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Twenty years after it was first staged, Tracy Letts’s play Bug has much to say about the character and tone of our times. Its fatalism and frantic pitch, brilliantly translated to the screen by film director William Friedkin in 2006, captures widely felt personal and political anxieties in a culture that craves comfort but fears control.In connecting a symbol of surveillance with a synonym for illness, the title of Letts’s play neatly points to a pathology: rabid suspicion towards the state, epitomized in extreme terms in the character of Peter Evans—a paranoid schizophrenic and conspiracy theorist. Neither justifying nor condemning the moral and legal implications of surveillance, Bug stands out among recent work dealing with the subject, in leaving open to question the very fact that its main characters, Peter and Agnes, are being watched by unseen parties. The rising, feverish anxiety of Letts’s work is...

Character actor Michael Shannon is best known for his intense, visceral performances, often playing troubled, disturbed characters who exist on society’s margins. But like most contemporary actors, Shannon also has a soft, silly side that shows itself infrequently, like his appearance in the stoner holiday comedy “The Night Before,” his violent cameo in David Wain’s “They Came Together,” and his recent turn as Elvis in “Elvis and Nixon.” However, if for whatever reason you wanted to see Shannon lip sync on television, you will now have your chance. On Thursday’s episode of Spike TV’s “Lip Sync Battle,” Shannon will perform The Pixies’s 1989 song “Here Comes Your Man” off of their seminal album “Doolittle.” He will be facing off against “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” creator and star Rachel Bloom. Watch a teaser for the performance above.

Read More: Interview: Michael Shannon Talks ‘Midnight Special,’ ‘Nocturnal Animals,’ Herzog’s ‘Salt And Fire’ & Working With Jeff Nichols

Shannon has been acting on stage and screen since 1991 after getting his start in Chicago theatre. He originated the role of Peter Evans in Tracy Letts’ acclaimed 1996 play “Bug,” which was later adapted into a 2006 film. He first came to attention for his role in “8 Mile,” playing the boyfriend of Eminem’s mother. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road,” co-starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. He gained further acclaim for his performances in the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” Jeff Nichols’ “Take Shelter” and “Mud,” “Premium Rush,” and most recently in “99 Homes” and “Midnight Special.”

“Lip Sync Battle” airs Thursday night at 10pm Eastern on Spike TV.

Read More: Michael Shannon Reteams With Jeff Nichols For ‘Loving’

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James Norton is set to star on London's West End. The 30-year-old actor - who made a name for himself playing Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in 'War and Peace' - is to take on the lead role of Peter Evans, an abusive husband who is left alone after his troubled wife Agnes leaves him, in 'Bug'. Speaking of his character, he told the Daily Mail newspaper: ''He's a vulnerable soul; a conspiracy theorist gone mad, I feel like he's a time bomb. Society can become an unhealthy pressure cooker -- and he just happens to be the first popcorn that pops.'' The hunky actor...

It’s a new year and film fans are looking forward to this year’s crop of movies. Some are more anticipated than others. Here is an alphabetical list of 14 of my most eagerly awaited films for 2014.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: The first of several planned sequels to The Amazing Spider-Man ups the ante this time with three villains: Electro (Jamie Foxx), the Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and the Green Goblin (Chris Cooper). There is also a rumor that Felicity Jones may be playing the Black Cat. In the film, our arachnid hero learns more about the mystery of his parent’s deaths while the threat from Oscorp and its reclusive owner Norman Osborn begins to grow. Andrew Garfield reprises his role of the heroic Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and Emma Stone is back as his lovely love interest Gwen Stacy. Marc Webb directs. The film comes out on May 2 nd.

Fans of Anna Paquin and her mutant character Rogue will not be happy to hear that the editing ax has struck hard. Director Bryan Singer has removed Rogue completely during his final cut for the theatrical release of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Poor Rogue. The popular comic book mutant hero was sadly underused in the original X-Men cinematic trilogy. Anna Paquin—who played the character in the three films—has gone on record about her disappointment that the theatrical Rogue wasn’t as tough or powerful as the comic counterpart. Well, the disrespect continues because Rogue/Paquin has been chopped out of the film by merciless editing, like Wolverine carving up a bad guy.

Although Paquin’s participation has been advertised—along with other returning cast members from the trilogy—director Bryan Singer has found it artistically necessary to cut Rogue out of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Singer...

FX officially ordered another 13-episode season of “American Horror Story.”

According to John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions, the miniseries will get a fourth season thanks for its amazing creative team.

“Put simply, Ryan Murphy is a master television producer,” Landgraf explained. “Time and time again he reinvents the form. What he, co-creator Brad Falchuk and their producers Dante Di Loreto, Tim Minear, Jennifer Salt, James Wong, Brad Buecker, Jessica Sharzer, Douglas Petrie, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Alexis Martin Woodall and the entire production team and cast responsible for the American Horror Story franchise have done is nothing short of extraordinary. Every year, they create a riveting and brilliant new miniseries. 'Ahs: Coven' is the best yet, and I have no doubt that the next installment will be even better.”

Since its debut, “American Horror Story” has a combined totally of 34 Emmy nominations, with “Murder House” tying for the...

The former MGM international publicity director died at his home in Cape Town, South Africa, on Jul 31. He was 84.

Edwards’ son Nicolas, said his death was quite sudden and added that he had been unwell for the past few months.

Born in Sutton-in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England, on Apr 4 1929, George William Edwards began his film career in London in 1952 at the trade paper Kine Weekly after three years in the Royal Navy and two as a reporter for the Sheffield (England) Star.

He joined MGM in 1961 as a unit publicist and became the studio’s European publicity director, working on such films as The V.I.P.s, The Yellow Rolls Royce and The Dirty Dozen.

He enjoyed a warm working relationship with Sophia Loren, with whom he collaborated on Operation Crossbow, Lady L and The Countess From Hong Kong.

In his recently published biography, Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations, co- author...

New York, Jun 17: American actress Ava Gardner's turbulent life has been compiled in a new book called 'Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations.'

In January 1988, Gardner, who was ravaged by booze and cigarettes and a recent stroke, asked British journalist Peter Evans to ghost write her memoirs, the New York Post reported.

The book features the one time screen goddess' deathbed confessions.

Among the shocking revelations featured in the book is the fact that her first husband Mickey Rooney was such a womanizer that he cheated on Gardner while she was recovering from an appendectomy in the hospital.

The book also.

Here’s a good question: Has Michael Shannon ever played a normal guy? You know, just your average, every day, run-of-the-mill sort?

There’s just something about Shannon that makes Hollywood think "nut job," to the point that it was probably inevitable that he was cast as the villainous General Zod in "Man of Steel." It's hard to pick the nine craziest roles of a man known for almost always bringing the crazy, but if we had to choose ...

9. Bobby Monday, 'Premium Rush' (2012)

He's a cop with a severe gambling addiction, and he's chasing after Joseph Gordon-Levitt on a bicycle. Honestly, does it get much wackier than that? Well, when you're Michael Shannon it's hard to say, but that doesn't make his villainous turn in "Premium Rush" any less crazy. In fact, he's totally f***ing nuts in this as he tries to recover a high-stakes boat ticket...

This story first appeared in the June 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Vanity Fair trumpeted a splashy excerpt in its July issue of late author Peter Evans' conversations with Ava Gardner -- they'd embarked on an authorized biography together in January 1988 until she got cold feet and pulled out. Turns out Gardner was playing the field: Larry Grobel -- a veteran scribe who has done books with Marlon Brando and Al Pacino -- tells THR he, too, spent months interviewing Gardner at her behest, also beginning in January 1988. But he pulled out to finish a tome with John Huston. (The writers seem to have been unaware they were concurrently working with

read more...

If you're a Michael Shannon fan (and if you're not, take a long hard look at your life), this month is probably going to go well for you. His take on iconic Superman villain General Zod has been front and centre in the marketing for Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, which hits cinemas next week.

In the meantime, Shannon stars in true-crime thriller The Iceman, turning in another mesmerically intense performance as impassive and ruthless contract killer Richard Kuklinski.

Digital Spy looks back at five of Shannon's most notable previous roles.

Bug (2006)

Adapted by Tracy Letts (Killer Joe) from his own stage play, Bug rivals The Exorcist as William Friedkin's most disturbing film to date. Shannon plays psychotic war veteran Peter Evans, who literally drives Ashley Judd's lonely waitress insane over a period of days, gradually convincing her that their shared motel room is becoming infested by insects.

My Los Angeles holiday gave me a chance to read The Richard Burton Diaries*, which were published at the end of last year (reviewed at the time in The Guardian here).

One of the fascinating aspects of the diaries was the actor's relationship with journalists. Though he loved to read newspapers, he didn't have much time for the people who wrote them.

He was, as many journalists reported during his lifetime (1925-1984), very friendly towards most of them. He ate and drank with them, and appeared at ease in their company. But, in private, he clearly despised them.

A voracious reader of books and papers, his diaries contain several references to his enjoyment in reading the International Herald Tribune and the British Sunday papers. At one point, he reveals that his then wife, Elizabeth Taylor, loved him to read out stories from the News of the World.

On 11 November 1968, he...

Film

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is a landmark film, truly one of the greatest ever made and perhaps filmmaker Luis Buñuel’s finest (it’s certainly my favorite of his). It’s also so much fun. Buñuel’s anger at institutions was long and storied, and his films were frequently calls for outright anarchy, but Discreet Charm was a turn away from the bitterness and meanness of films like The Exterminating Angel or Los Olvidados towards a genial bemusement at the absurdity of upper-class life. Telling the story of a group of friends whose attempts to get together for dinner are thwarted first by simple misunderstandings, and later by more elaborate, surreal interventions, you get the sense that he’s somewhere, just offscreen, laughing at the whole endeavor, and inviting us to do likewise.

So for those of the opinion that a filmmaker must love or sympathize with his characters,...

by Vadim Rizov

William Friedkin's 2006 adaptation of Tracy Letts' first play Bug was a model of superior handling of inferior material. There was nothing wrong with the set-up: paranoid but polite combat vet Peter Evans (Michael Shannon) sucks vulnerable waitress Agnes White (Ashley Judd) into his delusion that his body is filled with government-designed microbes. The rising hysteria gestured towards metaphorical topicality without arriving at a point. Friedkin's virtuoso direction nonetheless amped up the tension one fractional zoom at a time, and his camerawork is similarly vigorous in Killer Joe, an adaptation of Letts' second, even more directionless play. Once again, a well-mannered outside menace—cop/contract killer Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey)—is introduced into already unstable lives with fatal results. If the point this time is comparably obscure, the results confirm the now 77-year-old Friedkin's ability to get a rise out of viewers in irresponsible but jolting ways.

Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney has released a new campaign for Lexus that targets the ‘trend-setting, technology-savvy, fast-moving, 35+ audience’.

Saatchi & Saatchi Ecd Damon Stapleton said:“Let’s face it, we drive luxury cars because of how it makes us feel, so we thought it was important to find a way to share what driving a Lexus actually feels like.”

Credits:

Saatchi & Saatchi

Executive Creative Director: Damon Stapleton

Creative Director: Steve Carlin

Creative team: Steve May/Nils Eberhardt

Executive Planning Director: Jason Lonsdale

Planning team: Jonathan Daly/Bonnie MacTavish

Group Account Director: Jasmin Barnes

Account Director: Lizzy Bourke

Lexus Australia

Peter Evans

Yolande Waldock

Others

TV Production: Radical Media

TV Director: Christian Aeby

Digital: The White Agency

Photography: John Higginson...

You know those actors who fall into that category of "He/she is mega-familiar and always great, but I can’t remember their name"? For most of you, Michael Shannon probably fits snugly into that ballpark.

Despite having an Academy Award nomination and starring in a slew of high-profile flicks including "Bad Boys II" and "8 Mile," Shannon has remained relatively off the grid of superstardom. The reason? He's been playing second fiddle in most of his projects, turning in stellar work that helps his costars shine. That’s all about to change.

With a deservedly buzzed-about lead performance in the Sundance hit "Take Shelter" (it opens in limited release this Friday) and an upcoming baddie turn as General Zod in Zack Snyder's Superman reboot "Man of Steel," Shannon is on his way to becoming a household name. It's high time this happened. As an actor, Shannon has paid his dues.

Ashley Zukerman was born in Santa Monica, California, but was raised in Australia after his family moved to the Melbourne area when he was two. He went to Wesley College in Melbourne on the Glen Waverley campus, then went on to attend the Victorian College of the Arts, graduating in 2006. He started on the stage, shining in a well-regarded performance in the play The History Boys with the Melbourne Theatre Company, which was directed by Peter Evans. In 2010, he became known in the United States in his role in HBO’s miniseries, The Pacific.

Zukerman is best known for his strong performance in the Australian police drama, Rush. His character in that show, Senior Constable Michael Sandrelli, is one in which his performance earned a nomination for Australia’s prestigious 2009 Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent. He also co-founded a production company called Inside Job Productions.

In Terra Nova,...

• Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener, City of God, 360 in the works) plans to direct a biopic of Aristotle Onassis, adapted for the screen by his City of God scripter Bráulio Mantovani, based on Peter Evans’s best-selling book Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys. The film, thankfully, will simply be titled Onassis, and will focus on the Greek shipping tycoon's relationship with Robert Kennedy, not his second marriage--to Jackie Kennedy--for which he is better known (pictured together). As Vulture describes it: "As attorney general, Bobby had investigated Onassis’s sketchy international business practices and banned him from trading with the U.S., and Evans wrote that their rivalry over control of and access to ...

...

Vulture is reporting that a biopic of Aristotle Onassis, the Greek shipping magnate who died in 1975, is currently looking to be made by director Fernando Meirelles and screenwriter Bráulio Mantovani, the pair who respectively directed and wrote the brilliant Brazilian film City of God. The news alone that the pair are going to be working together on a new project is excellent, and I can’t wait for this project to reach our screens.

The film is said to be based on the book by Peter Evans, Nemesis: The True Story. Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down The Kennedys. The book looks at the early relationship between Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of John F. Kennedy, who married Onassis in 1968. Evans looks at the effect this had on the Kennedy family and the feud it created between them and Onassis, in particular with Robert Kennedy,...

Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener) is rejoining with his City of God penner Bráulio Mantovani on a biopic of Aristotle Onassis called, enough, Onassis. Vulture reports that it’s set up at France’s Pathe, and that Meirelles is said to have described the upcoming feature as:

a sort of Godfather, with Onassis at the center.”

The film, which is in early stages at this point, is based on Nemesis: The truth Story of…, Peter Evans’s biography of Aristotle Onassis, Ari that uncovers the shocking height of the Kennedy-Onassis-Kennedy love triangle: Onassis was at the heart of the conspiracy to slay Bobby Kennedy!

Carefully tracing Onassis’ relations in the world of terrorism, Nemesis presents convincing evidence that Ari financed the elimination– including an upsetting confession that has gone unreported for almost thirty years.

The Greek shipping magnate is today best known for marrying Jacqueline Kennedy the widow of President John F. Kennedy.

"The Constant Gardener" and "City Of God" director Fernando Meirelles is re-teaming with 'God' scribe Bráulio Mantovani on "Onassis", a potentially controversial biopic of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and his relationship with the Kennedys reports Vulture.

Based on Peter Evans’ book “Nemesis”, the story will apparently focus on Aristotle’s contentious relationship with Bobby Kennedy, the latter had Onassis' business practices investigated and barred him from trading within the United States.

Evans asserts that the power struggle, which included a battle over access to Jackie O, got so heated that Aristotle eventually helped finance the assassination of Bobby. Meirelles sees it as "a sort of Godfather, with Onassis at the center".

Director Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener, Blindness) is reuniting with his 'City of God' screenwriter, Bráulio Mantovani for a biopic on Aristotle Onassis, a shipping magnate who achieved much success in his lifetime. Though a renown business man, Onassis is best known for having married the widow of President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy. The film, simply titled 'Onassis,' is said to be based on the best-selling book from author Peter Evans, 'Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys.' Why the movie isn't opting for a brief title like that is anybody's guess. The book centers on a feud between Onassis and John F. Kennedy's younger brother, Robert Kennedy in which Robert had banned Onassis from trading with the United States. Meirelles is said to have described the upcoming film as:  "a sort of Godfather,...

This may not be the City of God reunion anyone was expecting, but it has the potential to be great anyway. Given that The Kennedys got shafted, that may be making way for a whole different kind of Kennedy story. Vulture reports that City of God, The Constant Gardener, Blindness director Fernando Meirelles (L) is re-teaming with screenwriter Bráulio Mantovani, who wrote City of God, to develop a biopic called Onassis about the infamous Aristotle Onassis, who is said to be behind the two assassinations of the Kennedys. And they're going epic on this. Meirelles "sees it as a sort of Godfather, with Onassis at the center." Bring it on! For those who don't know, Aristotle Onassis was a prominent Greek shipping magnate of the 20th century. He married the widow of President JFK, Jacqueline Kennedy, in 1968. This will be based on Peter Evans' best-selling book Nemesis: The True...

Fernando Meirelles is reteaming with screenwriter Braulio Mantovani on a new project about the life of the Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Meirelles was nominated for an Oscar for directing and Mantovani for adapting the screenplay for City of God, one of my favorite films.

According to Vulture, the screenplay is being adapted from Peter Evans’ novel Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys. Here is the book's synopsis from Amazon:

Peter Evans’s biography of Aristotle Onassis, Ari, met with great acclaim when it was published in 1986. Ari provided the world with an unprecedented glimpse of the Greek shipping magnate’s orbit of dizzying wealth, twisted intrigues, and questionable mores. Not long after the book appeared, however, Onassis’s daughter Christina and his longtime business partner Yannis Georgakis hinted to Evans that he had missed the “real story...

Fernando Meirelles, the Oscar-nominated director of City of God, which is widely considered to be one of the most notable cinematic achievements of the past decade, has announced that his next possible directorial project will revolve around the life of the Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Braulio Mantovani, who earned an Oscar nomination for adapting City of God, will re-team with Meirelles once again to pen the ambitious biopic. [Vulture/New York Magazine]

Mantovani‘s screenplay will be specifically adapted from Peter Evans’ novel Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys. Part of the extensive Amazon synopsis reads as follows and, as advertised, Evans’ works delves mainly into Onassis’ sketchy relationship with Bobby Kennedy:

Peter Evans’s biography of Aristotle Onassis, Ari, met with great acclaim when it was published in 1986. Ari provided the world with an unprecedented glimpse of the Greek...

Both of them apparently fond of Oscar-nominations, director Fernando Meirelles and scribe Braulio Mantovani (each nominated for their work on City of God) are joining forces once again to bring together an Aristotle Onassis biopic. Vulture reports that the project, currently entitled Onassis, will be based on the Peter Evans book Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys. The report cites sources close to the project who claim that Meirelles sees the film as "a sort of Godfather, with Onassis at the center." Briefly, Onassis was a wealthy businessman in the international shipping industry who married JFK's widow, Jackie, in 1968. As a result of his rocky personal and business relationship with Robert Kennedy, Onassis has been alleged to have helped fund his assassination in 1968. For more on the source material for Meirelles and Mantovani's Onassis, hit the jump to...

While it didn't get more glamorous when John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier tied the knot, after the President passed on she entered another high profile power marriage with Greek shipping magnate nm1238516 autoAristotle Onassis[/link]. And now it looks he's about to get his own movie that will profile his touchy relationship with the Kennedys. Vulture reports that director Fernando Meirelles is teaming with his "City Of God" screenwriter Bráulio Mantovani on the appropriately named "Onassis." Based on Peter Evans’ book "Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys" the…...

Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles has worked on large-scale storytelling before since his international hit City of God, about two young boys coming-of-age in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. According to Vulture, the director of The Constant Gardener and Blindness moved forward with plans to make a biopic of Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis with producer Pathé. Meirelles planned to work alongside his City of God writer Braulio Mantovana on adapting the Peter Evans book Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys.

Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles has worked on large-scale storytelling before since his international hit City of God, about two young boys coming-of-age in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. According to Vulture, the director of The Constant Gardener and Blindness moved forward with plans to make a biopic of Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis with producer Pathé. Meirelles planned to work alongside his City of God writer Braulio Mantovana on adapting the Peter Evans book Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys.

Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles has worked on large-scale storytelling before since his international hit City of God, about two young boys coming-of-age in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. According to Vulture, the director of The Constant Gardener and Blindness moved forward with plans to make a biopic of Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis with producer Pathé. Meirelles planned to work alongside his City of God writer Braulio Mantovana on adapting the Peter Evans book Nemesis: The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle That Brought Down the Kennedys.

“It’s ridiculous! it just came out of nowhere. I’m talking to my agent and she goes, ‘How about Superman?’ ‘What?’ The idea that I would ever be in Superman. ‘Are you serious?’”

This is Boardwalk Empire star Michael Shannon commenting about his recent casting in the upcoming Man of Steel film as General Zod in Zack Snyder’s new Superman film. The actor made these and other remarks recently at the RiverRun International Film Festival. He did not reveal the capacity of how we will find Zod in the story, but just how excited and gracious he was to play the character and that he hasn’t even read a script yet.

“So I go meet him [Zack Snyder] and he’s seriously sitting there and he’s telling me – he’s like ‘You can’t read the script, so I’m just gonna tell you what happens.’ And he...

If you want to know what is going on, you have to listen to me. You have to, because you don’t know the f***ing enormity of what we’re dealing with. May the twenty-ninth, 1954: a consortium of bankers, industrialists, corporate CEOs and politicians held a series of meetings over three days at the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, Holland. They drew up a plan for maintaining the status quo. It’s the way things are—the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. They devised a plan to manipulate technology, economics, the media, population control, world religion, to keep things the way they are, and they have continued to meet once a year, every year, since the original meeting. Look it up.

Under their orders, the CIA had smuggled Nazi scientists into the States to work with the American military at Calspan, developing an inter-epidermal tracking microchip—a surveillance tool,...

Roderick Mann, an internationally respected journalist and author who wrote about show business for more than 40 years in London and Hollywood, died Sept. 17 in Los Angeles. He was 87.

Mann's wife, Anastasia Kostoff Mann, said he had been battling dementia and Alzheimer's disease for the past 14 months.

As the entertainment feature writer at London's Sunday Express from the 1950s through the 1980s, Mann's interviews with motion picture and stage luminaries were not only widely read and syndicated throughout the world, they often resulted in lifelong friendships with famed actors including Cary Grant, David Niven and Richard Burton.

He was closest to Grant, whom Mann thought of as an older brother, while Niven credited him as the impetus to write his autobiography. Mann was the confidant of his superstar friends and noted for never betraying their trust. Other actor friends included Alexandra Bastedo, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak and Anthony Hopkins.

In 1978, Mann...