Little Joe, Superstar: Films of Joe Dallesandro - Softcover

Ferguson, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1889138096 ISBN 13: 9781889138091

Publisher: Companion Press, 1998

Synopsis

A biography of the pin-up and actor made famous in the 60s and 70s by Andy Warhol through his underground films.

About this title

From the Author:

The only book on Warhol's underground film star.
Gay and straight fans worldwide have been infatuated with Joe Dallesandro since Andy Warhol turned his camera on him and audiences found themselves turned on, too. Dallesandro, Warhol's most seductive and enigmatic male star, has granted me exclusive interviews for this book and provided a wealth of photos from his personal collection. This is the first and only in-depth look at the life and career of this male sexual icon, tracing Dallesandro’s troubled youth in New York City, his nomadic life on-the-run from the law as a teenager, his early photo sessions for male physique magazines in Los Angeles, his association with Warhol and the Factory, his ensuing career as Underground Superstar, his seven year stint in Europe as an actor, and the personal tragedies that necessitated his return to the United States where he recommitted himself to an acting career in the shadow of forever being associated with Andy Warhol. The product of a broken home and a kid in trouble with the law, Joe walked into a Greenwich Village apartment one day in 1967 to check out some guys who were shooting a movie and had left the door open. He was subsequently asked to peel down to his underwear and wrestle the film’s male star, which he agreed to do, and before anyone could have grasped the implications, a Superstar was born and a career was launched. The filmmakers were Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey and they were so excited by what they saw on that single reel with this kid from off the streets that they asked him to be in their next film...and their next...and their next... By 1968, he was the toast of the New York underground film scene, his beautiful face and form the center of all their advertising, effortlessly radiating male beauty off Warhol’s silver screen while making you feel he didn’t have a clue from where it was all coming. Completely at ease as a naked film star, Joe has developed a legion of fans worldwide, including a substantial gay following that acknowledge his bisexual characters and erotic image as important expressions in Stonewall-era cinema. With his Warhol/Morrissey films (especially FLESH, TRASH and HEAT) on the brink of an even wider rediscovery, an actor--not just a pin-up boy--emerges in a whole new light. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this bio, film and video guide to the man director John Waters has said "forever changed male sexuality in the cinema."

About this edition

• Publisher: Companion Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1889138096
• ISBN 13: 9781889138091
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 214