• The memoir Prince started but didn't finish before his 2016 death is ready for his fans to read. The Beautiful Ones, from Spiegel & Grau, goes on sale Tuesday. Dan Piepenbring, his collaborator on the book, said panic, shock and joy swept over him when he was chosen by Prince. Though the project was thrown into chaos when Prince died on April 21, 2016, of an accidental drug overdose, his estate ultimately decided to press on, allowing Piepenbring and his publishing team free access to the pieces of his life left behind at his beloved Paisley Park, including the contents of his vault. The book was completed from a mere 28 memoir pages written by Prince in his elegant script and quirky style, one of which was replacing the word "I" with a drawing of a human orb. All told, Piepenbring spent 12 to 15 hours face to face with Prince in Minneapolis, New York and on tour in Melbourne, Australia. Their last conversation was just four days before Prince died. It was focused on his parents and their conflicting influences in his life. Their conflicts, including a divorce when he was 7, and the dual impact on Prince and his work is the book's prevailing theme.
• In 1977, Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmuller became the first woman to ever be nominated for best director at the Academy Awards. Although she didn't win that year -- Rocky director John Avildsen did -- the 91-year-old will finally get an Oscar of her own today at the annual Governors Awards. "This is making me very happy," Wertmuller said last month through a translator. Born in Rome in 1928, Wertmuller had been working in theater, sketch comedy and puppetry before making her transition into film. The picture that ultimately caught the attention of the film academy was Seven Beauties, a sprawling story about a man with seven unattractive sisters who puts himself on a complicated path during World War II when he kills a pimp who turned one of his sisters into a prostitute. Saturday The Lizards -- Wertmuller's first film, released in 1963 -- was set to have its American premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre, today Wertmuller is to be feted by the film academy, and on Monday she'll receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Wertmuller isn't just a piece of Oscars trivia for being "the first" female directing nominee: She remains only one of five including Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Kathryn Bigelow and Greta Gerwig. Bigelow is the only one to have won. It's a statistic that was a surprise to Wertmuller during a September interview. "I didn't even know," Wertmuller said. "I'm obviously very happy and proud and full of admiration but five is too few. There should be a lot more."
A Section on 10/27/2019