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Terry Southern

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Author

The Resume

    (May 1, 1924-October 29, 1995)
    Born in Alvarado, Texas
    Wrote the novels ‘Candy’ (with Mason Hoffenberg, 1958) and ‘The Magic Christian’ (1959)
    Screenwriter for ‘Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’ (1964), ‘The Loved One’ (1965), ’The Cincinnati Kid’ (1966), ‘Barbarella’ (1968), ‘Easy Rider’ (1969) and ‘The Magic Christian’ (1969)

Why he might be annoying:

    His first marriage, to model Pud Gadiot, lasted less than two years.
    He was a heavy drinker and abuser of amphetamines.
    He ticked off both director Stanley Kubrick and novelist Peter George by claiming the lion’s share of the credit for writing ‘Dr. Strangelove.’
    He repeatedly got into tax troubles with the IRS.
    He was hired by New York University to teach screenwriting, but was fired over his fondness for holding classes in a local bar.
    Michael O’Donoghue hired him as a writer for Saturday Night Live’s 1981-82 season, but most of the sketches he submitted were rejected for being either too political or too sexually gratuitous.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a lieutenant in the US Army during World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
    He convinced Olympia Press founder Maurice Girodias to publish William S. Burroughs’ ‘Naked Lunch.’
    His short story ‘The Accident’ was the first article in the first issue of ‘The Paris Review.’ (1953)
    Tom Wolfe credited his ‘Esquire’ article ‘Twirling at Ole Miss’ as the start of New Journalism (1963).
    He was a member of the jury at the Sundance Film Festival (1988).
    Gore Vidal called him ‘the most profoundly witty writer of our generation.’
    ’Playboy’ listed ‘Candy’ as one of the ’25 sexiest novels ever written.’ (2006)

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying