Author, Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder
This week, Ira spoke with Robert Crane, author of Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder and nine other books. In this prolific episode of Ira’s Everything Bagel, talks about why he decided on a life of writing; how he made the decision to feature Jack Nicholson in his first book; why the book on his father was one that he didn’t settle for less on, especially because Robert was the subject; how writing makes you the ruler of your universe; and how he balances the internal and external life.
Robert Crane was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He followed his parents to Los Angeles in the Fifties and while his father became a radio and television star and his mother the rock of the family, Robert pursued film studies at USC. His short film, “Mirage,” appeared on the second season of “Saturday Night Live.” Freelancing for magazines and newspapers evolved into his first book (Jack Nicholson: Face to Face; Jack Nicholson: The Early Years reissue) and a twenty year stint at Playboy Magazine.
Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder, co-written by Robert and frequent writing partner Christopher Fryer (Nicholson and Dern books) covered growing up as a member of a show business family and how his father’s infidelities, his parents’ divorce, and the unsolved murder of his father affected Robert and his mother, stepfather and two sisters. The book is also a journey through the American social fabric from the days of the Vietnam War through the ravages of breast cancer and the deaths of his first wife, Kari, and of his boss and friend, actor John Candy.
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