Hollywood's Loosest Cannon

Vince Bucci / Getty Images Legendary producer Jon Peters just sold his memoir—filled with outrageous tales of Jack Nicholson and hookers, and Barbara Walters in her undies. And some of it may even be true.

Former hairdresser turned Hollywood producer Jon Peters is on the move. Last month, he listed his Beverly Hills home for nearly $20 million. Now sources tell The Daily Beast he’s just signed on with HarperCollins to publish a memoir entitled Studio Head.

Peters—who once ran Sony Pictures with Peter Guber, and who produced such hits as Batman and Superman Returns—has always been an incredibly colorful character, from the time he pulled a gun on a hapless worker who tried to collect a bill to a reported parole violation last year associated with alleged failure to complete a community-service requirement arising from a DUI arrest. (According to the book proposal, Peters was on painkillers but has now conquered “the demons of addiction.”) He’s had girlfriends ranging from Barbra Streisand to Kim Basinger to Pamela Anderson to—ever so briefly—the young and unknown Catherine Zeta-Jones. (Peters has always had mad talent-spotting skills.) He has been in and out of Kabbalah, been sued more than once for sexual harassment, and went through too many spectacular marital battles for anyone to possibly keep straight.

Peters told the room that in fact, Walters had “a great rack and nice ass” before apologizing for his language.

In his proposal, Peters describes himself as “a loveable protagonist.”—an interesting description of an admittedly violent man who has put many in fear for their physical safety.

Always over the top, Peters seems to have sold the book idea with his usual marketing flair. An industry source says Peters told a prospective publisher that Streisand might help him publicize the book. He is also said to have sent what is described as a huge pile of orchids to a top editor at Random House, along with a note offering to cut her hair.

No one has ever accused Peters of excessive good taste and some of the material in the proposal is simply too disgusting to recount here. The proposal includes an alleged encounter with Barbara Walters just before the release of A Star Is Born (the 1976 version starring Streisand, which her then-boyfriend Peters produced). According to Peters, Walters invited him to her New York apartment to talk before he recorded an interview for a television special:

“Keeping things very chummy... she plied Jon with Champagne and caviar, then changed into 'something comfortable,’ leaving her bedroom door strategically ajar as she stripped down to her bra and panties, giving Jon a 20-20 view, as it were, of Barbara W. in all her glory. Whether Barbara was setting a trap to get the scoop of a lifetime, or whether she was making a sincere pass, Jon didn’t snap at the bait.”

Apparently this anecdote was discussed during a meeting with prospective publishers; Peters told the room that in fact, Walters had “a great rack and nice ass” before apologizing for his language. Walters denies the encounter ever occurred. “This is the most absurd, ridiculous thing I have ever heard,” she said via email. “My only contact with Jon Peters was when I interviewed him and Barbra Streisand, surrounded by television cameras in 1976 for an ABC News special.”

The Studio Head proposal also describes Peters’s pursuit of Jack Nicholson to play the Joker in Batman: “Jon took Jack on a whore- and drug-fueled global joy ride to see the Batman sets in London. That was one of the most expensive and decadent junkets in cinema history. Jon basically turned staid Claridge’s into the Playboy Mansion, with strippers, hookers, masseuses, coke dealers, and more, plus Champagne and foie gras room service that put Adnan Khashoggi’s stays to shame. Jack couldn’t say no to a good time like this, and he succumbed to Jon’s relentless charms.” (Nicholson’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.)