William S. Burroughs

Biography

William S. Burroughs, one of the three seminal writers of the Beat Generation (the other two being his friends Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg), was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 5, 1914, to the son of the founder of the Burroughs Adding Machine Co. He grew up in patrician surroundings and attended private school in Los Alamos, New Mexico, chosen due to the climate as he suffered from sinus trouble (the school was later used to house the Manhattan Project during World War II)). Burroughs took his undergraduate degree at Harvard College (Class of 1936) but rebelled inwardly against the life that the upper-class Harvard man was supposed to lead during the pre-war period (outwardly he dressed the part of a patrician, with three-piece suit, necktie, black homburg and chesterfield overcoat being his standard wardrobe. His political options generally were also of his class, i.e., right-wing). Planning to become a physician, Burroughs moved to Germany to study medicine.

83years old at death

Born February 5, 1914St. Louis
Died August 2, 1997Lawrence
Star sign: AquariusThe sign runs January 20 to February 18
Also credited as Willy Lee, William Lee, William Seward Burroughs II, William Seward Burroughs and William Burroughs

Movie Career

Films: 5
Career span: 29 years1989 to 2018

Every film, newest first

2018Take Your PillsIMDb rating 6.3
2010William S. Burroughs: A Man WithinIMDb rating 7.1
2009ObsceneIMDb rating 7.2
1998The Book of LifeIMDb rating 6.5
1989Drugstore CowboyIMDb rating 7.2

Genres

Did you know?!

About the name
Burroughs published his first novel, Junkie, under the pen name William Lee, and Allen Ginsberg was instrumental in getting the book published as a cheap mass-market paperback.
Behind the camera
Burroughs discovered the cut-up technique from Brion Gysin at the Beat Hotel in Paris in October 1959, and the two cultivated a long-term friendship around their shared interest in cut-up techniques.
Behind the camera
Burroughs developed a shotgun art technique in 1982, shooting at spray paint cans placed in front of blank surfaces to create abstract compositions, first exhibited at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York City in 1987.
Beyond film
In 1992, Burroughs worked with Kurt Cobain on a recording called "The 'Priest' They Called Him". It grew out of a tape Burroughs had sent Cobain of his short story "The Junky's Christmas".
Behind the camera
Burroughs and Kerouac wrote a novel together called And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, finishing it in 1945. They could not get it published while they lived, but it came out in November 2008.
Beyond film
Burroughs was a voice actor in The Dark Eye, a 1995 video game based on Edgar Allan Poe's works. In it he recites "Annabel Lee" and "The Masque of the Red Death".