HIGHLIGHTS, OF YESTERDAY'S NEWS"Off the record, on the Q.T. & very ...."
"Off the record, on the Q.T. & very ...."
2002
THE LATEST
ELLROY RETURNS IN JANUARY GQ (12/19/02): James Ellroy returns in the January U.S. edition of GQ with a new piece examining an unsolved, 1965 murder. Details HERE.
OUR NIGHT WITH DICK CONTINO — AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW (12/19/02): If you haven't done so already, check out our exclusive interview with Dick Contino. The piece is split over three pages — an introduction, and two accompanying pages of questions and answers. (Those cursed with short attention spans will want to leap ahead to page 3, which concentrates largely on James Ellroy and his use of Contino as a character.) See it HERE.
SECOND CHANCE AT BRAVO'S L.A. CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTARY (12/2/02): Bravo's excellent Page to Screen documentary of L.A. Confidential will have an encore screening on Sunday, Dec. 8 at noon (EST). See Bravo's official L.A. Confidential site HERE. The documentary contains new interviews with James Ellroy, Curtis Hanson, Brian Helgeland, James Cromwell and Arnon Milchan, among others.
ELLROY MAKES ANOTHER DONATION TO USC (11/14/02): The Ellroy collection at the University of South Carolina has grown again, with the contribution of more manuscripts and memorabilia from Mr. Ellroy himself. Read about it HERE.
BRAVO'S PAGE TO SCREEN TURNS TO L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (11/8/02): Bravo's new series Page to Screen, which focuses on screen adaptations of novels, will feature L.A. Confidential on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. (EST). See Bravo's official L.A. Confidential site HERE.
ELLROY UP FOR IMPAC AWARD (11/4/02): James Ellroy is nominated for the richest of literary prizes, the IMPAC Award, for The Cold Six Thousand. You can see our exclusive interview with recent IMPAC winner Alistair MacLeod HERE. Also, IMPAC has its own Ellroy page: link to that via our CST PAGE.
WINONA: THE WHITE JAZZ GAMBIT (10/31/02): It was probably inevitable: Winona Ryder, once up for the role of sometimes pilferer/thief "Glenda Bledsoe" in White Jazz, brought the film up in recent trial testimony in connection with shop-lifting charges. See it HERE.
AMAZON UK OFFERING DESTINATION MORGUE (10/6/02): The UK edition of the new Ellroy GQ collection is set for a May, 2003 release — months ahead of its American cousin. Reserve your copy HERE.
ELLROY APPEARS IN NEW COLLECTION (10/3/02): One of James Ellroy's GQ pieces has been picked up for a massive new anthology, Writing Los Angeles, now in stores.
NEW NOIR BOOK SITE DEBUTS (9/21/02): A new noir book site has been launched. The site prominently features James Ellroy and his books: Take a look.
PREVIEW OF NEW MURDER INVESTIGATION ARTICLE (8/28/02): James Ellroy has written a new nonfiction piece about the murder of Stephanie Gorman in Los Angeles in 1965. The Gorman piece is slated to appear in the November 2002 U.S. edition of GQ. “She was a young woman — well, girl really — she was sixteen-years-old,” Ellroy previews. “She was murdered inside her own home in a upper-middle class, west-side enclave on Aug. 5, 1965. I've written a piece about the case for GQ magazine that will be published in the November issue. It's a horrible case. I remember exactly…had she lived, she'd be about a year younger than me. I recall my own summer of 1965 when I was seventeen, very vividly and it's a wrenching case and largely unheralded.”
NEW PIECE IN THE SEPTEMBER GQ (8/22/02): The September edition of GQ is a special 45th Anniversary edition that contains another Ellroy essay, this one dubbed "My Weird Sh*t." Nothing too ground-breaking here — it's a kind of melange of earlier GQ pieces, covering his mother's murder, his life with father and his profligate days. GQ also reprints an excerpt of "My Mother's Killer," the early GQ piece that inspired Ellroy's memoir.
ELLROY COLLECTORS TAKE NOTE (8/16/02): You can now get a look at the holy grail for Ellroy collectors — the limited, lettered edition of My Dark Places produced by Scorpion Press. In a very different collector's vein, firearm enthusiasts have a chance to snag an Ellroy roscoe: The Demon Dog is selling his collector's gun collection. You can take a peek HERE. In characteristic fashion, it doesn't stop there: In a fit of bizarre beneficence, Ellroy's proceeds raised from the sale of his gats were pledged to his Kansas City church.
ELLROY DESIGNER PUBLISHES FIRST NOVEL (8/2/02): The Demon Dog’s favorite dust jacket designer, Chip Kidd, has published his first novel. The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters elicited the following blurb from James Ellroy: “Art school in the 50's — for the first and probably definitive time. This wise, funny and ragingly shrewd first novel explodes all the myths of academia and brilliantly builds its own. The world's greatest book-jacket designer finds a second spellbinding artistic voice.” You can read more about the novel, or buy it, HERE. (Specials thanks to Jason Molina for the tip).
HBO MINISERIES SCRIBE INTERVIEWED (7/30/02): The screenwriter who will adapt American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand was recently interviewed.
FIRST LOOK AT DARK BLUE MOVIE POSTER (7/24/02): Take a first look at the one-sheet for Dark Blue, set to be released this fall. (Special thanks to Brandon Pleake for the tip).
ELLROY: NEW GQ COLLECTION (7/16/02): We were the first to release the titles of The Cold Six Thousand and Police Gazette. We were the first to tell you of Ellroy's new October 2002 mystery collection. Another scoop: Destination: Morgue.
ELLROY HAS NEW ARTICLE IN JULY GQ (6/21/02): Ellroy's long promised profile of L.A. District Attorney Steve Cooley appears in the July 2002 edition of the U.S. GQ.
KANSAS CITY STAR ARTICLE: NEW COLLECTION IN SUMMER, 2003 (6/15/02): An article from a recent edition of the Kansas City Star notes that Ellroy's second collection of GQ articles will appear next summer. It also reveals that the author is leaving Kansas City for parts unknown. Read it HERE. Plus, a second article from the Cold Six Thousand tour — this one out of Denver.
COLD SIX THOUSAND RELEASED IN PAPERBACK (6/11/02): The paperback edition of the The Cold Six Thousand is now in stores. Ellroy will go on the road in a few days to kick off his tour to support the release. Check HERE to see if he's coming to a bookstore near you.
ELLROY TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED (6/5/02): The full listing of James Ellroy's 2002 tour dates is now posted.
VAKVAGANY REVIEW POSTED (6/5/02): Our review of the new experimental film Vakvagany which stars James Ellroy can be seen HERE.
KILLER ON THE ROAD FILM ANNOUNCED (5/23/02): Two British film companies are joining forces to adapt Ellroy's novel Silent Terror/Killer on the Road for the screen. Details HERE.
ELLROY APPEARS IN NEW FILM (5/22/02): James Ellroy makes an appearance in the new Benjamin Meade film Vakvagany. Details HERE.
BLACK DAHLIA SCRIPT REVIEW (5/15/02): The script for the possible David Fincher Black Dahlia adaptation has been posted at IGN Film Force. Read it HERE.
DARK BLUE SET FOR SEPTEMBER RELEASE (5/5/02): The Kurt Russell film based on an original Ellroy script is scheduled to be released this fall. The Dark Blue page has also been updated and several new links added.
FINCHER AGAIN CONSIDERING DAHLIA FILM (4/25/02): Director David Fincher is again thinking about an adaptation of Ellroy's Black Dahlia. Reportedly, it's between Dahlia, and, (dear God), Mission Impossible 3. Fincher admits in the Guardian article he still doesn't have the right Dahlia script.
ELLROY ON CNN REGARDING BOBBY BLAKE (4/25/02): James Ellroy appeared on the TODAY show Monday (see item below) and on CNN the same day to discuss the Robert Blake murder case. The CNN appearance earned Ellroy a couple of mentions in a column in the Chicago Sun Times.
ELLROY SPEAKS TO TODAY ABOUT BLAKE (4/24/02): James Ellroy appeared on the TODAY show Monday morning (4/22/02) to discuss the Robert Blake murder case.
ELLROY TO EDIT NEW BOOK DUE IN OCTOBER (4/22/02): James Ellroy will edit and write an introduction for a new anthology of mystery short fiction to appear this October. Details HERE.
ELLROY: THE 2002 BOOK TOUR (4/19/02): It appears James Ellroy will be touring in support of the release of the paperback edition of The Cold Six Thousand. The first released appearance date is in San Francisco. Information on that appearance, as well as other tour updates, will be posted on The Cold Six Thousand page.
TREMOR OF INTENT, REDUX (4/18/02): One year ago, we released our exclusive, highly-praised interview with James Ellroy, then touring for the hardcover edition of The Cold Six Thousand. To celebrate the pending paperback release of the novel, we present a heavily revised and expanded version of that interview, containing material never seen in North America. See it HERE.
DAVID DUCHOVNY CAST AS ELLROY (4/10/02): David Duchovny has been cast to portray James Ellroy in the film adaptation of Ellroy's memoir My Dark Places. Ellroy is participating in the project, and his pick to play his mother is China Beach star Dana Delaney. More HERE.
MORE ON HELEN KNODE'S FIRST NOVEL (4/10/02): You can get a first look at Helen Knode's first novel, as well as a synopsis, HERE. The novel centers around a movie critic for a West Coast L.A. alternative newspaper and two murders committed 58 years apart. Knode is described as a "startling" and "original" voice.
ELLROY WRITES IN TV GUIDE (4/8/02): The current edition of TV Guide (April 6-12) kicks off the magazine's 50th anniversary celebration. In an article entitled "TV We'll Always Remember," various stars and writers are asked to contribute comments regarding their favorite TV shows. James Ellroy writes of his love for The Fugitive, starring David Janssen. Excerpt from Ellroy's essay: "I was with this guy," Ellroy writes. "I transposed all my teenage angst against his flight from the police...It was the only show I ever watched."
DARK PLACES HEADED TO ZOETROPE (3/4/02): It appears the long-discussed film adaptation of Ellroy’s memoir, “My Dark Places,” may be moving ahead. Myriad Pictures has agreed to finance five new films to be produced by Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope. The film based on Ellroy’s book is among the five. Robert Greenwald is still mentioned as director. Other films included in the deal include an adaptation of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road," and a film about Alfred Kinsey. The films will be distributed in the U.S. by MGM/UA.
FIRST GLIMPSES OF DARK BLUE (2/5/02): A few shots from the upcoming Ellroy-scripted film "Dark Blue" have been posted. (Thanks to Mark White of Cahiers Du Cinemart for the tip.)
BRUCE WILLIS & ELLROY HBO MINISERIES (1/10/02): Word comes from Reuters of a possible deal between Bruce Willis and HBO to mount a miniseries based on "American Tabloid" and "The Cold Six Thousand." The article breaking that news also alludes to a possible Ellroy talk show....More HERE.
TERRORISM PROMPTS TITLE CHANGE (12/28/01): Plague Season has been given yet another name, according to an article about musician Master P that appeared recently on All Hip Hop.Com: “In the Spring of 2002, Master P will appear in "Dark Blue," which was originally titled ‘Plague Season,’” according to All Hip Hop.Com. “While the film is based on the Rodney King beatings, the executives at MGM didn't want to frighten away possible movie go'ers, afraid they would associate the film’s title with the current anthrax scare. The movie, which was due in theaters this past September, also features will Kurt Russell (Sgt. Eldon Perry, Jr.), Scott Speedman (Bobby Tedrow), Ving Rhames (Deputy Chief Arthur Holland), Brendan Gleeson, Kurupt and the lovely Michael Michele.”
MITCH BRIAN OFFERS FILM COURSE (12/28/01): Aspiring filmmakers in the Kansas City area may be interested in a course being instructed by filmmaker Mitch Brian in early 2002. Brian is the writer/director of the excellent Ellroy-based short Stay Clean and is working with Ellroy on the Lana Turner-related project Detour.
CUSACK ON WHITE JAZZ (12/20/01): Empire Online recently interviewed John Cusack, who noted White Jazz will likely go before cameras early next year. “I think we’re filming in January or February (2002),” Cusack said, “they’re waiting to put the financing together.” Cusack, who will play Junior Stemmons, went on to say, “There are three scripts that I’ve read that I thought were sterling in the past five years, Being John Malkovich, Max and White Jazz.” The actor continued: “It’s set in 50s Los Angeles — typical James Ellroy insanity — really dark but very kind of dreamscapey.”
ELLROY JOINS NEW SYNDICATE (12/20/01): Ron Curran, an altnernative press veteran, is planning his own news and feature service to be launched by April 2002. Titled “Pulp Syndicate,” “the service will go up against the more established AlterNet, launched in the mid-1980s by the non-profit Independent Media Institute (which was then known as the Institute for Alternative Journalism), “ according to aan news. “A former editor and writer at LA Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Curran already has some writers lined up, including James Ellroy, the best-selling author of LA Confidential....”
WINONA, WHITE JAZZ, AND... (12/18/01): A few weeks ago we broke the report that Winona Ryder was in talks to portray Glenda Bledsoe in an adaptation of White Jazz. Then there were those other reports about Ms. Ryder. Oddly, one reporter, detailing Winona's recent arrest, did so in distinctly Ellroyean fashion, though no mention is made of her possible involvement in an Ellroy film. We present that report, as an oddity, HERE.
FEAST OF DEATH IN FLORIDA (12/18/01): The Ellroy documentary Feast of Death will be screened at the Miami Film Festival, which runs Jan. 24-Feb. 3. Check the Festival's official site for details.
CRIME FACTORY ELLROY INTERVIEW (12/5/01): An alternative version (with previously unseen material) of our well-received exclusive Ellroy's World interview with James Ellroy will appear in a forthcoming, special "hardboiled" edition of the Australia-based magazine Crime Factory. Click HERE to learn more about Crime Factory, or to subscribe to the magazine. You can also read an article about the magazine's founder, David Honeybone, HERE.
COLD SIX THOUSAND: THE PAPERBACKS (12/5/01): The U.K. paperback edition of "The Cold Six Thousand" will debut on May 2, 2002. The U.S. paperback will be released in June 2002.
PUBLICATION DATE SET FOR HELEN KNODE NOVEL (11/20/01): Helen Knode's first published novel is entitled "The Ticket Out." The book will be published by Harcourt Brace and the current target publication date is set for Fall 2002.
ELLROY PAPERS TO BE OPENED (11/12/01): According to news sources, James Ellroy manuscripts and correspondence donated in 1999 to the University of South Carolina are expected to be catalogued and opened to researchers by year's end. More on the archive, and a related collectible created to mark the donation HERE.
ELLROY RETURNS IN NOVEMBER GQ (10/27/01): James Ellroy has been declared GQ's 2001 Writer of the Year. He also contributes a short essay on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 in the November 2001 U.S. edition of GQ. More HERE.
ELLROY PIECE IN NEW O'REILLY BOOK (10/17/01): The first post-"Cold Six Thousand" Ellroy prose piece is now in print. James Ellroy contributes an afterword to the just-released second non-fiction hardcover from Fox News titan Bill O'Reilly. Order the book HERE, or click HERE to read more.
ELLROY PROFILED IN NEW BOOK (10/8/01): A new collection of interviews conducted by Lawrence Grobel includes a long, interesting profile of James Ellroy. Other authors profiled include Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer and Joyce Carol Oates. More HERE.
ELLROY & COURT TV? (10/8/01): Court TV recently approached this site in order to contact James Ellroy about possible TV and Web projects. Will anything come of this? You'll know when we know.
ELLROY PROFILED IN THE WRITER (8/26/01): The September 2001 issue of The Writer magazine contains a profile of Ellroy written by Dorman Shindler (other pieces by Shindler, who is based in Kansas City, have appeared elsewhere in recent months). This piece, entitled, "Fierce Ambition," focuses, as the title of the magazine implies, on Ellroy the writer. Ellroy reiterates his intent to finish the current trilogy, then follow up with a profile of President Warren G. Harding.
COLD SIX THOUSAND UPDATE (8/12/01): Several more reviews and interviews related to the U.S. release of The Cold Six Thousand have been posted on our CST page. Be sure to check out the verbatim transcript of a discussion with Ellroy conducted while touring the LBJ Library.
MORE INFO ON ELLROY USA NETWORK PROJECT (8/3/01): More details about the new USA Network/Ellroy miniseries recently appeared in the L.A. Times: "The project will weave together fictional and real-life characters, à la Ragtime, tackling topics such as the early movie pioneers and the Zoot Suit Riots through the prism of the writer — a native Angeleno currently living in Kansas. 'We won't jump over the hot spots and do the Reader's Digest version,' Greenwald maintains. 'James puts a different lens on a scene — he doesn't seem to breathe the same air the rest of us do. It's risky, of course — but those projects are often the most successful. Two years ago, who would have characterized American Beauty, Traffic, The Sopranos as mainstream?' Greenwald first met Ellroy in the mid-1990s and optioned his next book sight unseen. He's now turning My Dark Places — Ellroy's investigation into his mother's murder — into a feature film for Myriad Pictures, to start shooting late this year. Assisting Greenwald is Bill Stoner, a retired homicide detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. who was instrumental in reopening the still-unsolved case. Stoner and fellow detectives also are seen chewing over grisly crimes with the writer at the Pacific Dining Car in the documentary James Ellroy's Feast of Death, which premiered on the BBC last month. Director Vikram Jayanti (co-producer of "When We Were Kings") is now seeking U.S. distribution."
JAMES WOODS NIXES 'DARK PLACES' ROLE (8/3/01): Speaking of Greenwald's adaptation of Ellroy's memoir, E's Anderson Jones recently reported James Woods, who previously played Lloyd Hopkins in "Cop" and Mickey Cohen in an adaptation of "Since I Don't Have You," turned down a starring role in "My Dark Places." According to Jones: "The unusually prolific actor has passed on a film adaptation of James Ellroy's most personal true-crime tome, My Dark Places: An L.A. Crime Memoir, because it's an autobiographical exploration of his mother's unsolved murder when he was 10. "It's almost too good for people to get it," says Woods, adding, "When it comes to film, you want to see the murder solved."
CBS ELLROY AIRED SUNDAY MORNING (8/3/01): CBS Sunday Morning finally aired its twice postponed Ellroy/Cold Six Thousand piece on Sunday, July 29. Here's the CBS tease: "James Ellroy, self-styled Demon Dog of American Literature, explores the darkest corners of American culture. In his memoir, 'My Dark Places,' he cast an unflinching look back at his mother’s murder, and hired a private detective to track down the killer. His latest book, 'The Cold Six Thousand,' is a novel that imagines the murders of JFK, RFK and MLK from the point of view of the killers. Anthony Mason introduces us to this fearless writer whose celebrated books are a raw riff on the darkness swirling beneath the American Dream."
ELLROY: THE NEXT TEN YEARS (5/25/01): Like surprises? Skip this blurb. Still here? Read on: In late May, James Ellroy shared his master plan for the next several years: “Four years hence, the sequel to ‘The Cold Six Thousand.’” Two years after that, the Warren Harding book will follow. “Five years hence, a huge book about two generations of policeman in Wisconsin. I’m exhausted already. And I’m 60-years-old....More will be revealed. God isn’t through with me. I’ve got a lot of books in me.” Ellroy added that prior to the release of Volume 3 of “The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy,” another collection of his GQ fiction/nonfiction will appear.
THE FATE OF DUDLEY SMITH (5/25/01): There has been a good deal of debate among Ellroy Yahoo Club members about the fate of Dudley Smith and Ellroy's handling of Dudley's fall. Ellroy himself recently shared his take on the matter, and describes Smith's status in the spring/summer of 2001: "Dudley Smith lives. He is 96-years-old. He wears an eye-patch. He’s in and out of lucidity. The moral of his survival is that the man survived, but the karma of his survival is that he survives impaired and beyond inflicting pain."
NEW CONTINO NOVELLA IN THE WORKS (5/25/01): James Ellroy announced in May he is working on a new piece centered around Dick Contino. Entitled, "Nightclub Inferno," the new novella will likely first appear in a future edition of GQ. The new novella will also possibly feature actress Joi Lansing. For the benefit of those who may be new to the site and Ellroy, here is the author's short take on the novella's projected protagonists:
"Dick Contino is a real life accordionist and Red Scare victim who got screwed over in 1951 America because he briefly deserted the United States Army. Now, the truth is, the accordion is a very limited production for just about anybody. Even in the late-Forties, early 1950s. Frankly, rock and roll cut Dick Contino off at the pass. I couldn’t have invented him. Look for him in my two previously published novellas, 'Dick Contino’s Blues' and 'Hollywood Shakedown' and look for him in the upcoming novella, 'Nightclub Inferno.'
"Joi Lansing was a good-looking blonde, and, who knows? Did she really rub shoulders and other body parts with Dick Contino — donkey Dick Contino? You’ll find out in 'Nightclub Inferno.'”
