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Some words of advice for Warren Beatty

The following letter was written on this day in 1963. It can be found in the excellent book, The Selected Letters of Elia Kazan, edited by Albert J. Devlin and published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2014.

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Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg in a scene from the film 'Lilith', 1964. (Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)

“Warren Beatty’s behavior is just unbelievable. He’s out to destroy everyone, including himself,” wrote Jean Seberg, Beatty’s co-star, in a letter to a friend during filming of Beatty’s fourth movie, Lilith. And she wasn’t the only one to complain, with reports of his unbearable behaviour growing in number and volume by the week. One person to catch wind of Beatty’s insolence was legendary filmmaker Elia Kazan, who had become something of a mentor to Beatty since directing him in his big screen debut, Splendor in the Grass, a few years earlier. Hearing of Beatty’s insufferable antics left him with no option but to offer some words of advice, and he did so by letter.