Actor / Director Profile

Controversial, celebrated post-WWII American writer Norman Mailer first gained recognition at age 25 for his scathing anti-war novel, "The Naked and the Dead" (1948). Mailer directed three "underground" features in the late 1960s--during one of which he and actor Rip Torn argued so violently that Torn attacked him with a hammer--and has made appearances in works by avant-garde directors such as Kenneth Anger and Jonas Mekas. Several of Mailer's novels have been made into feature films, one of which--the forgettable, noirish Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987)--he also directed. Son Michael Mailer is a film producer and daughter Kate Mailer is an actress.