Book description
Though he never reached the lead actor status he labored so
relentlessly to achieve, Warren Oates (1928-1982) is one of the most
memorable and skilled character actors of the 1970s. With his rugged
looks and measured demeanor, Oates crafted complex characters who were
at once brazen and thoughtful, wild and subdued. Friends remember the
hard-living, hard-drinking actor as kind and caring, but also sometimes
as mean as a blue-eyed devil. Married four times, partial to road trips
in his RV affectionately known as the “Roach Coach,” and famous for
performances for directors ranging from Sam Peckinpah to Steven
Spielberg, Warren Oates remained a Hollywood outsider perfectly suited
to the 1960s and 1970s counterculture. Born in the small town of Depoy
in rural western Kentucky and reared in Louisville, Oates began his
career in the late 1950s with bit parts in television westerns. Though
hardly lucrative work, it was during this time Oates met renegade
director Sam Peckinpah, establishing the creative relationship and
destructive friendship that produced some of Oates's most unforgettable
roles in Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), and The Wild
Bunch (1969), as well as a leading part in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo
Garcia (1974). Though Oates maintained a close association with
Peckinpah, he had a penchant for working with a variety of visionary
directors who understood his approach and were eager to enlist the
subtle talents of the consummate character actor. With supporting roles
in In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Hired Hand (1971), Badlands
(1973), 1941 (1979), and Stripes (1981), Oates delivered solid
performances for filmmakers as diverse and talented as Norman Jewison,
Peter Fonda, Terrence Malick, Steven Spielberg, and Ivan Reitman.
Oates's offscreen personality was just as complex as his on-screen
persona. Notorious for being a nightlife reveler, he was as sensitive
and introspective as he was outgoing and prone to periods of exuberant,
and at times illegal, excess. Though he never became a marquee name,
Warren Oates continues to influence actors like Billy Bob Thornton and
Benicio Del Toro, as well as directors such as Quentin Tarantino and
Richard Linklater, all of whom have cited Oates as a major inspiration.
In Warren Oates: A Wild Life, author Susan Compo skillfully captures the
story of Oates's eventful life, indulgent lifestyle, and influential
career. Susan Compo is a lecturer in the Master of Professional
Writing Program at the University of Southern California. She is the
author of three works of fiction, including Pretty Things and Life After
Death and Other Stories.
