Terry Southern (1924-1995) was an influential writer known for his unique, comic voice. Born in Alvarado, Texas, his first stories were published in Paris, where he lived after WWII. An honorary member of the Paris Review crowd, as well as the “dope-head” contingent of poets and writers on the Left Bank, Southern’s breakthrough novels, first published in Europe, include the poetic FLASH AND FILIGREE, the erotic best-seller CANDY (with Mason Hoffenberg) and the cult-classic about money and pranks: THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN. Peter Sellers was such a fan of that comic novel that he influenced Stanley Kubrick to hire Terry on Dr. Strangelove. Southern’s biting satirical wit displayed in Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider (both recipients of Academy Award Nominations for Best Screenplay) continues to influence generations of writers and directors. Other film credits include: Barbarella, The Loved One, The Cincinnati Kid, and End of the Road. Tom Wolfe credits Terry’s Esquire story, “Twirling at Ole Miss,” as the first instance of New Journalism, and Southern’s novel Blue Movie is considered the holy-grail of unmade Hollywood films.
BOOKS
1958 – Flash and Filigree (UK)
1958 – Candy (with Mason Hoffenberg) (France)
1959 – The Magic Christian (UK)
1962 – Writers in Revolt (ed. wi/ Richard Seaver and Alex Trocci)
1965 – Journal of The Loved One (with William Claxton)
1967 – Red Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes (anthology)
1970 – Blue Movie
1992 – Texas Summer
2002 –NOW DIG THIS (anthology)
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY:
1964 – Dr. Strangelove (with Stanley Kubrick & Peter George)
1965 – The Loved One (with Christopher Isherwood)
1965 – The Collector
1966 – The Cincinatti Kid (with Ring Lardner, Jr.)
1967 – Barbarella
1969 – The Magic Christian
1969 – Easy Rider (with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper)
1970 – End Of The Road (with Aram Avakian)
1975 – Stop Thief! (for TV with William Claxton)
1986 – The Telephone (with Harry Nilsson)