Available Formats
Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever
By (Author) Nick de Semlyen
Pan Macmillan
Picador
6th June 2019
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Individual actors and performers
Other performing arts
Biography: arts and entertainment
Collected biographies
791.43097309048
Paperback
336
Width 153mm, Height 233mm, Spine 28mm
476g
Wild and Crazy Guys is the larger-than-life story of the much-loved Hollywood comedy stars that ruled the 1980s. As well as delving behind the scenes of classic movies such as Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, The Blues Brothers, Trading Places and dozens more, it chronicles the off-screen, larger-than-life antics of Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Candy et al. It's got drugs, sex, punch-ups, webbed toes and Bill Murray being pushed into a swimming pool by Hunter S Thompson, while tied to a lawn chair. It's akin to Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, following the key players through their highs and lows, and their often turbulent relationships with each other. Nick de Semlyen has already interviewed pretty much all the big names for Empire, as well as directors such as Walter Hill, John Landis and Carl Reiner, and is sitting on lots of unseen material. Taking you on a trip through the tumultous '80s, Wild And Crazy Guys explores the friendships, feuds, triumphs and disasters experienced by these iconic funnymen. Based on candid interviews from the stars themselves, as well as those who entered their orbit, it reveals the hidden history behind the most fertile period ever for screen comedy.
Nick is a film journalist who has written for publications including Rolling Stone, FHM, Stuff and Time Out. His current job is Reviews Editor for Empire, the world's biggest movie magazine.