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David Geffen (1943 - )
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 The
Operator : David Geffen Builds, Buys and Sells the New Hollywood by
Tom King
Complex, contentious, and blessed with the
perfect-pitch ability to find the next big talent, David Geffen
has shaped American popular culture for the last three decades.
His dazzling career has included the roles of power agent,
record-industry mogul, Broadway producer, and billionaire
Hollywood studio founder. From the beginning, though, Geffen's
many accomplishments have been shadowed by the ruthless
single-mindedness with which he has pursued fame, power, and
money. In The Operator, Tom King--the first writer to have
been granted full access to Geffen and his circle of
intimates--captures the real David Geffen and tells a great
American story about success and the bargains made for it.
The extent of Geffen's accomplishments is extraordinary. As a
manager in the 1960s, he made the deal for Crosby, Stills, Nash
& Young to appear at Woodstock. He discovered 1970s superstars
Jackson Browne and the Eagles and masterminded Bob Dylan's famed
1974 tour; Joni Mitchell, Geffen's roommate for a time,
memorialized him in her song "Free Man in Paris." He
produced Risky Business, the movie that made Tom Cruise a star,
and was the moneyman behind Cats, the longest-running musical in
Broadway history. One of the most brilliant dealmakers ever to
work in Hollywood, he became a billionaire shortly after selling
Geffen Records in 1990, and he made movie history when he founded,
with friends Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks
SKG, the first new Hollywood studio in fifty-five years. And
Geffen's influence has extended far beyond show business and into
the worlds of Wall Street, art, real estate, and politics.
Geffen's personal journey is as compelling as his business
machinations. Although he knew from an early age that he was gay,
he hid his true sexual urges and for years attempted to lead a
heterosexual life. In the mid-1970s, he dated--and almost
married--Cher. Not until 1992, when being honored for his
extraordinary financial contributions to the fight against AIDS,
did he open the closet door. His coming-out was national news.
Beneath this phenomenal life story has always been a ferocious
drive to succeed, a blind ambition that has left onlookers
astounded. Geffen learned from his earliest days in the William
Morris mailroom that he could cheat and lie his way to the top,
and he has ever after lived unconstrained by traditional notions
of right and wrong. Geffen has demonstrated time and again that he
is willing to sabotage any relationship, business or personal, to
get what he wants.
At his best, David Geffen is a fiercely devoted friend and a
bountifully generous man, both privately and publicly. At his
worst, he is a vindictive bully who lashes out at loved ones and
colleagues with irrational screaming fits that leave his victims
shaking and sweating. And though he has periodically attempted to
better himself through psychotherapy and self-help programs like
est and Lifespring, he seems always able to find new enemies to
rage against.
For years, David Geffen has managed his own life story and
rewritten history. But in The Operator, Tom King has set the
record straight. Written with Geffen's cooperation--though not his
authorization--The Operator is an explosive,
illusion-shattering story that details the mogul's indisputable
contributions to entertainment history while also baring the man
behind the legend.
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From Encarta
Excerpt:
American entertainment executive, record
producer, and founder of Geffen Records. Born in Brooklyn, New
York, Geffen briefly attended Texas A&M University and
Brooklyn College before turning his attention to the entertainment
industry. He was fired from a short stint as an usher at CBS
before going to work in the mailroom at the William Morris talent
agency in 1964...
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This is Home of Interscope, Geffen and A&M Records.
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From The Knitting Circle
Excerpt:
In 1971 he founded Asylum Records. The Company
managed The Eagles and Joni Mitchell. The company was sold to
Warner in 1972 for $7m. He then transferred into films with
Warner.
In 1973 he opened his Roxy nightclub on Suset
Boulevard. He met Cher at the opening night and they soon planned
to marry, but Cher changed her mind in early 1974. David Geffen is
played by Mahryah Shain in the 1999 television film And the
Beat Goes On: The Sonny and Cher Story...
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Names Index:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
Q R
S T
U V
W X
Y Z
| Authors
Index | Scholars
Index |
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