Rex Reed: A bold-faced-name life

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Won't beryllium agelong earlier it's clip for "THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE..." The Oscars are 1 period from tonight. And to perceive professional Rex Reed archer it, Gary Oldman could precise good beryllium a victor for his show successful "Darkest Hour." There's plentifulness much wherever that came from, arsenic our Mo Rocca recovered out:

Movie professional Rex Reed has immoderate opinions astir this year's Best Picture Oscar-nominees…

"Call Me By Your Name"? "Terrific movie," helium said.

"Dunkirk"? "Hated it!"

"Get Out"? "Truly 1 of the worst movies I've ever seen, a implicit fraud, that picture. I didn't attraction if each the achromatic men are turned into robots." [For the record, determination are NO robots successful "Get Out."]

And "The Post"? "'The Post' is my favourite movie of the year. I deliberation it's a large movie. You person each these kids making movies today, but they can't comparison to a existent pro similar Spielberg."

Rocca asked, "Are you going to ticker the Oscars?"

"Oh, I ever do. I emotion to ticker the Oscars with a nine sandwich successful bed."

…While fondly remembering the A-List Oscar parties of yesteryear, thrown by his friend, the histrion Polly Bergen.

"And everybody was there," said Reed. "One twelvemonth I watched the Oscars successful Polly's furniture with Lucille Ball on 1 broadside and Paul Newman on the other."

Rex Reed connected this year's Best Picture Oscar nominees 04:16

Reed was sandwiched betwixt those 2 stars due to the fact that determination was a clip erstwhile helium was an A-Lister himself. And successful the precocious 1960s and '70s, his clever opinions made him a fixture connected television.

"That's wherefore I got called backmost again and again," helium laughed. "That's wherefore each of these shows asked maine back, due to the fact that radical weren't saying anything. We're close backmost successful that spot close now. Nobody has an opinion."

But his existent emotion was the movies. "I grew up watching movies due to the fact that I was studying them. I was losing myself successful these movies."

His begetter was a supervisor connected lipid rigs successful the Gulf of Mexico, truthful Reed went to 13 antithetic schools astir the South earlier precocious school.

"You were perpetually having to marque caller friends?" asked Rocca.

"Constantly. And erstwhile they're sitting determination and the teacher is saying, 'This is small Rex Reed. He's the caller student. We each privation to beryllium bully to him!' And they would instrumentality retired their slingshots and digit their slingshots, waiting for recess. No, that doesn't precisely provender security."

He got a grade successful journalism from Louisiana State University, and dreamed of a beingness successful the large city. "I wanted to spell determination wherever radical knew things and they served drinks with umbrellas successful them, similar I saw successful Jane Powell movies."

… So helium headed to New York City, wherever helium made a sanction for himself profiling immoderate precise large names: Warren Beatty, playwright Tennessee Williams, and a much-lauded representation of faded surface siren Ava Gardner. "After it came out, she was quoted arsenic saying, 'That sonofabitch knows much astir maine than I do!'"

In Rex Reed's life, the past is ever present, with photographs of celebrities similar Natalie Wood. "I truly loved Natalie and stayed with her galore times," helium said.

Rocca asked, "I was conscionable wondering, bash you deliberation Robert Wagner killed her?"

"No!" Reed laughed. "There is nary information to that whatsoever!"

And there's Angela Lansbury! ("We've been everyplace together"). And here's Liza Minnelli! (We've been done a batch together.)

Reed was capable of a personage himself to beryllium formed successful a fewer movies, including a notorious 1970 enactment comedy, "Myra Breckinridge," starring Raquel Welch.

myra-breckinridge-john-huston-raquel-welch-mae-west-rex-reed-20th-century-fox.jpg

Rocca said, "If I were truly doing my job, I would person watched 'Myra Breckinridge' earlier this interview."

"No, you're doing yourself a large favour by supporting your IQ, by not watching 'Myra Breckinridge,'" Reed replied.

His ain reappraisal of the experience? "Oh, it was horrible."

And the movie flopped. But it did wage for a 1780 location successful Litchfield County, Connecticut -- adjacent the roadworthy wherever Marilyn Monroe took walks successful blistery pants, and not acold from artist Alexander Calder, who painted a bathtub for a erstwhile proprietor of Reed's home.

Titled "Heaven, Earth and Hell," it features a serpent wearing reddish sunglasses.

Reed, by the way, has ne'er taken a bath successful it. "I'm acrophobic of damaging it. It's priceless."

Rocca asked, "How overmuch is this bathtub worth?"

"Well, I was offered a cardinal dollars for it."

Reed lives present -- and successful New York's famed Dakota Apartments -- solo.

"I don't person a wife. I don't person a boyfriend. I don't person a girlfriend. I'm not comfy with each the things that spell with it," helium said.

Like? "Well, similar telling idiosyncratic wherever you are each the time. I don't privation anybody to inquire me, 'Where were you past night? I tried to scope you with my telephone and you didn't answer.'"

The 79-year-old's opinions are present published online successful the Observer, formerly the New York Observer newspaper, wherever immoderate of his disapproval has travel successful for plentifulness of, well, criticism.

"Oh, I don't apologize for anything," helium said.

Not adjacent his blistering reappraisal of Best Picture nominee "The Shape of Water" ["A loopy, lunkheaded load of drivel"], which confused manager Guillermo del Toro with histrion Benicio del Toro; and got his state of root wrong.

"And you referred to Sally Hawkins' character, who is mute, arsenic mentally handicapped," said Rocca.

"I thought she was mentally handicapped," Reed laughed. "I inactive deliberation her quality was mentally handicapped. She wasn't cooking with 4 burners erstwhile she was crawling done the toilets."

Of course, contiguous everyone's a critic, rather literally, successful the property of societal media.

Rocca asked, "How agelong are you gonna support doing this?"

"Well, I accidental 'It's over' astir always. I don't privation to beryllium discovered dormant successful a seat successful a acheronian screening country and person the headlines read, 'Film professional Rex Reed recovered dormant successful 'Star Wars LXXX.'"

But portion Rex Reed's inactive got beingness successful him, he's got tons of opinions. Here are a few:

"He was drunk each the time."

"She was unspeakable and sold millions of records."

"He was incredibly difficult."

"She's a dreadful actress."

He added, "I should truly larn to talk up."

"Yeah, you truly gotta travel retired of your shell," Rocca suggested.

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