Why was Faye Dunaway only hot for two seconds?

She OD'd on an almost lethal combination of LSD and speed in the mid 70's and never really was the same.

She was one of the biggest female movie actresses during the 1970's, along with Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave. From 1967 to 1977 she had her choice of good roles. She was no flash in the pan.

You bitch! Faye is still very relevant. She is working very hard, directing herself in Mater Class. All her films are legendary. She has ageless beauty and looks young, many still think she is under 35. She is one of the most loved and liked person in Hollywood.

Faye was into serious drugs while married to that loser Peter Wolf from the J. Geils Band.

I remember being backstage with a music writer friend at J. Geils gig in NYC. Faye and Peter Wolf spent most of the time, between the bands next set, snorting coke in the bathroom. I even saw the coke on Faye's black dress.

Faye looked sickly and was extremely thin. I saw none of the glamor she displayed earlier in her career. She was already going downhill at that point, this must have been around 1973-74. I'm not sure if they were married at that point, but they were together.

I had not idea that Faye was into drugs! That's news to me. It never entered my mind actually.

I forgot to comment on your thread Op. Faye was hot for a long time. She didn't age well, but she was gorgeous and very imposing and she managed to star in a couple of great films through the decades(60s, 70s, 80s, 90s.)

Wait she also starred in a really good and touching movie in the 00s. 'Changing Hearts', yes, how could i forget this one? She was really very moving in that one. Highly recommended.

[quote]She has ageless beauty and looks young, many still think she is under 35.

Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

The height of her blonde goddessy looks was the late 60s - Thomas Crown, Puzzle of a Downfall Child, The Arrangement, her wicked Milady in The Musketeers, and floating around in that chiffon in Towering Inferno in '74. The brunette look after that rather diminished her, as in Three Days of the Condor, Network. It worked though in Chinatown.

She is also not a big hypocrite like Jane Fonda is. She never claimed to save the world with her charity and with her books. Fucking bitch, you are all generous blah blah while your charity foundation hasn't made donation in 5 years!

Yes R5, Faye was into drugs. It could be the reason her marriage to PW ended. The rumors were that he introduced to hard drugs. Though, that might be far-fetched, as she was a model before becoming an actress, I'm sure she was exposed to drugs in the modeling world.

Everyone backstage was a bit excited to see Faye there, meanwhile they were still trying to be cool, after all, most of these people were in the music biz, many wanted to appear jaded.

Faye made it clear she didn't want to be bothered, though she did acknowledge and smile at everyone backstage.

I told my writer friend I thought it was odd Faye didn't think any of the writers there would mention in their articles that her and Peter were doing coke.

This was, of course, pre-cells and camera phones, social media etc. There were daily gossip columns in the local NYC papers. Perhaps no one would touch such gossip at the time?

[quote] only hot for two seconds

That long?

R11, do you know if Peter Wolf ever wrote a song about Faye for the J. Geils Band?

I don't mean "hot" as in box-office gold.

I mean "hot" as in her looks.

It all went down hill after Mommie Dearest. Her work never picked up again. She is also very unpleasant, no one will work with her. It's very difficult to cast her in anything these days.

R9, Faye was not blonde in Towering Inferno, but she was gorgeous and goddessy nonetheless. Like Crawford, her beauty hardened over time. Perhaps being a supercilious pain-in-the-ass turns you to stone.

I went to a film symposium in New York Klaus Maria Brandauer was there as was Miss Faye. Faye acted if she were her generation's version of Meryl Streep. Then the queeniest gay guy that ever live stood up and asked Faye:"why are you such a bitch?" She was flabbergasted to say the least and refused to answer the extremely apropos question.

R17 what do you mean by 'acted as if she was her generation's version of Meryl Streep'? What did she do for example and made you feel this way?

I think she never looked more fabulous than in "Chinatown". One of the greatest films ever for everyone involved. That's saying a lot.

She admits to being an alcoholic.

R2, for the umpteenth time, being popular has NOTHING to do with being good.

Faye was lucky enough to be in many high quality films that were popular -- Bonnie & Clyde, Thomas Crown Affair, Little Big Man, Chinatown, Network -- but she didn't carry these films. The Name Faye Dunaway couldn't guarantee box office success for a mediocre one.

Faye had an excellent run, as good as any and better than most. She wasn't exactly Martha Hyer.

R18 Faye's attitude was very cunty. She seemed to be above it all. I wonder if Warren and Jack would have worked with her if she wasn't so attractive at one point.

Cause the was/is cray-cray!

Bitch is cray crazy typo

Academy Award-winning Faye Dunaway is one of the best actresses of the past half-century.

I also saw Faye in the national touring production of Master Class. I go to the theatre quite often. Master Class remains the best dramatic play I've ever seen mainly due to Faye Dunaway's performance. She was outstanding.

[quote]Faye was lucky enough to be in many high quality films that were popular -- Bonnie & Clyde, Thomas Crown Affair, Little Big Man, Chinatown, Network -- but she didn't carry these films. The Name Faye Dunaway couldn't guarantee box office success for a mediocre one.

I think she did carry BONNIE AND CLYDE despite it being her second film and being relatively unknown up to that point. In fact, only Warren Beatty's name was gonna appear above the title, since Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, and Michael J. Pollard were likewise unknowns, but after viewing a rough cut of the film, Beatty realized that Faye was his better half and gave Faye top billing, too. She was very grateful and mentions this in her book LOOKING FOR GATSBY.

Anyway, she was the breakout star of that movie and became "fashion's new darling" inspiring the "Bonnie look" and sales of berets. She was on magazine covers everywhere.

I've always thought that Faye's Bonnie Parker was one of cinemas most gorgeous character. She truly looks exquisite in that movie and never looked better. Her acting was also very natural, with no hint of the "Faye persona" which was quite evident by the time of CHINATOWN and NETWORK.

I can vouch for the veracity of R4/R11's assessment of Faye's drug use when she was with Peter Wolf. Wolf was a heroin addict. I don't know for a fact that Faye went that far with him but I have always believed that she did.

She was gorgeous and a very good actress. Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown and Network are all classic movies. Most actresses - great actresses - would be lucky to get one film of that stature, let alone three.

What happened to her with Mommie Dearest was terrible but it wasn't a career killer. Her legendary cuntiness and craziness brought that about.

Are you insane, R26? How old are you?

Faye Dunaway most definitely did NOT carry Bonnie and Clyde. No star carried it. The film was remarkable because of its style and violence. The killing scene at the end got more press, and a lot of it negative, than anything else in the film.

Faye was lucky she was 'promoted' and got top billing, and she deserved it. People at the time didn't know who she was, and Beatty was not what you'd call a box office star in 1967 either. None of his film after Splendor in The Grass were successful.

It's funny how in all these stories that circulate, it's always the boyfriend or husband thet introduces the woman to "hard drugs." I'm not saying all or some of these rumors aren't true, but does one ever hear about the wife or GF introducing the guy to "hard drugs?" Just wondering if anyone can think of any examples of the reverse being true (or stories, etc)? I honestly can't...

[quote]It's funny how in all these stories that circulate, it's always the boyfriend or husband thet introduces the woman to "hard drugs." I'm not saying all or some of these rumors aren't true, but does one ever hear about the wife or GF introducing the guy to "hard drugs?" Just wondering if anyone can think of any examples of the reverse being true (or stories, etc)? I honestly can't...

Whitney and Bob-bay.

Umm...wasn't it by ALL accounts Bobby that led her down that path?

Ditto Richie Sambora with Ally Sheedy and Courteney Cox.

[quote]Umm...wasn't it by ALL accounts Bobby that led her down that path?

No. That's been the rewriting since. She was doing it before she even met him - big time. When two addicts meet though... They both play off each other.

R33, but if both were addicts before they met, Whitney didn't lead him astray.

r30- Kate Moss and Johnny Depp

Faye was "hot" from the late 1960s when she made "Bonnie & Clyde", until the 80s, with "Mommy Dearest". That's alot longer than 2 seconds.

r36, you're confused. OP is talking about "hot" in terms of looks, not "hot" in terms of being a big movie star.

IMO, she was genuinely hot through "The Towering Inferno"--yes, the hair color change after that was not a good one for her. She still looks great in "The Eyes of a Laura Mars" (that was the last one where she looks sexy) but she looks more middle aged there. I'm sure the drugs and booze and smoking did a number on her looks.

Did not know about Faye's drug problem.

Faye was HOT for a hot minute OP. Yes she did drugs, lots and lots of drugs. Try to find the Vanity Fair cover story and photo lay out at the time of Barfly, around 1987. This was a hoped for "comeback" film for Dunaway. It was obviously after her peak, but prior to her many surgeries, she was in her mid forties. Every moment of her hard living and troubled personality shows on her face in those photos and that evasive, yet revealing interview. Drug addicts sometimes don't acknowledge the passing of time, and I think that Dunaway thought that she would always be a star. She thought no matter how late she was, that people would be waiting. She really should have played Norma Desmond.

There are many pretty and talented people in film. Faye Dunaway really was the last movie STAR. Her face was severely beautiful, and she was an actress of great power and sensitivity. Mesmerizing to watch.

She is delusional and a bitch, but a troubled woman too. Not an elitist, she is equally crazy with everyone.

I read some where that in the 80s someone stole a lot of money from her? Any truth in it?

People think it was "Mommie Dearest" that critically wounded her career. But it was actually the universally-panned "The Eyes of Laura Mars" two years earlier.

I think she was a marginal actress who had a good run of luck. One of the last of the Hollywood pretty girls who could appear talented with the right Director and right Editor.

Faye had a run that most actresses would kill for. She was fortunate to hit during what could be considered the peak of American cinema.

[quote]What happened to her with Mommie Dearest was terrible but it wasn't a career killer.

No, but Supergirl finished her off.

She was better off with peter than she was with terry. Once she left peter her career flopped.

She'll always be a great star to me. She was the first gay icon of my life. I remember my euphoria as a little gayling seeing her name fly through space in the Supergirl opening credits.

R45, you and I were separated at birth. I giggled when I read your post, then showed it to my sister, who said, "Yep, that was you!"

R30 Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain

..... and Yoko and John Lennon.

OMG r46 marry me.

"I am SELENA! Diodenes of Catania! Priestess of Sekhnet! I am the ULTIMATE Siren of Endor!!!! And YOU, little lady, are trespassing on private property!"

Faye's worst quality was no sense of humor. If she handled Mommie Dearest the way Patty Duke handled Valley of the Dolls, then Faye would have a ton more exposure these days.

She just can't laugh at herself.

If she did Mommie Dearest screenings/signings she would make tons of money.

R30 I always find it funny that one person gets blamed for getting someone into drugs. Like they were on their way to a church social and got tricked into using coke instead. Cocain was very commonly used in the movie and music industry when Faye was young. There would have been many opportunities for her to try it and see if she liked it.

Heroin was popular in west coast cities in the late eighties and early nineties. That's why so many Gen X rock stars had a problem with it. It was around and easy to come by. People thought it was safe if you smoked it.

For those who haven't heard this legendary DL gem:

Rutanya Alda, who played housekeeper Carol in Mommie Dearest, insinuates that Dunaway was on drugs during the MD filming (marked for you in the clip below).

The entire clip is entertaining to watch with Alda hilariously relating stories about Dunaway on the MD set, including her impossible lack of humour, and her bold-faced insistence that her performance as Crawford was going to earn her an Oscar nod. Dunaway sounds like an absolute self-absorbed bore.

I love the story of Alda going to visit Christina Crawford and checking Crawford's closet to see if there any wire hangers.

Bette Davis was not kind when talking about Ms Dunaway:

Bette Davis was an embittered washed up old hag by that time r54, who couldn't get a job ANYWHERE so all she had were talkshow appearances to say something dramatic.

She's white trash from Florida, honey- they don't age well.

Rutanya Alda is terrible in Mommie Dearest and looks ridiculous in her old age makeup.

r55, are you Faye Dunaway?

Brilliant actress, neurotic woman. But brilliant.

Elia Kazan wrote a stunning defence of Faye.

R59. Thanks for posting. Faye is fascinating. And Charlie Rose is such a good interviewer.

She's only 76?? She looks like a woman in her late-80's who's had cosmetic surgery.

I remember reading in The Andy Warhol Diaries a conversation between Andy and Jon Peters ( the producer of The Eyes of Laura mars), that he was exhausted with the movie and they were having a lot of trouble lighting her. Jon Peters said " I have no idea about her night life" attributing that to her hard to light appearance. Anyway I loved Eye's but as as R19 mentioned , she was never as beautiful and good as she was in Chinatown.

When I looked at pics of Faye Dunaway in the 60's, I was shocked. Having not seen "Bonnie & Clyde" in decades, I forgot how beautiful she once was. What a shame.

She was beautiful but there was always a hardness to her in my opinion.

Bonnie & Clyde

The Thomas Crown Affair

Little Big Man

The Three Musketeers

Chinatown

The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge

Three Days of the Condor

Network

The Eyes of Laura Mars

[R30] Anita Pallenberg got Keith Richards addicted to herium after the 1969 tour, when he returned to England.

The lower part of her face was naturally kind of fucked, and then aging came along to emphasize her weird nostrils and the space between her nose and mouth

maybe it's the 60s makeup but her eyes seem more hooded in old pics, maybe an eye lift is part of the change too

Hooded eyes and small nose, low body fat, becomes reptilian looking after age sets in but when young is an amazing facial structure. Her olive skin tone with blonde hair made her luminous when young.

It's perfectly normal for a 70-something woman not to be a hot piece of ass, though, OP. Faye is still recognizeable as herself, like Jane Fonda is. It's the mangled faces, like Madonna, or 92-year old Lee Grant, with the botched procedures, that are the sadder cases of lost good looks.

Ugh. Fucking herium addicts. NOTHING WORSE.

Just don't do herium. Nothing good will come from it.