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Alex Belth

Gene Hackman in The Royal Tenenbaums.
ROYAL PAIN

The Early Trauma That Fueled Gene Hackman’s Singular Genius

The two-time Oscar-winning actor used his own father’s temper to achieve greatness in films from “The French Connection” to “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

Alex Belth

Gene Hackman as Detective Jimmy Doyle points in The French Connection in 1971.
R.I.P.

What Hollywood Lost When It Lost Gene Hackman

What Hackman did was make acting look natural—perhaps a backhanded compliment, like being called an actor’s actor, even if it’s not entirely wrong.

Alex Belth

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EXCERPT

Meet the Indiana Jones of Magazine Journalism

Jon Bradshaw lived fast and died young, but before he stepped off, he managed to charm half the world (he hadn’t met the other half yet) and wrote like a slumming angel.

Alex Belth

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DEAR DAD

The Best Memoirs of Fathers and Sons

Philip Roth, John Lahr, and Adam Hochschild were all loving sons. They were also discerning writers, and their memoirs lay bare often awkward truths.

Alex Belth

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DEADLINE ARTISTS

When Newspaper Sports Columnists Were Kings of the Press Box

Legendary sports columnist and author John Schulian, editor of the Library of America’s ‘The Great American Sports Page,’ explains why the glory days were so glorious.

Alex Belth

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Indelible

A Great Photographer Gets His Due

One of our greatest but too often overlooked contemporary photographers, Adger Cowans has been shooting indelible images for more than half a century.

Alex Belth

articles/2016/04/16/can-t-we-honor-james-brown-s-last-wish/160415-belth-james-brown-tease_bh4bb8
MR. DYNAMITE

Who’s Messing With James Brown’s Will?

The Godfather of Soul wanted the bulk of his estate to be used to educate the children of South Carolina. That hasn’t happened. Author James McBride explains why not.

Alex Belth

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You Never Know

When the Mets Got You to Believe

In 1973, amid the Watergate hearings, the designated hitter debuted, Yogi Berra waxed eloquent, and Mets pitcher Tug McGraw coined his pennant-clinching team’s enduring slogan.

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articles/2014/12/27/the-best-of-the-stacks-mencken-mel-brooks-allman-brothers-and-more/141226-stacks-brooks-tease_zj129r
MEMORY LANE

The Best of The Stacks

Week after week, The Daily Beast features classic stories from the past that prove great writing is timeless. Here are the ones we found most memorable.

Alex Belth

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Digging the Past

The True Raiders of the Lost Ark

<p>Marilyn Johnson has written fascinating books about obit writers and librarians. Now in <i>Lives in Ruins</i>, she’s turned her keen eye on the world of archeologists. <a target="_blank" href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2014/11/14/knowing-where-the-bodies-are-buried-an-excerpt-from-lives-in-ruins.html">Read an excerpt here</a>.<br> </p>

Alex Belth

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