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Did you know Ernest Hemingway went hunting with Anjelica Huston’s dad? Or that Tom Waits wrote a play with one of the legends of the Beat movement? Or that former-president Bill Clinton co-wrote a thriller with one of the most prolific contemporary writers? Well, now you do.
Ever since the golden age of Hollywood, actors and authors have maintained some interesting relationships. Marylin Monroe once dated playwright Arthur Miller, Stephen King feuded with director Stanely Kubrick, and Ernest Hemingway had more than one famous friend other than fellow author F. Scott Fitzgerald. You would be surprised to learn how close some actors have gotten to their author compatriots, and sometimes it even leads to some amazing collaborations.
10 Howard Stern Is Friends With Fran Lebowitz
Although she has not written a book in decades, the radio host has expressed a deep fondness for the prominent New Yorker’s work. Stern considers Lebowitz to be a "genius" and he has even solicited the author for advice on multiple occasions. Most recently, Stern was struggling with how to handle fans who supported Donald Trump.
9 John Huston Was Friends With Ernest Hemingway
Director John Huston gave the world classic films like The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, and he gave a chilling performance as the villain in Chinatown. The director’s work featured gritty characters and his films were often compared to the works of Ernest Hemingway for their rugged appeal. It was an appropriate comparison, as the two men were close friends until Hemingway's death.
8 Johnny Depp Was Friends With Hunter S. Thompson
Depp might have a closer relationship to this author than anyone else in Hollywood ever did. Thompson had an extensive list of celebrity friends, including Johnny Depp, John Cusack, and Bill Murray to mention just a few. Both Depp and Murray played Thompson in feature films, but Depp, being the method actor he is, dove headfirst into the role and prepared for his performance in Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas by living in the writer’s basement. Thompson killed himself in 2005 and famously, his final wishes were that his remains be shot out of a canon at his funeral. Depp not only obliged, he paid for the author's extravagent funeral.
7 Stephen King Is Friends With John Mellencamp
The master of horror also has plenty of famous friends, he also had a few famous rivals to like his famous falling out with The Shining director Stanley Kubrick. But in 2012 King’s friendship with musician John Mellencamp resulted in them collaborating on Ghost Brothers Of Darkland County, a musical that debuted in Atlanta.
6 Samira Wiley Is Friends With Margaret Atwood
The author of The Handmaid's Tale is very insistent and intentional when it comes to the casting of the film and TV versions of her characters. Few authors are as involved in that part of the process as Atwood has been. One might worry that such intense scrutiny would cause a rift with the show’s actors, but on the contrary, Atwood is close friends with Samira Wiley, who plays Moira on The Handmaid’s Tale.
5 Tom Waits Is Friends With William S Burroughs
Like King and Mellencamp, the avant-garde musician collaborated with Burroughs, who was also one of Wait’s favorite writers. The pair, along with theater director Robert Wilson, co-wrote the play The Black Rider. Both Burroughs and Waits are quite famous for their dark, neo-realist material, so the two collaborating was a cinch! Waits is a big fan of literature, he is also a vocal fan of the late poet Charles Bukowski.
4 Gary Cooper Was Friends With Ernest Hemmingway
As mentioned above, the late-American novelist had many famous friends, among them was legendary actor Gary Cooper. The pair were best friends until Hemmingway's 1961 suicide, and the author pushed film producers into casting Cooper as the lead in the film version of his novel For Whom The Bell Tolls. Their friendship was the subject of a 2013 documentary, Cooper and Hemmingway: The True Gen.
3 Dolly Parton Is Friends With James Patterson
Another one of the pairs who ended up collaborating was country starlet Dolly Parton and bestselling author James Patterson. Patterson is one of the most frequently published and highest-paid writers working today. Recently, he began collaborating with Parton to write Run, Rose, Run, which should be released by the end of 2022. Patterson has collaborated with other stars, including some of the most powerful people in the United States.
2 Bill Clinton Is Also Friends With James Patterson
Patterson wrote The President Is Missing with the former president in 2018, and reviews were mixed, at best. The New York Times gave it a mild compliment, saying it was “good,” while critics at the Washington Post panned the collaboration, calling it “an awkward duet.”
1 Hillary Clinton Is Friends With Louise Penny
Like her husband, Hillary Clinton has put her name on a thriller novel thanks to help from Louise Penny, who also wrote Still Life and The Madness of Crowds. The book co-authored by the 2016 presidential candidate debuted at number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List.