Next to Jack Kerouac, poet Allen Ginsberg, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, William S. Burroughs was among the primary voices of the Beat Generation and his books have earned him an enduring cult following. His most famous book, Naked Lunch, became the basis of a disturbing David Cronenberg film in 1991. Cronenberg's version of Burroughs' hallucinatory, autobiographical account of drug addiction and despair is a liberal adaptation and incorporates other elements from Burroughs' life, notably his accidental shooting of his own wife. As a cult figure, with his gaunt funereal demeanor, fedora hat, and heavy shades, Burroughs occasionally cameoed in offbeat films, notably Drugstore Cowboy (1989) and in Gus Van Sant's poorly received Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994). Burroughs last appeared in a #92;rock video for the group U2's "Last Night on Earth." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Also Credited As:
William Burroughs, William Seward Burroughs
- Born:
February 5, 1914 in St Louis, Missouri, USA
- Died:
August 2, 1997.
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Job Titles:
Author, Screenwriter, Advertiser, Bartender, Factory worker, Office worker, Pest controller, Private detective
Family
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Father: Mortimer P Burroughs.
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Grandfather: William Burroughs.
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Mother: Laura Lee Burroughs. died 1970
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Son: William Burroughs Jr. died 1981
Significant Others
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Companion: James Gerauerholz. survived him
Education
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Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, anthropology and ethnology
Milestones
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1944 Lived in Greenwich Village, NY
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1953 Wrote first book Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict
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1956 Underwent apomorphine to cure his drug addiction
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1970 Wrote film script The Last Words of Dutch Schultz
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1989 Collaborated in comic opera The Black Rider
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1991 Underwent triple bypass surgery
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Became a painter and calligrapher
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Developed addiction to heroin
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Drafted in the Army during WWII, discharged after three months
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Lived in Tangier during the late 1950s
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Made anthropological journeys to South America