of whom discusses the history and creation of Tracy. Tracy talks about how he admired Ralph Byrd and Morgan Conway who portrayed him in several films, but says he didn't care much for Beatty's portrayal of him or his film. In April 2016, at an event honoring producer Arnon Milchan, Beatty said he is "very serious" about making a Dick Tracy sequel with Milchan producing.

In the mid-1970s, Beatty signed a contract with Warner Bros. to star, produce, write, and possibly direct a film about Howard Hughes. It was also during this period that Beatty approached Paul Schrader to write a script on Hughes' life, which he declined. However, the project was put on hold when Beatty began Heaven Can Wait. Initially, Beatty planned to film the life story of John Reed and Hughes back-to-back, but as he was getting deeper into the project, he eventually focused primarily on the John Reed film Reds. After years of being away from the camera, in June 2011, it was reported that Beatty would produce, write, direct and star in a film about Hughes, focusing on an affair he had with a younger woman in the final years of his life. During this period, Beatty approached actors to star in his ensemble cast. He met with Andrew Garfield, Alec Baldwin, Owen Wilson, Justin Timberlake, Shia La Beouf, Jack Nicholson, Evan Rachel Wood, Rooney Mara, his wife Annette Bening, and his personal choice for the female lead, Felicity Jones. After Paramount Pictures exited the film, Regency Enterprises picked up the film in September 2011.

The film, Rules Don't Apply, began principal photography in February 2014 and wrapped in June of the same year. Some have said that Beatty's film is 40 years in the making. It is scheduled to be released on November 11, 2016.

Honors

Beatty has received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the Americans for Democratic Action, the Brennan Legacy Award from the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, the Phillip Burton Public Service Award from the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, and the Spirit of Hollywood Award from the Associates for Breast and Prostate Cancer Studies. Beatty was a founding board member of the Center for National Policy, a founding member of the Progressive Majority, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has served as the Campaign Chair for the Permanent Charities Committee, and has participated in the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. He served on the Board of Trustees at the Scripps Research Institute, and the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation. He was named Honorary Chairman of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in 2004.

The National Association of Theatre Owners awarded him with the Star of the Year Award in 1975, and in 1978 the Director of the Year Award and the Producer of the Year Award. He received the Alan J. Pakula Memorial Award from the National Board of Review in 1998. He received the Akira Kurosawa Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 from the San Francisco International Film Festival. He has received the Board of Governors Award from the American Society of Cinematographers, the Distinguished Director Award from the Costume Designers Guild, the Life Achievement Award from the Publicists Guild, and the Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award from the Art Directors Guild. In 2004, he received the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., and the Milestone Award from the Producers Guild of America. He was honored with the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 2008. In March 2013, he was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

Beatty has received a number of international awards: in 1992, he was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (France); in 1998, he was nominated for a Golden Lion for Best Film (Bulworth), and received a Career Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival; in 2001, he received the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Sebastián International Film Festival; in 2002, he received the British Academy Fellowship from BAFTA; and in 2011, he was awarded the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award.

Personal life

Beatty has been married to actress Annette Bening since 1992. They have four children: Kathlyn Elizabeth (born January 8, 1992), Benjamin (born August 23, 1994), Isabel (born January 11, 1997) and Ella (born April 8, 2000).

Prior to marrying Bening, Beatty was well known for his high profile romantic relationships that received generous media coverage. He had relationships with Madonna, Cher, Serena, Twiggy, Iman, Natalie and Lana Wood, Michelle Phillips, Diane Keaton, Julie Christie, Leslie Caron, Isabelle Adjani, Mary Tyler Moore, Goldie Hawn, Kate Jackson, Joan Collins, Diane Sawyer, Connie Chung, Britt Ekland, Melanie Griffith, Barbara Hershey, Jacqueline Onassis, Maya Plisetskaya, Vanessa Redgrave, Dewi Sukarno, Princess Margaret, Jessica Savitch, Susan Strasberg, Brigitte Bardot, Janice Dickinson, Christine Kaufmann, Jane Fonda, Daryl Hannah, Barbara Minty, Margaux Hemingway, Mamie Van Doren, Barbara Harris, Elizabeth Hubbard, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Joni Mitchell, Linda McCartney, Inger Stevens, Dayle Haddon, Carol Alt, Maria Callas, Brooke Hayward, Juliet Prowse, Joyce Hyser, Carole Mallory, Liv Ullmann, Diane von Furstenberg, Elle Macpherson, and Stephanie Seymour. Singer-songwriter Carly Simon also dated Beatty, and confirmed in November 2015 that she wrote a verse in her hit song "You're So Vain" about him.

Beatty is a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party. In 1972, Beatty was part of the "inner circle" of Senator George McGovern's presidential campaign. He traveled extensively and was instrumental in organizing fundraising.

In May 2005, Beatty sued Tribune Media, claiming he still maintained the rights to Dick Tracy. On March 25, 2011, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson ruled in Beatty's favor.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Director	Notes
1957	Studio One in Hollywood	First Card Player		Episode: "The Night America Trembled"
1957	Suspicion	Boy		Episode: "Heartbeat"
1959-60	The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	Milton Armitage		5 episodes
1960	Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond	Harry Grayson		Episode: "The Visitor"
1961	Splendor in the Grass	Bud Stamper	Elia Kazan	Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
1961	The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone	Paolo di Leo	José Quintero
1962	All Fall Down	Berry-Berry Willart	John Frankenheimer
1964	Lilith	Vincent Bruce	Robert Rossen
1965	Mickey One	Mickey One	Arthur Penn
1965	Promise Her Anything	Harley Rummell	Arthur Hiller
1966	Kaleidoscope	Barney Lincoln	Jack Smight
1967	Bonnie and Clyde	Clyde Barrow	Arthur Penn	Also producer David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actor Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film Laurel Award for Top Action-Drama Film National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
1970	The Only Game in Town	Joe Grady	George Stevens
1971	McCabe & Mrs. Miller	John McCabe	Robert Altman
1971	Dollars	Joe Collins	Richard Brooks
1974	The Parallax View	Joseph Frady	Alan J. Pakula
1975	Shampoo	George Roundy	Hal Ashby	Also writer and producer Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay Nominated - Academy Award For Best Original Screenplay Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
1975	The Fortune	Nicky Wilson	Mike Nichols
1978	Heaven Can Wait	Joe Pendleton/Leo Farnsworth/Tom Jarrett	Warren Beatty & Buck Henry	Also producer, director, and writer Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film Saturn Award for Best Actor Saturn Award for Best Writing Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated - Academy Award for Best Directing Nominated - Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated - Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Direction
1981	Reds	John Reed	Warren Beatty	Also producer, director, and writer Academy Award for Best Directing American Movie Award Special Marquee David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Producer Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film Golden Globe Award for Best Director Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay National Board of Review Award for Best Director New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated - Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
1987	Ishtar	Lyle Rogers	Elaine May	Also producer Nominated - Razzie Award for Worst Picture
1990	Dick Tracy	Dick Tracy	Warren Beatty	Also director and producer Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor Nominated - Silver Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Director
1991	Bugsy	Bugsy Siegel	Barry Levinson	Also producer Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film National Board of Review Award for Best Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
1994	Love Affair	Mike Gambril	Glenn Gordon Caron	Also writer and producer Nominated - Razzie Award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
1998	Bulworth	Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth	Warren Beatty	Also writer, director, and producer Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Nominated - Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated - Venice Film Festival Award for Best Film
2001	Town & Country	Porter Stoddard	Peter Chelsom
2008	The Dick Tracy TV Special	Dick Tracy	Warren Beatty	Also director and producer
2016	Rules Don't Apply	Howard Hughes	Warren Beatty	Also writer, director, and producer Completed

Unmade films

• Ocean of Storms - Beatty was to have starred in and produced this in the 1990s

Charities

Warren Beatty supports the following charitable cause: Diabetes.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]