Andrew McCarthy is writing a memoir

Loved him when I was 13

I would love for it to be filled with salacious gossip, but it probably won’t.

Good for him. He's thought of fondly here.

He looks great!

He looks much better now than he did in the 80s. Never found him attractive back then but I loved his movies. Good actor. I’m surprised he didn’t have a higher profile career as an adult but I guess he got more into directing than acting

He has had a second career as a travel writer and I believe he has won a couple prestigious awards for it. I will read this.

His looks improved imho once he passed 45. I saw him interviewed A few years back about his travel writing career and he’s a hottie now.

I really like him as an actor

has his life been interesting enough for a memoir?

He wrote a young adult novel a few years ago.

His eighteen year old son, quite a cutie, stars on Netflix’s Dead to Me as Christina Applegate's oldest son.

How lovely for his fans, all ten of them.

He's had work done. Subtle work, though.

I saw him with his kid on the UWS several years ago.

Here’s the vintage gossip: “ Name-Andrew Mc Carthy Dirt-actually was reduced to doing theater in the 90s More dirt-suprisingly, he is straight; described by a conquest as sexually incompetent and selfish in bed and sulkly and depressed out of bed;a former date described him as having the emotional maturity level of an unsure 17 year old getting lucky ”

Nice head of real hair at 60--I want that.

I guess his memoir will be about what it was like to be a star, a member of "The Brat Pack", during that most heady time in American history, the 80s, and will contain juicy gossip about his "affairs" with his co-stars and how great life was back then. Who really gives a fuck? Andrew McCarthy was/is the epitome of bland. Bland, bland, bland.

I had him fired from his guest stint on L&O:CI and he whined about it like a baby.

[quote]His eighteen year old son, quite a cutie, stars on Netflix’s Dead to Me as Christina Applegate's oldest son.

Andrew is the executive producer and occasional director of the series his son costars in; "Condor" which was on Audience Network but its second season will air on HBO Max.

Has he ever presented dong during his short and unillustrious career as an actor?

A guy posted here years ago about hooking up with him (back in the 90s?). I think it was in one of those “Famous People You’ve Had Sex With” threads.

Never understood the appeal. He got stereotyped as the sensitive type, that girls didn't have as a love interest but more of a best friend.

i saw condor, both seasons and I recognized his name. I had no idea his son was in it.

i hope there is a 3rd season.

He's 61.

I worked with him once. He was an insufferable jackass, dry drunk with zero sense of humor. Nobody liked him. And god help you if you mention "Weekend at Bernies" around him.

R24 What happens if you mention Weekend at Walter Reed around him?

Don't mention Mare Winningham around him either. He pissed her off at the premiere of Bonfire and she beat the shit out of him...seriously.

[quote] Andrew McCarthy was/is the epitome of bland. Bland, bland, bland.

Yes, bland.

Don't mention Kim Cattrall around him either.

r28. She gave him massive splinters.

Folks, we’re running out of topics for light chit chat with Andrew!

Your hair look lovely today, Mr. McCarthy.

He always seemed petulant and quite far up his own ass. You just know that he refers to himself as an ARTIST who's serious about his CRAFT.

I met him once. He struck me as really grounded. Thoughtful guy, curious about the people around him and a good listener. I enjoyed seeing that he seemed to evolve post brat pack.

As a travel writer, he's actually quite good. I've seen him do Q&A and he's animated and responsive in a way that he never was on screen.

I loved him in the movie Less than Zero when I was a kid...

I'll still never understand what Andie saw in Blaine, unless she was one of those broads who wants complete control over some weakling.

Give me Steff McKee any day... such a beautiful asshole.

Today's equivalent of Andrew McCarthy (as an actor) is someone like Dan Stevens. Bland.

Stevens is Olivier by comparison with McCarthy. "Heaven Help Us" was the only film where he seemed to be acting.

Was going to start a new thread, but what the hell just add this on here. Sounds like people form a fast and distasteful opinion of him, everyone seems to walk away at first meeting. I wonder if during drunk binges of coked out stupors there were any guys involved?

I can't wait to read Andrew McCarthy's memoir.

He looks good. He's one of those guys who looks better with some age...like Brad Pitt. He was quite boyish back then. Good hair.

Blair looks way better than Steph now

heard he was a stuck up cunt

So he's out of money, is he? I'd throw him some coins for a date with his (legal) son.

R36, It's the opposite for me and my friends. We could never see what Blaine saw in Andie. Molly Ringwald's portrayal of Andie was so, so bitchy. She whined and bitched and got mad about everything. She seemed exhausting. No way would guys at my high school put up with a girl like that, especially if she showed up to prom with that HIDEOUS dress!

[quote]Here’s the vintage gossip: “ Name-Andrew Mc Carthy Dirt-actually was reduced to doing theater in the 90s

I love that the gossiper thinks doing theatre is the lowest of the low. Imagine!

I saw McCarthy doing a play (at MTC, I believe) around that time.... and he wasn't good. He knew his lines, but he was incredibly bland and charisma-free onstage. No chemistry with others. He was attractive enough, but no one who would turn heads on a NYC street.

I wish him well, but I think there are reasons his career peaked so early. He lacks genuine star power.

R45 This. She should have seriously been cancelled.

In fairness to McCarthy, very few of his Brat Pack colleagues turned out to be gifted actors: Ringwald, Lea Thompson, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson. A few showed interesting potential at times--Mary Stuart Masterson, Anthony Michael Hall--but ended up with really inconsistent careers.

I mean, when Demi Moore and Jon Cryer are your standard bearers....

PS: I fear I was unclear....Ringwald, Lea Thompson, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson are NOT gifted actors, IMHO.

Entitled "BRAT - An 80s Story"

He’s adorbs!

This just made me think of Molly Ringwald trying to be a serious actress in that dreadful movie Fresh Horses.

R52 I'm reminded of her character in The Stand (and wanting to strangle her). Of course, I also wanted to hatefuck Corin Nemec's character.

I never saw that one but I read the plot on wiki and had trouble following it. I might see if I can find it so I can hate watch it.

R54 Eh, she doesn't have a big part in it. If the bad guy put his demon baby in Nemec's character's ass instead of some woman, that might have been entertaining.

Ringwald got him hired for Pretty when no one else had any interest, it’s amazing the amount of influence she had on Hughes, it like their films were more collaborations then filmmaker and muse.

I only care about reading about Mannequin.

R48 and Rob Lowe, who either just bought or just sold a $47 mil Montecito compound (did the West Wing really pay that much?)

This is the thing with most autobios though - after reading that excerpt, i don’t feel like I have to get the book.

"after reading that excerpt, i don’t feel like I have to get the book."

Does that mean you were actually considering it, R58?

Who wants to hear anything from Andrew McCarthy?

Surprised the hell out of me when I saw him listed as director of some Orange is the New Black episodes. I thought "holy shit, that's what Blain is doing now".

I forgot he ever existed.

R59 just in general - places like Page Six etc post excerpts from all the “juiciest” parts of any celebrity autobio, and that’s probably as interesting as the book gets.

He is really attractive for his age, I'd do him

I saw him once in the West Village passed out in the gutter in his own vomit.

She's sober now, though. Too bad. Miss McCarthy was probably up to getting fucked when in a drunken stupor.

"I wanted to a pale boyfriend like that,"

What did you actually mean to say, OP?

I watched him in several scenes filming "Dead Horses" in Cincinnati. At one point, he looked me directly in the eye, meaning that he has a few brain cells with my name on them. I wonder if I'll be in his book?

Or maybe that was "Fresh Horses".

Dead Horses: The Movie!

My husband is a bookseller and got an advance copy. It’s a total snore. And that’s being kind.

Color me shocked, R71.

R23 He's not 61, he's 58.

I never thought he was good looking. Now when I see him in old movies as a young actor I think he was sort of cute. But I didn't think he was handsome and didn't think he was a very good actor. I remember reading an interview with him in (I think) The Village Voice. He was sort of obsessed with Montgomery Clift's performances, and I realized that was why he used to do a wide-eyed thing in a lot of his parts that seems a lot like an imitation of Clift.

He had the nerve to say he found Jon Cryers laugh “annoying”. This coke head boring asshole wishes he was half the talent of Cryer.

[quote]I had him fired from his guest stint on L&O:CI and he whined about it like a baby. —Vincent D’Onofrio

So glad you did, VdO, because James Urbaniak, the actor who replaced him in that episode? Fucking PHENOMENAL. Creepy chemistry with both VdO and his co-guest star, Todd Stashwick. Kinda Chris Walken-esque. Because of this, "Zoonotic" is in my top 3 episodes of L&O:CI.

I STILL have the biggest hard-on for him in "St. Elmo's Fire". Rob Lowe? Who cares! Also: he had screentime with one of my favorites: Anna Maria Horsford (with who I share a birthday).

I had a HUGE crush on him when i was a kid. I remember going to see Class and walking out just aswoon. I was obsessed with him for many years and went to see everything he was in. I think I stopped in 1991 after Year of the Gun with Sharon Stone. I'm not saying I liked everything he was in (by a long shot) but I still had it bad for him. I wouldn't say he was untalented, because I've seen him give some good performances, but he's nothing special in the acting department. I've also seen him give some really terrible performances and be wiped off the screen by his co-stars several times.

I remember when I lived in the East Village in my 1st apartment, right after college, I went out to breakfast with a one night stand to Kiev on a Sunday morning and it was so crowded, they had to seat two people at our four top. It was Andrew McCarthy and a friend. I had absolutely NOTHING to say to my companion and I didn't even want to go eat with him, but he asked and I couldn't get out of it, so we basically sat there silently and I probably made a huge show out of NOT noticing McCarthy, so much so that I'm sure he noticed, especially since we were pretty silent. But he was very low-key and normal.

R75 and wishes he were about 1/10 his net worth ...

Funny a lot of the Brat Packers went to really good Prep Schools - McCarthy to Pingry, Judd Nelson to St. Paul’s (which is so weird to me - his parents were also professors), Ally Sheedy to Brearley....

[quote]Surprised the hell out of me when I saw him listed as director of some Orange is the New Black episodes.

He has also directed James Spader's THE BLACKLIST.

Never liked McCarthy in the roles he's known for, but I did like him in the short-lived ABC series THE FAMILY. He played a suspected pedophile who is sent to jail for the suspected murder of his neighbor's kid. Ten years later the kid turns up and McCarthy's character returns to the neighborhood, rich from a settlement for his wrongful imprisonment and taunts the family just by existing.

R75 = Jon Cryer aka Jon Whiner

R76, me too.

Anyone remember him from the short-lived series Kingdom Hospital, written and produced by Steven King but based on an original mini-series by Lars von Trier. VERY strange, somewhat like Twin Peaks on drugs. McCarthy was hot in it though and I think had a number of shirtless/nude scenes/

[quote] And god help you if you mention "Weekend at Bernies" around him.

I think maybe he’s come around since...as he’s posted several WAB memes on his Instagram.

Adorable as Blaine...Pretty in Pink....

I just remember he started becoming a horrible actor. Weekend at Bernie’s,St. Elmo’s Fire,etc. The only I ever really liked him was Less than Zero. Doubt he puts some good glossip about filming that in his book. Rob Lowe’s book was boring as shit.

169. ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER 04/17 **3** Missing from the new book written by the former brat packer (Andrew McCarthy) is how he got that first big break ("St. Elmo‘s Fire"). The same way that Brad Renfro did with that same director (Joel Schumacher). Brad didn't talk about it either. Andrew McCarthy/"St. Elmo’s Fire"/Joel Schumacher (Andrew McCarthy on the ’80s women who snubbed him — and his near-fatal addiction)

Except Andrew McCarthy got his first big break two years prior to St. Elmo's Fire in Class and was pretty much established by the time St. Elmo's Fire rolled around.

Wasn't Ms. Jackie Bissett a big slut Mrs Robinson in Class?

Virginia Madsen said the guys in class were awful to her. In an interview she seemed traumatised by the experience she could barely say anything about the film class other than to say the guys were jerks.

Oh. I thought he was in his 80s for a second.

R88, he says in the NY Post article he had no jobs after Class, except for a Burger King commercial.

Not that I believe Enty-crap gossip, but he was by no means established.

That's bullshit, since he did the film Heaven Help Us, in which he was the lead and which was shot in 1983/4

It comes out this week.

There was an article about him in the Washington Post recently and a book review (a lukewarm one) of his memoir. I don't think there's much juicy dish in the memoir, although some people might find it interesting. The WaPo article has him relating an incident in the 80s that went like this. He, Rob Lowe, and Melissa Gilbert were having dinner at Spago's with LIza Minnelli (what the hell were THEY doing having dinner with Liza Minnelli?) when Liza suggested they go to "Sammy's." The article went on: “Sammy’s” turned out to be the Beverly Hills mansion of Sammy Davis Jr., where the Rat Packer ushered members of the soon-to-be-minted Brat Pack into his party pad for a night of billiards and drinking that ended with McCarthy struggling not to vomit all over Minnelli’s Rolls-Royce on the drive home."

Celebrity memoirs...this Andrew McCarthy article seemed to prove that a lot that's in them is utter bullshit. Like that dinner at Spago's with Liza Minnelli and the outing to "Sammy's". The aforementioned is how McCarthy remembers it but in Melissa Gilbert's memoir it's very different:

"McCarthy maintains his book isn’t a definitive account of that heady time, but rather the way he remembers it. He chose to abstain from consulting with others who were along for the ride about their own impressions and, he somewhat sheepishly admitted, he has not read any of his peers’ memoirs.

“Memory is a funny thing,” he noted. In Gilbert’s memoir, for instance, the “Little House on the Prairie” star wrote that the aforementioned outing at Spago and Sammy’s included Michael Jackson at their dinner table and Minnelli and McCarthy publicly “making out” at the end of the night. Both of those points, according to McCarthy’s rep in a follow-up email, are “absolutely untrue.”

I'm pretty sure Gilbert's account is "untrue." Actually it's a load of bullshit. Yeah, I'm sure Michael Jackson was there (snort). And McCarthy and Liza Minnelli were publicly "making out" at the end of the night? Yeah, right! I'm sure THAT happened. Well, it just goes to show that asshole celebrities like Melissa Gilbert make things up so their book will sell.

Here is his interview on this morning's "CBS Sunday Morning." Interesting what he has to say about Tom Cruise (at about 4:45):

That picture of the 75th anniversary of Paramount is fantastic. What an honor to be among those legends. I understand what he means about Tom Cruise - Cruise has an abundance of confidence, unlike McCarthy. Cruise had to have it to become the star he did. But he's acted as if Cruise just strolled up to that spot in the picture and positioned himself between Charlton Heston and DeForest Kelly. It could be that Cruise took the liberty to assign that space but more than likely the photographer placed him there or Paula Wagner dictated that he be placed in the center.

What are they all doing with their finger? Robin Williams totally looks like a future suicide, Jennifer Beals is also owning it like she WILL BE the biggest star. Molly’s trying hard, but is not going to make it. Why are Danny and Rhea so far from each other, were they fighting? Love to see a social history or documentary about the making of this photo.

How big is his cock?

I skimmed the book... there isn’t much dirt in it or anything. Andrew is pretty circumspect about his sex life, though he acknowledges being famous made him a lot more appealing to women. What stood out to me was that he rarely connected much personally with his co-stars. Notably Molly Ringwald and Jon Cryer, though he got on well with James Spader and earlier Rob Lowe. He seemed to be unable to keep himself from coming across as aloof and disinterested — whenever he was in a position where it would have been advantageous to be charming and friendly he would reflexively withdraw. You can see that reluctance to connect in his performances. He was never eager to become part of Hollywood culture.

He did very well in his career considering how bland he was. Nothing interesting about him at all. He wasn't even that cute.

Wow, what a big head on Olivia DH in the photo at r98.

I wonder if he and rob Lowe ever had a threesome or messed around. That would have been hot!

I read the majority of the book in about an hour. I love Hollywood bios so I was looking forward to this, but it’s very light and short. As others have said already, not much there in terms of insider stuff. He clearly didn’t want to burn any bridges.

Doe he discuss his manorexia? Around the time of The Hospital he was painfully thin.

I've never heard of him.

[quite]I only care about reading about Mannequin.

He talked about the department store than he did his co-stars. He never mentioned Kim Catrall or Meshach Taylor. How do you write about a movie and never mention the people you co-starred with? He never mentioned Terry Kiser as dead Bernie. WTF? Who the Hell edited this.

[quote] he says in the NY Post article he had no jobs after Class, except for a Burger King commercial.... That's bullshit, since he did the film Heaven Help Us, in which he was the lead and which was shot in 1983/4

He did "Heaven Help Us" after the commercial which he co-starred with newbie Elizabeth Shue. Towards the end of the book he mentions Producer Robert Redford offered him a role which his character had to run around stark naked through the first minutes of the film and "I couldn't imagine myself doing it". Yet while talking about "Heaven Help Us" he never mentions the scene where is is stark naked with a group of other boys in a swimming scene. Which legend has it, Kevin Dillon was not happy doing.

Worked with him on Boys of Winter. He was polite and kept to himself.

He had a full frontal nude scene.

That was quite a cast, R108.

Redford imagining McCarthy naked

R107 Thanks for that! Since Mannequin was the only thing I liked him in, I definitely won’t waste time reading this if he doesn’t even discuss his costars or crew of the movie.

It’s a shame he doesn’t give credit to his co-stars. It’s one thing not to gossip about them, but to not even mention their names??!?

Nope, nothing and I found it ridiculously self-indulgent.

He did have a pretty extensive career throughout the 1980s. I remember watching a movie of his called "Class". I was bored and it was free on video-on-demand. The plot involved Andrew McCarthy's character, a private school student, hooking up with his best friend's (played by Rob Lowe) mother (played by Jacqueline Bissett). And the awkwardness of the situation when his friend finds out. The movie probably could not be made today because of the statutory rape obviously. John Cusack was in it too for a small role. McCarthy and Cusack were both NYU students and auditioned for it and got the roles, both big breaks for them. I would say John Cusack had a very impressive film career, even his teen films were a bit more interesting than typical.

He mean-girled Jon Cryer on the set of Pretty In Pink.

Richard Marx is pretty clever on Twitter, I wonder how his new book is? I laughed when I saw Kenny G post about it.

He is also kind of boring as an actor. No charisma and not the best looking. I've seen him in movies and forget about him because he's so bland. But then again, most of the Brat Pack were kind of these bland good-looking white kids who were heavily marketed from being in teen movies. Apart from Demi Moore who became a big star in the 90s (I don't get why but she was lucky). The rest just ended up in lower-profile movies or doing TV work.

Rob Lowe was beautiful back then but didn't have the talent or star quality to keep getting better roles.

Rob was cute but oh so bland as an actor. I mean, when you look like him, you don't need much in the personality department. I give Rob props for being adequately funny. John Cusack was not pretty but he is a very interesting person (check out his bipolar Twitter account) and chose his roles very carefully like Grifters, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, High Fidelity and Being John Malkovitch.

I remember reading around 2003 that he had been arrested for shoplifting. I don't know if anything ever came of that.

Are you sure you're not thinking of Zach Galligan, r120? Arrested in 2003 for stealing a Deep Purple CD

R107 More unsettling is the deleted scene where the priest asks a couple of the guys to stay after class.

His rhinoplasty is more obvious as he ages. Look at how indented his nostrils are.

He wins for this tweet!

[quote] His rhinoplasty is more obvious as he ages. Look at how indented his nostrils are.

What does this mean?

He sucks.

I liked it. It is short and kind of weird that he didn't mention some of his costars. He may be on the spectrum. Seriously

He was really unhappy he was lumped in with the other Brat packers. the original story about the Brat pack that gave him that name didn't include him because he never partied with the rest of them, but because he was in "St Elmo's Fire" (the quintessential Brat pack movie) as well as "Pretty in Pink" the label really stuck to him.

I never felt sorry for him for the label, though, since he was doing tons of drugs just like most of the others were and because he was also super-entitled, just like the others were.

Mare Winningham was also in "St Elmo's Fire" but unlike all the other lads she avoided the label because people in the industry respected her so much--she didn't do drugs and she really worked hard at her craft. I always felt she deserved a bigger career, but she has worked very consistently at least and remains a highly respected character acto.

You don’t know why Demi Moore became a movie star??? How old are you? Are you blind and deaf?

Demi gave good head. That's why she became a star. There's millions of pretty girls in LA, so you have to stand out someway. Demi also had an interesting look, black hair and green eyes and an open slutiness. But honestly there's a reason she faded out by the mid 90s. She wasn't as interesting as she truly seemed and the public got bored of her.

I always attributed Demi's film success to the fact she married Bruce Willis (after he blew up as a huge movie star with the "Die Hard" movies). Up until then, I just recall people saying what a terrible actress she was from her days playing Jackie on "General Hospital."

What shade of Lady Clairol is he wearing in that photo?

[quote] You don’t know why Demi Moore became a movie star??? How old are you? Are you blind and deaf?

Mary, please. Take a Valium or three.

Demi Moore had something of the X-factor: a sexuality and a sense of romance and a toughness that is put to good use in very specific roles and from the mid-80s to the mid-90s she chose those roles very well.

As for Andrew McCarthy, we had a Martin Donovan who made his name in indie movies and didn’t rely on an overripe cuteness and could actually act.