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Gus Van Sant Bio
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Gus Van SantGus Van Sant is a film director, writer, producer, editor, photographer, and musician. He is known for his devotion to independent art house films.
Gus Van Sant Jr. was born on July 24, 1952, in Louisville, Kentucky. His father's job as a travelling salesman meant that he moved around constantly during his childhood. As he traveled, he painted pictures of his surroundings and made Super-8 movies as a record of his life. These interests led him to study at the Rhode Island School of Design after graduation, majoring in painting. There he met David Byrne, Jonas Mekas, and Andy Warhol. The latter's experimental work inspired him to switch to film. Gus Van Sant would later work on a movie about Warhol's early life, abandoned after the untimely death of its star, River Phoenix.
Van Sant's first job in Hollywood was as an assistant to Ken Shapiro, working on comedy scripts. A true all-rounder, he educated himself thoroughly on all the technical processes involved in film-making and worked for some time as a sound recorder. Though he grew frustrated with the movie business itself, as expressed in his unreleased 1981 film Alice in Hollywood, Van Sant developed a fascination with the city of Los Angeles, and especially with its marginalized and impoverished residents. Though his first film was the acclaimed short The Discipline of D.E., based on a short story by William Burroughs, with whom he later recorded the album The Elvis of Letters, Van Sant’s first feature was a tribute to these people, an adaptation of Walt Curtis's novel Mala Noche, starring Doug Cooeyate, Sam Downey, and Nyla McCarthy. Van Sant wrote and produced the film as well as directing it, as he was to do with all his early work. Though Mala Noche was highly praised by the critics and attracted major studio interest, Van Sant's preference for controversial projects led him to set up his own studio in Portland, Oregon, where he made the highly praised Drugstore Cowboy. It was this film that revived the career of Matt Dillon. Van Sant then went on to make My Own Private Idaho, a modern reworking of Shakespeare's Henry IV, starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. Van Sant was shattered by Phoenix's death outside Johnny Depp's Viper Club in 1993, and dedicated his first novel, Pink, to the young actor's memory.
Unfortunately for Van Sant, his next film, Even Cowgirls get the Blues, with Uma Thurman, kd lang and John Hurt, was a flop, leaving him broke. He persevered and made his first attempt to direct from someone else's script - To Die For, starring Nicole Kidman and River's brother Joaquin Phoenix. To Die For became a success, even with mainstream audiences. The same year he produced Larry Clark's controversial Kids. In 1997, Van Sant made a major mainstream breakthrough by taking the helm on Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Good Will Hunting, which also starred Robin Williams, Stellan Skarsgård, and Minnie Driver. The following year, to fulfill a contractual obligation, Van Sant made a shot by shot color remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, with Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Viggo Mortenson, and Julianne Moore.
In 2003, Van Sant again attracted controversy but also won a Palme d'Or at Cannes for Elephant, his take on the Columbine School Massacre, which starred Alex Frost and Eric Deulen. Two years came Last Days, with Michael Pitt, Lukas Haas, and Asia Argento, the story of a rock star spiraling into self-destruction based on the experiences of Kurt Cobain. Van Sant has had a lifelong interest in music, releasing three albums of his own and producing numerous works in collaboration with other artists. He has directed music videos for David Bowie and has often cast The Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea in his films. He is currently in a band called Destroy All Blondes. He still lives in Portland with his long-term boyfriend, who is an actor. YUDDY |
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Gus Van Sant - Met Andy Warhol at 'The Rhode Island School of Design.' |
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Gus Van Sant - Worked on an unfinished movie which would have starred River Phoenix . |
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Gus Van Sant - His film 'Drugstore Cowboy' revived the career of Matt Dillon . |
Gus Van Sant - K D Lang worked on the soundtrack for 'Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get The Blues.'
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Gus Van Sant - Jim Caviezel starred in Gus Van Sant's 'My Own Private Idaho.'
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