Director, writer, producer, actor, and author of Harvard, Hollywood, Hitmen, and Holy Men, A Memoir

This week, Ira spoke with Paul W. Williams, director, writer, producer, actor, and author of Harvard, Hollywood, Hitmen, and Holy Men, A Memoir (Published by University Press of Kentucky). In this autobiographic episode of Ira’s Everything Bagel, Paul talks about why he wrote the book, which he calls “…an admission of all the ridiculous mistakes I’ve made throughout my life”; his biggest regret in his career; how he ended up happy and serene rather than rich and famous; why the reason for writing the book changed and became a way for him to empty his mind of the past; and the man who influenced him the most in his life.

Paul Williams is a real-life Forrest Gump. His experiences form a unique and often wild constellation of encounters with star power, political power, and spiritual power—a life cycle that led to fame and fortune and to integrity and anonymity. 

A member of the inner circle of the “Movie Brats” who led the charge of American New Wave cinema in the 1970s, Paul’s idiosyncrasies make him a darling of the era. His stories about his pals—Scorsese, Voight, Christie, DePalma, Coppola, Dreyfuss, Spielberg, De Niro, Lucas—shed new light on a world bursting with creativity and possibility. His own seminal cult classic: Out of It (1969), The Revolutionary (1970) and Dealing (1972).