This page uses content from the Vincent Gallo biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Vincent Gallo (born in Buffalo, New York on April 11, 1962) is an American movie actor and director starring in a number of independent movies. Gallo is also a recognized painter, male fashion model, musician, motorcycle racer and breakdancer.

Gallo is known for his outspoken views and claims, once saying "I stopped painting in 1990 at the peak of my success just to deny people my beautiful paintings, and I did it out of spite."http://www.galloappreciation.com/print/flux.html

Gallo has said in interviews that he is a great admirer of the work of Werner Herzog, John Cassavetes, Courtney Fathom Sell, Rainer Fassbinder, Mario Bravo and Wim Wenders.

Biography

Vincent Gallo was born in Buffalo, New York on April 11, 1962, a middle child. Both his parents had emigrated from Sicily. He has said that "only real Italians are from Buffalo."

After his father kicked him out of the house at the age of 16, Gallo began living in New York City, and from there traveling around most of Europe, only to find himself back in the wild scene of New York under the name, Prince Vince.

He has been in many bands: The Plastics, Pork, Bohack, Gray - in which Jean Michel Basquiat was one of his band members, and good friend. He is also good friends with producer Rick Rubin, John Frusciante, and Johnny Ramone, among others. He first began painting, then racing motorcycles, and finally became an actor. His most notable work is Buffalo '66 (1998), a film which he wrote, directed and scored. He's been in a band called "Bunny" with Lukas Haas. Even though they are no longer together, Vincent put out his own CD under Warp Records, titled "When".

Gallo has modeled, most notably for Calvin Klein. Gallo was going to be in a movie about Charles Manson, playing the man himself, but clashed with the people behind it, something he is notorious for doing. In 2002 he released "Recordings of Music for a Film", which is some of his older music work remastered.

Modeling, music and film

Vincent Gallo has modelled for Calvin Klein, been photographed by Richard Avedon, and was in a rock band with Lukas Haas.

He has directed two films, Buffalo 66 and The Brown Bunny. The latter was controversial as it contained a scene in which actress Chloë Sevigny performs actual fellatio on Gallo.

Music

Gallo formed his first musical group in 1971 at age 9. This band was called The Blue Mood. He played bass guitar in this band and sang. From that time forward he has been involved with numerous music groups that have embraced a number of musical styles. To date, he has released five albums, plus several singles.

Feud with Roger Ebert

A war of words erupted between Gallo and popular critic Roger Ebert in 2003 regarding the latter's negative criticism of The Brown Bunny at the Cannes Film Festival. Ebert wrote that The Brown Bunny was the worst film in the history of Cannes, and Gallo retorted by calling Ebert a "fat pig with the physique of a slave trader." Ebert then responded, paraphrasing a statement once made by Winston Churchill that "although I am fat, one day I will be thin, but Mr. Gallo will still have been the director of The Brown Bunny." Gallo then put a hex on Ebert's colon, cursing the critic with cancer. Roger Ebert then replied that enduring his colonoscopy would be more entertaining than watching The Brown Bunny. Later on, Gallo told Ebert that he had been misquoted, and he had actually wished him cancer of the prostate and not the colon.

A shorter, re-edited version of the film played later in 2004 at the Toronto International Film Festival (although it still retained the controversial sex scene). While not receiving the highest praise, neither did it garner the same level of derision as the Cannes version, and on the August 28, 2004 episode of Ebert & Roeper, Ebert gave the new version of the film a thumbs-up. In a column published at about the same time, Ebert reported that he and Gallo had made peace.

Ironically, the outrage and hysteria surrounding The Brown Bunny meant it ended up being the most talked-about film of the festival—even more so than the eventual Palme d'Or winner, Gus Van Sant's Elephant, and Lars von Trier's highly anticipated Dogville—creating a mystique that some thought might enhance its likelihood of securing major U.S. distribution. This did not happen, however, and the $10 million film had the highest per screen average at the box office, the weekend it opened. The film won approval from Sony Pictures Entertainment, which acquired multiterritory distribution rights of the film in February 2005. Sony Pictures Entertainment also released the film on DVD in North America in August 2005.

Website merchandise

In early 2005, as a goof Gallo made a posting on his merchandise website offering his "disease-free" sperm for $1 million.

In early 2006, Gallo made another website posting offering his services as an "evening or weekend escort" and was open to any woman ("even black chicks") who would pay his fee of $50,000 for one night or $100,000 for a weekend.

Trivia

• Gallo was a delegate at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

• He owns an old-fashioned style recording studio full of rare out of date equipment. He also records his albums to tape.

• He turned down the lead role in Boogie Nights and the role of Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs.

• He created a short film called Honey Bunny starring [Paris Hilton].

• There is an original portrait of Vincent Gallo hanging in the Phoenix Hotel in San Francisco.

• Vincent Gallo was featured in the glassjaw video "Cosmopolitan Blood Loss"

Selected filmography

Actor

• Moscow Zero (2006)
• Oliverio Rising (2006)
• The Brown Bunny (2003)
• Stranded (2001)
• Trouble Every Day (2001)
• Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby (1999)
• Buffalo 66 (1998)
• Truth or Consequences, NM (1997)
• Nénette et Boni (1996)
• The Funeral (1996)
• Basquiat (1996)
• Palookaville (1996)
• Arizona Dream (1993)
• The House of the Spirits (1993)

Writer/Director

• The Brown Bunny (2003)
• Buffalo ’66 (1998)

Vincent Gallo also arranged and organised the "All Tomorrow's Party" event at Camber Sands in the UK, April 2005. His friend John Frusciante appeared on the bill, which also included, by invitation, British electronic pioneer John Foxx and his partner Louis Gordon. It is believed that John Foxx delayed the start of his set so that Gallo himself could be present.

Discography

Albums

• It Took Several Wives - (1982), released on Family Friend Records (as Bohack)
• The Way It Is Soundtrack - (1984), released on Rojo Records
• Buffalo 66 Soundtrack - (1998), released on Will Records
• When - (2001), released on Warp Records (as Vincent Gallo)
• Recordings Of Music For Film - (2002), released on Warp Records

Singles

• "So Sad" EP - (2001), released on Warp Records
• "Honey Bunny" 7" - (2001), released on Warp Records

External links

Websites

• Drowning In Brown - information about Gallo's music.
• Excerpt from Ebert's interview of Gallo
• Gallo Appreciation - comprehensive resource page
• Official merchandise website
• Official website
• Sperm donation and escort ads
• The Guardian: Contrite Gallo apologises for pretension
• Warp Records website

References

• .

• The Brown Bunny Trailer (spanish)

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