Fran Lebowitz

Says she bought her first apartment and that checker car from her book money in the 80s

Makes money on the speaking circuit.

Probably never opens her purse when she goes to dinner which is every night

Otherwise a mystery that I have often thought about too when I see her.

If you find her money, please tell us where to find it. She owes us.

From what I have heard, she was doing a form of Patreon before Patreon was a thing. She has always had patrons who have paid her bills, etc. for her.

Sellihg Girl Scout Cookies, Rose

lol It’s funny that for someone so averse to social media and technology that she managed to pull off a career that most internet grifters could only dream about. She turned 2 thin books into a long career where she’s respected as a serious writer, intellectual and sort of eccentric genius. She’s stayed in the public eye despite doing nothing of note. She gets paid to talk about herself and the work she didn’t do. She possibly had a Patreon account going!

She comes from family money.

Well, she doesn't put it on her back or on hair and makeup, now, does she. So there's the money she saves from that.

She 'sidehussles'.

Just like that fellow-New-Yorker/ex-model/realtor/husband/eunuch/media-influencer Taylor Phillips also 'sidehussles'.

She did not have family money. Her father upholstered furniture for a living.

Fran Lebowitz is a world treasure. I don't care how she makes her money but she helps make the world a better place in to live in.

Is she gay?

Law and Order residuals?

What does she want?

I don’t want to deal with Fran Lebowitz’ cooter even if it mints money. I hope when she finally leaves (it will be mysterious and involve trains) we find out some very guilty assholes left her all of their ill-gotten gains and she’s actually a triple agent who was secretly an Eastern-European gymnast in 1925. I know. It’s like Cher, but not.

OnlyFans porn.

R10 Yes.

I don't know, I haven't seen her since "The Nanny" went off the air.

She doesn’t have family money which is why people wonder about her finances. She was raised middle class and had to work driving cabs and cleaning houses before publishing her books. I think that background actually has made her more relatable. She’s always the outsider looking in on these rich people and if you get her speak (I always enjoyed her appearances on The Majority Report) she has some good observations about monied people and she’s never lost touch with what an average life looks like so she calls out the West Village residents who think they are just middle class and the NYU students paying 60K tuition. I remember she told a funny anecdote about telling one of these kids that X% of the city don’t earn 60K in a year and the kid just stared at her. She’s always really critical of universities who charge rich kids 300K for an MFA in writing. Not everyone will agree with her but once again she thinks from the perspective of the average person and says do not under any circumstances go into serious debt for a writing degree.

Anyway apparently she’s stayed in the city this year and refused to move in with friends upstate. My ex said he saw her a few days before the election eating dinner outdoors in the west village. I told him I wish Fran had a podcast during the election because when I turned on the tv one night and saw el Cheeto being airlifted to hospital I actually thought of Fran Lebowitz and wondered what she was thinking as she watched this!

Worth seeking out is this documentary on Fran Lebwotiz directed by Martin Scorsese. Great stuff.

They have another show in the can that was supposed to come out on Netflix this year. Haven't heard anything about it, Scorsese has signed to Apple TV and announced a bunch of news projects so we may or may not get the new Fran show in 2021.

What do you think will be published after her death? She doesn't seem like the type to give a damn about her legacy. She'd no doubt sneer if asked how she will 'live on' after death but I imagine her publisher will put out anything they can find in her apartment - half written books, journals, scribbles.

Residuals from "Kukla, Fran and Ollie".

Fran Lebowtiz is a national treasure.

I often wonder if she inherited a certain amount from her friends she lost to AIDS, and then was able to invest well.

^^This is just a guess of mine based on nothing. I just think that she should have finances roughly on par with a stand up comic, who is recognizable, but never hit the big time. And I know she lives in a several-million dollar apartment--which most comics at that level could not swing.

But didn't she buy NYC property in the 80s. Surely that would set you up for life. An apartment bought in the early 80s could easily end up worth enough to buy a 2million apartment, no? I just notice that most people in her age group live in a way that would be completely impossible for someone at that career level today.

She never finished high school.

We know that she’s lazy, she doesn’t believe in hate crimes and says homosexuals need to stop calling themselves victims.

Her cocksucking booth at the Macy’s parade wasn’t that lucrative this year. She demands a vaccine for all!

I think that may be right r26. She probably invested will in the 80s. Lots of people of Fran's generation made out quite well when NYC real estate turned around and property values went insane.

Yeah, but her condo now is a one bedroom 3.1 million. Can you think of any other semi-famous people who do shows at colleges--but not tv--who live like that?

(And a part of me is screaming--"ONE FUCKING BEDROOM FOR THREE MILLION DOLLARS???!?!?!")

Don't mind me.

She said in another interview in 2012 that she has only ever owned one apartment.

Due to her writer's block, Lebowitz has largely supported herself with television appearances and speaking engagements. She has said, "It’s what I wanted my entire life. People asking me my opinion, and people not allowed to interrupt.”[25] She tours as a public speaker, represented by the Steven Barclay Agency.[26] In addition, she has made several appearances on Late Night with David Letterman[7] and had a recurring role as Judge Janice Goldberg on the television drama Law & Order from 2001 to 2007.[5] However, she does still write journalistic pieces; Lebowitz has been employed as a contributing editor and occasional columnist for Vanity Fair since 1997.

She’s a hypocrite. She’s made a career of talking about the dangers of wealth and the destruction of New York by yuppies moving in-yet she wears $900 blazers and goes to all of the hip parties at the same swanky downtown hotels that she claims destroyed New York. She has a dedicated table at the waverly inn-a place no normal person could get in to.

She's very close to the former editor of Vanity Fair - I'm completely blanking in his name, big fat guy. I heard her say she went to Disneyworld with him and his kids. Pretty sure he could bury a nice salary to her as a 'contributing editor'.

She owns a place in Chelsea, doesn't she?

She lives in my building and I see her quietly chatting up the door men often. Much older-looking and rather dried out close up and in person than you might realize and walks with a kind of elderly cautious hobble. Always dressed in the same navy blazer, blue jeans and cowboy boots so, if they're expensive clothes, she only seems to own one or two sets.

Though there are one bedrooms in the building that might go for as much as 3+ million, most hover around 1.3-1.7 million and I'm inclined to think she's in one of those.

Her apartment and it's price is listed online. Hers was 3.1 million

I concur that Lebowitz is a treasure, so fuck you, R27. (She also did NOT say homosexuals should stop calling themselves victims. She said there was a difference between slavery and repression.)

As for sources of her income, she was on a public speaking circuit solo and with Frank Rich for a few years, and will no doubt go back to doing that, which I'm sure is very lucrative because she's a celebrity people enjoy and want to hear from, not unlike David Sedaris (though he's much more popular). Finally, there's been enough specuulation that Malcolm Forbes and others (maybe Toni Morrison) left her money.

Fran said Toni never h=got rich from writing. She said Toni had to teach to keep the bills paid and couldn't afford to live in NYC. It shocked me but I suppose name recognition doesn't translate to wealth. There are probably self published erotica writers making more per book than Toni did. Crazy world.

Here's Fran's latest audio interview from this summer

Morrison certainly got rich from writing. All her books were bestsellers and several were turned into movies, and she got a couple million dollars from thw Nobel Prize alone. She was worth many millions when she died.

Not to mention that Morrison owned and lived in a waterfront house outside NYC and kept an apartment in lower Manhattan. That means she had money.

Good for her. Maybe Fran was comparing her to a different standard of wealth. She was telling an anecdote about turning down Hollywood when Sue Mengers flew her out to the Beverly Hills Hotel to get her to sell the movie rights to her book then she went on to talk about people who sell out and make money vs herself and then she brought up Toni's money. This was c. 2002. Glad to hear Toni lived well.

[quote]but I imagine her publisher will put out anything they can find in her apartment - half written books, journals, scribbles.

All they’re going to find are thousands of cigarette butts.

Maybe some Warhol originals, R43.

Toni Morrison also taught for many years at Princeton and, I'm sure was paid well for it, probably enough to maintain her country house.

She's Graydon Carter's coke dealer. It nets her about a million dollars a year.

She’s also an enforcer - as long as they stand still long enough and as long as they assist in shackling themselves. The metal is so bad for neuropathy and she doesn’t want to catch neuropathy.

Ok so the Chelsea Mercantile apt is billed as a one bedroom but square footage wise it’s bigger than many 3 bedrooms. So that explains that.

Also, we’ve also seen her a couple of times outdoor dining in W Vill this year and I can confirm she’s definitely walking and carrying herself like an old lady.

I would assume that a 70 year old who has been chain smoking for 55 years would have some COPD at this point. She'd be a medical miracle if she didn't! That does make walking and keeping balance more difficult because the lungs don't get enough oxygen and when you walk the body needs more so in the early stages signs are found in the way people walk. My mother was a smoker and they used to make her do the walk test. They would have her walk 200m in her doctor's office and they could tell a lot about her lungs from walking how she carried herself and moved her feet.

Walked out of After Hours on 34th street and she was in the lobby for the next showing. We chatted for a bit, she seemed alright.

Fran has an interesting take on our junk culture. She said that AIDS not only killed off so many brilliant creative people, but it also killed off a discerning audience of tastemakers who shaped our culture. The loss of that audience had a terrible impact and allowed a lot of second-rate stuff to become popular.

She strikes me as someone who hasn't had an orgasm in fifty years.

She had had neither orgasm from partner, drink or drug in 50 years by her own admission but apparently got enough booze and pussy as a young woman to do her a lifetime.

She doesn't.

Calvin Klein gives her money and I think purchased her apartment for her.

She'd walk just fine if she got herself some thick soled Rockports.

She's fine. She doesn't send her love.

Why the fuck is everyone giving her money? What a grifter.

[quote]She has always had patrons who have paid her bills, etc. for her.

r3, Otherwise known as a lapdog for the rich.

WTF are you talking about, R57? Who's everyone? If she has rich, admiring friends who include her in their will, what's that to you? Just because no one will do the same for you, you jealous cunt.

[quote]Fran Lebowtiz is a national treasure.

r23, Only in the sense that, to paraphrase Andy Warhol, "In the future, everyone will be a national treasure for 15 minutes."

No r60 Fran isn't some dumbshit celebrity. She's actually quite intelligent and clever.

R61 about a tenth as clever as she thinks she is

r62 you should watch her interviews. The woman is spot on about most things.

R63 I’ve seen pretty much everything aside from the Scorsese doc (which I think it’s absurd that she’s worthy of a Scorsese doc, but whatever). Shes my partner in crime in that none of us can live without restaurants, and she nearly had a nervous breakdown when they all closed, but really with her it’s same schtick different day — she moans about the “gritty old New York” but at the same time she has her table at the Waverly. Which I have absolutely nothing against btw but I hate that she pretends to be so much more “authentic” than that.

I saw the Scorcese doc, you aren't missing anything.

She's always been around fancy places, even in the 70s. I think the gist of her argument is that back then the "elite" world of NYC was more interesting with the Warhol crowd and more creative people. Today it's all hedge fund and finance assholes and filthy rich foreign scumbags. That's basically what she's saying.

R66 Warhol was the most shallow social climbing asshole on the planet. That’s such bullshit and a total romanticization of those people/that era.

r67 the point is that NYC was much more egalitarian with lots of creative people who weren't rich. That's what Fran is talking about. She's saying that a city full of hedge fund managers is not interesting.

[quote]Warhol was the most shallow social climbing asshole on the planet. That’s such bullshit and a total romanticization of those people/that era.

That is an extremely simplistic and uninformed view of that era.

And NY wasn't filled with soulless, oblivious Adderall zombies walking around staring at their phones and there was nightlife. Now with 7-11s, Walgreens, CVS, Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts on every block it feels so bland and corporate. Broadway is comprised of jukebox musicals and film adaptations i.e. Mean Girls, Pretty Woman, Beetlejuice, Tootsie...culture is dead! The Bloomberg era with real estate over development and the age of technology change NY for the worse.

Clearly, a man. As anti american as it gets.

Fran is New York's version of Angelyne, down to the mysterious benefactors and cartoon cars.

"I’ve seen pretty much everything aside from the Scorsese doc (which I think it’s absurd that she’s worthy of a Scorsese doc, but whatever)."

Then you haven't seen pretty much everything, R64, if you haven't seen that. Maybe if you actually watched it you wouldn't think it's absurd, but whatever.

[quote] She also did NOT say homosexuals should stop calling themselves victims. She said there was a difference between slavery and repression.

Yes, she did. Telling gay people to shut up because homosexuality isn’t slavery is repugnant along with equating hate crimes with though crimes. She admits that she’s dumb as a post so I’ll give her a pass.

[quote] She's actually quite intelligent and clever.

Not really. She can’t finish reading one book and couldn’t even finish high school. She’s like all of Warhol’s morons: no talent.

Silly bitch

A lot more closet space than I thought possible. Also, they bill it as a one-bedroom, but there's a second "sleeping area" room--AND an office that is the size of a small bedroom.

Nice place, though--it looks too bright white for Fran's personality.

3 billion is rich. 3 million is upper.middle class.

$3m for house/condo is not Upper Middle Class except maybe NYC. That’s rich anywhere else.

R74, you're a fucking liar, for is all. And let me tell you something, hunty, she's a lotsmarter than you are. You silly queen.

Silly bitch, R76? You oughta know.

R75--she can't finish one book? She owns ten thousand books and has written three. How many books do you own? How many have you read? How many have you written?

Jesis, what a bunch of stupid cunts troll here.

R79 you must be living outside a major city

How is this woman possibly still relevant? She doesn't do anything and hasn't for decades.

"She can't finish one book"

What are your sources for that, you ninny?

R82 she would make handsome man. She's so ugly you don't forget her. She could do commercial s.

I'm so sick and tired of New Yorkers crying middle class when they have millions. I have friends and cousins who live in NYC, none of them have anywhere near a million dollars nor do they earn 6 figures. And guess what? They are fine. They love being in the city and won't move away because they don't believe the extra space and backyard is worth losing having the city on their doorstep. It's just offensive and so out of touch when these West Village living, Equinox going, Whole Foods shopping people try to pretend they are just middle class. We get it there are people richer than you. But you are in the top 2-3% in the country. The top .1% in the world. Nobody gets everything in this life, everyone has their cross. I'm very sorry you all don't have 30 million, a kept twink, a 5% tax rate and a Dallas mansion in the middle of Manhattan but would you folks please stop and count your many blessings and stop playing the victim all the time.

I could never wear a costume in real life, which is what she does. Tom Wolfe also comes to mind as a costume wearer. I can understand if you’re a drag queen - you’re a mental case who wants people to notice you because you’re a nobody who is good with makeup. But if you have real talent, why make yourself into a caricature?

Remember when tucker Carlson did the bow tie & vest thing? Does George Will still do it? (Is he still alive?) Orson Bean was a no-talent guy who played Orson Bean all the time & wore bow ties on game shows, then turned into a conservative blowhard nobody wanted to listen to. (I’m gonna take political advice from a Match Game regular?)

There's an amusing bit between Fran and Orson Bean on a chat show, I think Orson had a few too many.

She hails from Morristown, NJ!

It was rumored that Fran and Dolly Parton were an item in the 70s/80s. Maybe Dolly pays her to keep her mouth shut.

Fran's sister was Joan Rivers's assistant.

Was she in the Joan Rivers's movie? (The sister, I mean.)

[quote] I could never wear a costume in real life, which is what she does.

She wears jeans, a dress shirt, and a blazer. The way millions of people do.

She has an OnlyFran porn site

Isn't her sister a famous photographer?

Maybe she lends her money.

She is not related to Anne Leibovitz.

They don't even have the same last name.

Fran Lebowitz. Anne Leibovitz.

70 years old and she still smokes!

Omg this whole time I thought you guys were discussing Anne.

Her name is Annie, R96.

R33 - hypocrisy is the only sin Republicans can hurl at Democrats because Democrats have standards and Republicans have none.

[quote]Always dressed in the same navy blazer, blue jeans and cowboy boots so, if they're expensive clothes, she only seems to own one or two sets.

It's her shirts that are expensive. She's mentioned a couple of times that she has them tailor made. She's mentioned who does them, but I've forgotten the name, possibly a high end store in London.

Yes it's some tailor in London who refused to take her as a client until some man, possible Graydon Carter, twisted his arm. She also has a funny anecdote about the guy who made her boots, He's a straight dude in Texas who took the job and then spent months giving her excuses. Finally she got through to him and said 'I know you've spent your life lying to women and evading responsibility but I want my boots'. I could imagine exactly the type of guy he is and Fran's frustration at him.

She said she used to have them made by Brooks Brothers--but their stuff went China cheap (like everything has).

I don't know why the new tailor refused to make her shirts: she certainly doesn't wear shirts tailored for women (with the dimensions and extra darts and things).

Youtube has a bunch of clips from Public Speaking.

I find her amusing and she does speak truth. But most of her popularity stems from the fact that NYrs love to be told how special they are.

It is no fluke that she is popular here.

reckon she still chain smokes after so many yrs...them yellow teeth... pitiful...weak.

man she fug....never cared for her smug role as miss critic of ev thang..

I watch her chat show appearances to remember why i cant stand her guts...her marlboro stained guts.

She doesn't care about you, either, hunty R104. Nor do I. You type dumb.

[quote] How is this woman possibly still relevant? She doesn't do anything and hasn't for decades.

Netflix and Fran say hello, bitch.

So many stupid cunts in this thread. Who gives a fuck how much money she has or who gives it to her, or where she eats? She is wise, always correct, and has impeccable comedic timing and delivery. She has always been a joy on Bill Maher’s show—especially just before and during the Trump presidency.

Anyone who doesn’t like her is probably a clueless, tacky idiot. I’d bet on it.

Wonder why Scorcese loves her enough to do more than 5 hours of footage with her.

Fran was a hooker by night selling her body to any man that will take it.

Have you seen his “short” film American Boy, R109? If you think Fran is a bore, or something, wait til you watch that shit.

You really know her well, R110.

Because, R109, she's a cultural figure, a humorist who's one of the funniest people alive, a social commentator, and the author of two classic books of humor.

So boring to have to explain Fran's appeal to dimwits. You don't get it? Good. Don't.

I would totally suck Fran’s big cock.

Always amusing to hear people who've written no books and have never been relevant snark about someone else who's done and is both.

...and the Netflix documentary-series is quite good. One of the few things that can help me forget the mess where in right now. We love Fran.

Enjoyed the first episode of the Netflix series but where does it go from there? It was already getting repetitive.

She gave up pussy? Some little sow should be cooking for her.

I would love to enjoy a dinner with her. She’s a fascinating personality and a wonderful conversationalist. I could just spend a few hours just listening and learning from her.

Anyone here bitching about her and how she makes a living is jealous. I know I'm envious! I'd love to live in NYC in a nice apartment, walk around and browse bookstores, give talks where I express my opinions and have a patron! She's a treasure, and like R118 says, a fascinating personality.

She has a patron? What does that mean.

She's very funny. M Scorsese is supposedly a decent guy.

Her juicy, welcoming pussy

For someone who likes to throw out quips all the time, I’m surprise she’s not on Twitter.

She hates social media.

She hates social media just to be contrary. Does she hate running water and flushing toilets too?

I think she’s tremendous. A true original. Sure, she’s a bit of a crank, but so what? She seems like a nice person underneath that cantankerous public facade. I would love to meet her.

And I bet she got SO MUCH pussy when she was young

Wouldn't it be scandalous if it turned out that Roy Cohn or J. Edgar Hoover left her money in their wills? It's pretty well suspected that David Geffen, Barry Diller and the rest of the Velvet Mafia pick up most of her checks. But imagine if she had befriended some of the more villianous homos during her lifetime and they thanked her generously in their wills?!

I, too, assumed she made her money being a famous photographer.

Her laziness is part of her appeal. She doesn’t try to cram too much into one day, which is very smart.

Oh brother, R127. J. Edgar Hooever died in 1972, when she was 22, and she was no more friends with Roy Cohn than Bernie Sanders was. Your magical thinking is really dumb.

I think Malcolm Forbes left her money in his will.

She says she only has enough money for five more years.

Maybe she can get a fucking job if she ‘only has money for 5 more years’.

Where, the GAP?

R134 IDK. Maybe she’ll shovel shit if she gets hungry enough.

In Andy's Diaries, he told this story about Fran going in front of a gaggle of media types to talk about her "Interview" column "I Cover The Waterfront." She said she got the name from Tennessee Williams who, when asked about his sexuality replied "I cover the waterfront." Andy said it went over like a lead balloon.

I adore her. She was a hot little number in 1978. Sad about the cigarettes. Its my drug of choice too. She's sharp as a tack tho and wonderfully self deprecating.

She's sharper than a lot of the dullards here, that's for sure, who seem obsessed with flights of fancy about her finances.

She's a welcome change to most of what passes for humor these days. She puts the wit back into witty. 90% of those bashing her on DL would give their eye teeth (remember when your mom used to say that?) to be her.

I'm enjoying the series very much but it might have been stronger edited down to a couple of less episodes. She does get repetitive. But it's beautifully shot and edited with great period material and scoring.

From the footage, it looks like she sells out huge crowds. I imagine she could work every Saturday night on a different college campus if she wanted to. She must make plenty of money. And I think a clever editor could take a transcript of the best of her monologues in this series and turn it into a best selling new book. I wouldn't worry about Fran.

I turned on her Netflix show to hate- watch but found her to be totally harmless and forgettable in a unique way. We don’t see women like her celebrated so I respect her hustle.

"and forgettable in a unique way"

Oh, brother. What gibberish.

I'd hardly call her self-aggrandizing "self-deprecating."

I love Fran and plan to start watching the show tonight. I have always wondered where she got her money but as others have said between her speaking, the fact that she bought Manhattan property in 1980 and that she has access to the best financial advisors through her friendships it does kinda work out how she lives as she does and also why she would only be able to keep up this lifestyle for 5 years if her speaking gigs don't come back. She has lots of monied friends though, she'll be fine.

Darlings, we've all seen the movie. It was called "Friends With Money."

I saw her do an interview in front of a liberal NYC audience and she had them in the palm of her hand until she started talking about how banning cigarettes in bars was dumb. The crowd turned on her.

r146, she has a very funny and perceptive monologue in the doc where she makes the point that if Paris had outlawed smoking in bars in the early 20th century, Picasso, Gertrude Stein and Hemingway and their exchange of ideas would have never happened (I'm grossly paraphrasing).

It was a stupid crowd then, R146. By now they should know where she stands on that subject. In the Netflix series, she says she knows it's an addiction, knows it might kill her, knows it's not good, etc. She's always been candid about it. I've never seen an audience turn on her.

There was a time about 25-30 yrs ago when I was first introduced to her on Letterman. I found her witty and engaging then, and an original thinker. I watched and read everything she put out. Now I feel she is repetitious and a bore. She hasn't evolved. But hey - she is 70 and she amuses her friends and herself. Totally fine!

She eviscerated Trump. Just not in this series

Not evolving is her schtick, r149.

[quote]she has a very funny and perceptive monologue in the doc where she makes the point that if Paris had outlawed smoking in bars in the early 20th century, Picasso, Gertrude Stein and Hemingway and their exchange of ideas would have never happened (I'm grossly paraphrasing).

She needs to realize that we’re not living in the early 20th century. Her “refusal to evolve” schtick is trite and stupid.

Does she wear a mask, or is that infringing on her rights, too?

She certainly didn't make it as a call girl.

She is one of the ugliest women in the world.

All you fools who say she's boring and repetitious and irrelevant--do YOU sell out theaters when you speak? If she was all those things, she wouldn't be appearing to SRO crowds and having Martin Scorsese making a documentary and then a miniseries about her. I'd say you're the ones who are boring and repetitious and irrelevant with your tedious blathering that she's the one who's trite.

Interesting that she isn't seen smoking in any of the contemporary footage.

I've watched several of the Scorsese Netflix shows now and feel like I'm listening to an older, Jewish woman version of me So of course I'm loving it.

Seems like she gets her money through speaking gigs and some influential/rich friends giving her jobs or letting her mooch.

She wrote porn when she first came to Manhattan, which is a frightening thought.

On the contrary, R159. I would love to read her porn. I'm sure it's better than the shit most queens beat off to.

"She stuck her cigarette between his butt cheeks and then began to wheeze..."

Zzzzzzzz...

[quote] Fran said Toni never h=got rich from writing. She said Toni had to teach to keep the bills paid and couldn't afford to live in NYC. It shocked me but I suppose name recognition doesn't translate to wealth.

She's flat out wrong. When Morrison died, according to wikipedia, she was worth $20 million.

Her books sold like hotcakes (usually at least a million each) when Oprah chose them for her national book club, and she chose several of them: Song of Solomon, Paradise, The Bluest Eye, and Sula were all selections for the club.

Lebowitz is delightful and opinionated, but she's often full of bullshit. Just stating something does not make it true.

Whoever said Lebowitz said that about Morrison, please provide a link to what episode she said that. I watched both the documentary and the miniseries, and I don't recall at all that she said Morrison wasn't rich. She might have been talking about early on in Morrison's writing career, but the fact is that Morrison was quite wealthy and had an apartment in lower Manhattan as well as a house on the water outside the city. Maybe I'm wrong and Fran said that, but I don't think so.

Were Fran and Toni lovers?

Love Fran. She's a character and one of a kind. Yes, she can be repetitive and no she doesn't pass all the purity tests of the regressive left but I'm an unapologetic fan and always listen to/read her interviews when I see one. If straight dudes can turn Joe Rogan into a $100 million empire and hang on Peterson's every word, we can embrace Fran and lay off the cheap shots at her looks.

R166 She is a throwback to what used to be called "eccentric"... it's true that the current digital media shaped generations don't understand eccentricity, if there characters who don't check all the requisite boxes on the tribal checklist, they don't compute. I don't say this in some reactionary attack on political correctness or woke consciousness - just descriptive.

Excellent post, r167.

I might also add that Fran doesn't look like other women we see onscreen or in the media any more. Except for probably dying her hair, she's aged naturally, she wears old outdated clothes and many people don't know how to digest that image here.

National treasure, has been since the 70s, her writer's block is a loss for people who like to read.

She's funny, smart, discerning and more interesting than almost anyone else. No, she is no longer attractive but she's 70 and she definitely had her day.

Fran is not for the twitter generation. She's for people who read books.

[quote]Interesting that she isn't seen smoking in any of the contemporary footage.

Netflix has said it won't show smoking in its original series unless absolutely historically necessary. (Fran would probably argue it is in her case.)

They caught hell after the David Harbour character in "Stranger Things" was established to be a smoker. Since it was set in the 1980s, it seemed reasonable to me.

Even their warnings before a show now include it: "Rated PG-13, brief nudity, profanity, smoking"

I admire Netflix for that decision.

Though I wonder how it can be argued whether it can ever be deemed "absolutely historically necessary." IIRC several characters in The Queens' Gambit smoked a lot. I guess it helped establish some of the characters like the crazy adoptive mother.

R171, they're making an example in the case of Lebowitz of someone who promotes smoking.

Old outdated clothes? She wears straight up men’s clothes. Those ugly shiny shoes with the jeans rolled at the ankle. It just looks fucking lazy.

People just need to calm down about smoking on tv shows. You can show drug use and drunkeness with no problems.

Hi Fran r174

She seems like someone that got dropped into the wrong century.

R173, she's been on. more than a few "most stylish" lists in her time. Her suits and shirts are from Savile Row. Your opinion isn't universal.

I love her fashion sense and style. But she really needs to rethink the haircut (that center part!) and the bad dye job, at her age, it's no longer flattering. I must admit, I'm kind of amazed at how attractive she was in her youth, as seen in the stills in the documentary. It's not how I remember her.

She’s pretty shit on the subject of gays. I mean, she doesn’t believe in hate crimes. She calls it thought crimes and she says gays haven’t been oppressed, just marginalized.

I find her funny but it’s a bit much to see people saying that she’s right about everything.

Well, one only starts to get dye jobs at her age, so it's not that it was once flattering.

Though, what she needs more than that is a good conditioner and a hair iron. She should go to a salon, but she tries to do it herself.

She must have stashes some money ...

$3.1m for a 1 bedroom? Please tax these motherfuckers.

She owns 5 units? Wtf

What are you talking about, R183?

The article says that Jimmy Fallon owns five units in his Gramercy building. It's not Fran.

$3.1 million for that one bedroom is ridiculous. It looks like a condo in Boca.

R182 It has "an additional sleeping space" which apparently means there is a sofa in addition to the bed in the second bedroom.

She’s no Fawn Liebowitz.

R186 ok then, it’s a BARGAIN!!

I love Fran but her jackets and shirts are very oversized and overwhelm her. She looks as if she’s wearing her dad’s clothes. Men’s clothes simply don’t fit most women without making alterations. Shorter sleeves and a narrower shoulder/yoke would help

R189 Yep, so it seems like that late 80s/early 90s silhouette of the padded big shoulders, oversized blazer with sleeves rolled up. But then I think part of Fran's charm is she doesn't give a fuck.

I remember seeing one interview she did where she was asked "So you're friends with Dolly Parton?" Fran got immediately defensive. "Yeah, we're friends. So what?" Like she'll name drop all of her famous friends, but when someone mentions Dolly, she shuts that shit down. Hmmmmmmm......

Fran's comments on how AIDS permanently damaged the culture by not only killing off so many brilliant creative artists but also a discerning audience of tastemakers were very true. The junk culture we have now is a direct result of that.

I watched the "Pretend it's a city" documentary series. Her social commentary is spot on. She's sharp as a tack and often had me in stitches. I like Fran.

Yes it is almost criminal that her place is worth 3 million but it is what it is. As property prices rise more people feel victimized, consider themselves middle class and refuse to allow tax reform. I think Biden suggested 400K as the cut off point. I think that's very fair. People earning 500K do not and think they are just normal workers who shouldn't be taxed a cent more.

Where did she say that, R191? I've heard her reference Parton but never in a defensive way. This sounds like the use of quotes on your part is misleading.

This just showed up on Reddit - Rock Star Magazine, 1975.