Is Faye Dunaway crazy?

Just listen to her voicemail and then ask that question.

"Crazy" in terms of professional diagnosis is one thing, but she is well known to be frightfully difficult to have to work with / deal with.

Faye was more beautiful than any actress out there today, and more talented as well.

As long as we are not at he receiving end of her wrath, we should appreciate her work.

Thank you r1, I love that video/recording!

When my friend worked at Video West in West Hollywood, he said she would simply drive up to the store and "honk" when she had videos to return.

[quote]When my friend worked at Video West in West Hollywood, he said she would simply drive up to the store and "honk" when she had videos to return.

And?

OP You bitch! She a normal beautiful loving caring woman. People around the planet adore her and she is very much liked in Hollywood.

Yes, R7, as her nonstop work and frequent social appearances demonstrate. She is much-loved and all the bad things said about her were spread by jealous actresses (I won't name the one with all the Oscars) who saw her as a threat.

R8 Exactly.

For such a legendary beauty and talent to have come out of such poverty makes her a magical and mythical character.

Faye is one of the last great living actresses.

On one of the other Dunaway threads a poster alleged that she would simply throw videotapes out the window when she was returning them to Blockbuster.

She's alive?

That tape at R1 while perhaps funny, erroneously painted her as an out of control diva.

She was simply tired of rehashing the same old controversy for an interview. And of course, most journalists being what they are today, decided to simply humiliate her instead of better their own craft.

She deserves respect alone for starring in several of the greatest movies ever made. Streep may get the accolades, but Faye has the iconic characters and the impressive resume. Forty five years later and people are still taking fashion cues from her Bonnie.

THAT'S talent!

She was the last of the unabashedly glamorous Movie Stars. She had it all - beauty, mystery, acting chops. No one could touch her circa 1967 - 1977.

I've posted this on other threads: a make-up lady I know told me that in the summer of 2006 she was offered to work on two movies. One of them had a psycho (Dunaway) and the other had a cunt (Betty Buckley). She chose the cunt.

[quote] Forty five years later and people are still taking fashion cues from her Bonnie.///THAT'S talent!

My compliments to the costume designer.

I don't think she's crazy, but she is very difficult and demanding. She was an army brat and traveled around constantly when she was growing up, which might help explain her chronic insecurity (although Jessica Lange is from a similar background is a much more secure woman). Like other very insecure celebrities (Bette Midler, Jennifer Lopez, Naomi Campbell, etc.), she deals with her insecurity by indulging in petty little power trips with people who wait on her, and as a result she (like them) has earned a reputation for being a monster.

The Mommie Dearest thing really set her off her rails and her career. As Pauline Kael pointed out, despite the campiness of the script its a really great performance, but it really unnerved her to be a laughing stock. She never regained her mojo, even when she had a great career comeback a few years later in Barfly (though no one saw it). She made multiple stupid moves in trying to reclaim her career, the worst of which was doing a sitcom with Robert Urich in the early 90s (she is not a naturally funny person).

DUNSTAN CHECKS IN!

R17, I didn't know she had a sitcom. Just looked on Wiki and it stated that the show initially centered around Dunaway (reviving her Diana Christensen shtick) and Urich was a carpenter she hired to remodel her house. It went into hiatus after four episodes and that Dunaway was pulled from the series (most likely fired) and the focus was Urich as a single father and his three sons, but the revised episodes never aired.

SO WTF happened? It sounds juicy.

Nothing happened. No one wanted to watch it, that's all--it was in the bottom 5 shows on the Nielsen lists for the network for every episode they aired.

Who wants to see Faye Dunaway in a family sitcom? Other than gay fans of camp, that is.

God, what I'd give to see or hear rehearsal footage of her ill-fated attempt to play Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.

Those veiny hands and craziness are classic signs of box office poisoning.

I think she would have been amazing as Norma Desmond. It was before her big bout of cosmetic surgery. I'm sure she would have been compelling.

crazy, who knows, difficult, yes. Bette Davis shares her story with Johnny Carson on why she would never work with Dunaway again. Fast forward to the 10:15 mark on the video.

R21 It would a thrill, I am sure there is record of it somewhere and one day it'll be out.

Faye going a bit crazy here as Joan C...

Is it true she loves talking about MOMMIE DEAREST?

OP you need to post, in great detail, all of your "all sorts of stories, many of which conclude that she's a mental case" about Faye Cray-Cray.

I've got more than a few Faye Dunaway stories and some interwesting gossip on her.

But you go first

Tina, bring me the ax!

Crazy bitch!

"I don't think she's crazy, but she is very difficult and demanding."

Excuses excuses. Faye is/was a drug addict.

CASE CLOSED

Wonderful actress who, as other posters have pointed, was the last great "movie star."

"Mommie Dearest" is a great performance and will be reevaluated in the coming years. "Barfly" is another solid performance that I like to revisit.

She was in Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, Network, and Mommie Dearest. Four truly classic films that will still be viewed and discussed after we're all long dead. Even most big name actors will never achieve that. Even if she had only starred in Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown her legacy would have been assured.

What Meryl Streep films will still be discussed in 100 years? Maybe Manhattan and The Deer Hunter, and those aren't even "Meryl Streep Films".

As Ava Gardner wisely stated "In Hollywood men age and women get old"

I loved Faye but she has a horrible reputation for being difficult, and sadly, a drug addict.

What is the point of continually bashing Meryl Streep? She is not connected to Faye Dunaway at all.

Faye was a huge star but she ended her own movie career decades ago. She was lucky to star in some classic films, before she soured on everyone, because most actors are not that lucky.

R33 I think you mean 3 classics and one camp classic, just so we're clear.

People put too much emphasis (when evalutating an actor's "greatness") on how many classics they appeared in. With the arguable exception of Network, Dunaway didn't carry most of those movies. An aside from those 3, she doesn't have much. No matter what, someone like M has done far more great work, it's not even really debatable.

I mean, based on that standard, ok then...Talia Shire was in Godfather I, Godfather II, and Rocky. But who gives a shit?

Because R36 she'll still be seen decades to come. Think about someone like, I don't know, Doris Day. HUGE HUGE HUGE star in her day, but her face appears less frequently on television screens these days than Talia Shire's.

R37 but that's irrelevant. Doris Day will still be remembered far more than someone like Talia Shire will ever be.

Not sure if she's crazy but she seems incredibly angry and bitter that her career tanked in the 1980s. She's only a few years older than Meryl or Jessica Lange and while they're continually sought after, she really only gets really terrible shit which only devalues her brand. And the plastic surgery prevents her from getting any of the sort of Vanessa Redgrave parts. I'd imagine her reputation as being a pain in the ass means she gets few quality offers, but if she did a low budget quality independent film and didn't act like a raging bitch through it all, she'd probably be able to have a comeback.

r39 = Jessica Lange

Cuntiest cunt who ever cunted.

Wonderful, beautiful actress. Wish she had gotten better parts as she aged.

R39 I know. Honestly once you have "made it" to any degree making a comeback is so easy - especially these days, between so much on television, indie films, social media, red carpet stuff, and just overall branding. Once you have achieved any kind of name you can almost always find something somewhat lucrative and rewarding to do with it. It may not be your ideal thing, but there's always some outlet or project looking to "bring someone back."

Plus, the entertainment industry loves comebacks and giving their own a million second chances.

Faye was pretty good on the sitcom.

Crazy bitch deserved too flop in the 80s!

I thought so too, R44. We are in the minority it seems.

There's that axiom about genius and crazy being two sides of the same coin; thus, if she strikes people as crazy, there may be some truth to it.

But no one can deny that she is a highly talented actress. People will be watching Bonnie & Clyde, Network, Chinatown and Mommie Dearest for a very long time. As well as her lesser-known works, as she's been in a lot of films - one minor gem was a post-Mommie film she did, "Hollywood Madam" or something like that.

Meryl Streep is so successful because 1) she came from money; and 2) she knows how to schmooze. Obviously, she's also a highly talented actress. In my opinion, is she better than Faye? It's difficult to compare the two of them, since they both have such different styles - Faye is a hardcore diva, Meryl is quiet and subtle.

Faye was poor?

Yes, Faye is from a humble background.

White trash does not equal humble. R49

More faye stories, please!

Crazy faye is back on twitter!!!

What happened to that other thread about Faye's Twitter and her asking fans for questions? I was certain that thread would've launched 1,000 posts.

This one?

Man, that's a name I haven't seen in forever.

WHET to Talia Shire?

HIV, R55.

I was reading Rupert Everett's book and he says Dunaway is crazy. He called her Dun Fadeaway and it seems like that's what she did after Mommie Dearest. What hits did she have after that? I didn't see Don Juan DeMarco. I remember that one movie with her and Garry Marshall where they played a nice Jewish couple with a gay son and a daughter who was going to have a gay baby. She was over-the-top in that one but it was a good story.

.

I think I am the only one who really enjoyed the reality competition show she appeared on.. was it called The Star?

Don't call us, we'll call you.

Mommie dearest hot son's Instagram.

Count me as a fan and someone who'd love to see a Faye Dunaway comeback. She needs a juicy supporting role on a prestige cable drama.

BTW, whatever happened to her Master Class film? Did that get permanently shelved?

R62, the rumor is, after 20 years of Ms. Dunaway trying to get "Master Class" off the ground, and claiming that the project was in post-production and will be taken on the festival circuit (this was in 2013), she finally gave up and sold the rights to Barbra Streisand, who struck a deal with HBO. Then in June it was announced that Meryl Streep will be starring in the HBO production, with Mike Nichols at the helm.

Poor Faye simply doesn't have the clout she once had.

R63 Meryl! What about US?

There was nothing in the voicemail that R1 linked to that was remotely crazy.

I know it's been a few months, R57, but she was in Albino Alligator in 1996 which got some good reviews at the time. Many predicted a comeback, but it never happened. I suspect Dunston could be blamed for that.

[quote]Nothing happened. No one wanted to watch it, that's all--it was in the bottom 5 shows on the Nielsen lists for the network for every episode they aired.

I stuck out [italic]Bette[/italic] to the bitter end——hoo boy did Robert Hays ever let himself go when he was the replacement husband——but this just didn't interest me.

[quote]I suspect Dunston could be blamed for that.

Not everyone's career suffered from doing a kiddie movie.

Is that his real Instagram?

Bump

No, she's not crazy R1 she just has an ego as big as the sea. She's very old school.

I guess she was a little pissed off in that voice mail she left. "I was brilliant!."

Has Faye ever been honored for lifetime achievement? She really should be. She was a great star but her acting was a bit over the top as her career sort of slid in the late 70's early 80's.

Yes.

Dunaway has always had a fearsome reputation for her temper and for being "difficult". But on the other hand Hollywood directors also have a fearsome reputation for treating actresses like shit.

I think she suffered from a combination of being a high-strung perfectionist who had to butt heads with a lot of Hollywood assholes.

I guess while filming Bonnie & Clyde she and Warren Beatty were sitting in a car and Dunaway really, really needed to use the bathroom. Polanski would not let her out of the car. So Dunaway got a hold of empty paper cup, peed in it and after they were finally done filming the scene Dunaway got out of the car, walked over to Polanski and threw the cup of urine on him.

That's the story anyway.

Its a shame because I always thought Dunaway was truly a great actress and I also thought she was beautiful, she had great, soulful eyes.

I'm sure she is not the world's worst human being, but obviously people were not exactly dying to work with her again. Mommie Dearest was just an excuse for Hollywood to kind of dump her.

Polanski didn't direct Bonnie & Clyde. Art Penn did.

R75 Okay it was Chinatown. Sorry, I got that mixed up. See link below.

Even affable I love everybody Dick Van Dyke diplomatically called Dunaway a "handful."

But didn't he add, "And by that I mean a handful of pure love, a handful of sunshine!" ?

R74, a reporter questioned her about that incident and she got pissed and kicked him out of her place.

bump

She is an imperious narcissist who cares about nothing aside from her work. In other words, she is a Capricorn.

[quote]The Mommie Dearest thing really set her off her rails and her career. As Pauline Kael pointed out, despite the campiness of the script its a really great performance,

Oh, please. The performance may have SOME good, even great moments, but much of it is laughably overacted, campy, and ridiculous.

[quote]I think she would have been amazing as Norma Desmond. It was before her big bout of cosmetic surgery. I'm sure she would have been compelling.

Umm, you also have to be able to SING the role properly, dickwad.

No one mentioned her last MASTERPIECE?

You are losing it!!