Anyone Who's Anyone: The Astonishing Celebrity Interviews, 1987-2017

by George Wayne

Overview

From former Vanity Fair magazine’s celebrity interviewer George Wayne comes a collection of piquant, poignant, and nostalgic interviews with some of the iconic personalities of our time, curated from his legendary magazine career.

The man behind some of the most notorious celebrity interviews, George Wayne, has redefined, reimagined, and remastered the modern art of the conversation. For over twenty years, he documented pop culture with the George Wayne Questionnaire, his patented question and answer column, which has been one of Vanity Fair’s most iconic and intriguing features. In each issue, he posed a series of offbeat questions to some the most captivating people in the world.

Refreshingly unafraid to ask anything and everything, GW has perfected what he calls—the probe and parry—to break down protective facades and get inside the heads and hearts of his interviewees. The results have been humorous, often surprising, sometimes shocking, and always revealing.

Beautifully designed with illustrations, Anyone Who’s Anyone is a collection of some of his most fascinating conversations with the world’s famous and infamous, highlighted with introductory annotations and memories of each interview—first published in his own R.O.M.E., Vanity Fair, and The Daily Front Row.

Cultural icons, royalty, and superstars of all kinds—including Kate Moss, Ivanka Trump, Ivana Trump, Martha Stewart, Joan Rivers, Farrah Fawcett, Fabio, Graydon Carter, and many more—spill their secrets, candidly sharing their hopes and fears.

With social media increasingly dominating our personal interactions, Anyone Who’s Anyone demonstrates that nothing can replace an engaging and authentic tête-à-tête.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062380074
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/05/2017
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

GEORGE WAYNE was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He is a New York–based writer of twenty-six years who currently resides in Greenwich Village. His beat is celebrity culture and the whirl of fashion, music, and style. George conceived and launched his own avant-garde ’zine, R.O.M.E., in 1982, and his career took off. He began as an associate editor at Interview magazine and later became the first contributing editor on the masthead of Allure. But his rise to recognition is attributed to his “GW Q&As,” which became a signature must-read of Vanity Fair, appearing regularly for twenty-two years. 

Table of Contents

Foreword Graydon Carter xi

Introduction: Where It All Began 1

Joan Rivers 15

Debbie Reynolds 21

Carrie Fisher 25

Marc Jacobs 35

David Copperfield 43

Philip Johnson 51

Bridget Hall 55

Milton Berle 61

Barry White 69

Dolph Lundgren 73

Dennis Basso 79

Ivanka Trump 89

Carrie Donovan 95

Geraldo Rivera 99

Kate Moss 105

Ross Bleckner 109

Sandra Bernhard 117

Bob Colacello 123

Ian Schrager 131

Tony Curtis 137

Charlton Heston 143

Ivana Trump 147

Kathleen Turner 153

Farrah Fawcett 157

Francesco Scavullo 163

Lerov Neiman 169

Anna Wintour 173

Cindy Adams 179

Martha Stewart 185

Helen Gurley Brown 189

Fabio 195

Sarah Ferguson-Duchess Of York 199

Russell Simmons 205

Eartha Kitt 211

Prince Federico Pignatelli Della Leonessa 217

Jackie Collins 225

Tamara Mellon 231

Régine 241

Donatella Versace 247

Kenneth Jay Lane 253

Mr. Blackwell 257

Graydon Carter 263

Robert Evans 271

Jerry Hall 275

Acknowledgments 279

Editorial Reviews

Wayne’s collected interviews are playful snapshots of the rarefied world of celebrity shoulder-rubbing. At times fascinating, the interviews offer a casual, unguarded look at some of the most high-profile personalities of the past 30 years.” — Kirkus Reviews

“[Wayne is] such an artful interviewer; we all secretly want to know, and he is just the personality to tell you. A fun romp through celebrity culture.”
— Booklist

“What’s better than a juicy celebrity interview by a veteran reporter who knows how to get a great scoop? An entire book of them.” — Marie Claire

“A collection of sharp, funny, at-times-nostalgic celebrity interviews from the former Vanity Fair A-list interviewer George Wayne, whose offbeat Q&As were one of the magazine’s best features.” — New York Post

“To better savor GW’s ill-mannered, quick-witted tongue, keep this one around to sip one sitting at a time.” — Associated Press

“This delightful collection is a selection of his most notable conversations, including those with icons like Farrah Fawcett and Kate Moss, each highlighted and annotated by Wayne with his memories and thoughts about each subject.” — Real Simple

“Wayne is one of Vanity Fair’s most provocative and provoking interviewers and this collects his greatest hits, including interviews with Ivana Trump, Martha Stewart, and Joan Rivers.” — New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

This delightful collection is a selection of his most notable conversations, including those with icons like Farrah Fawcett and Kate Moss, each highlighted and annotated by Wayne with his memories and thoughts about each subject.

Real Simple

[Wayne is] such an artful interviewer; we all secretly want to know, and he is just the personality to tell you. A fun romp through celebrity culture.”

Booklist

Wayne is one of Vanity Fair’s most provocative and provoking interviewers and this collects his greatest hits, including interviews with Ivana Trump, Martha Stewart, and Joan Rivers.

New York Times Book Review

A collection of sharp, funny, at-times-nostalgic celebrity interviews from the former Vanity Fair A-list interviewer George Wayne, whose offbeat Q&As were one of the magazine’s best features.

New York Post

What’s better than a juicy celebrity interview by a veteran reporter who knows how to get a great scoop? An entire book of them.

Marie Claire

To better savor GW’s ill-mannered, quick-witted tongue, keep this one around to sip one sitting at a time.

Associated Press

A collection of sharp, funny, at-times-nostalgic celebrity interviews from the former Vanity Fair A-list interviewer George Wayne, whose offbeat Q&As were one of the magazine’s best features.

New York Post

[Wayne is] such an artful interviewer; we all secretly want to know, and he is just the personality to tell you. A fun romp through celebrity culture.”

Booklist

2017-09-04
A career-spanning collection of the writer's celebrity interviews.Since 1987, George Wayne, or GW, has picked the brains of pop-culture luminaries for readers of his DIY magazine R.O.M.E., Interview, and Vanity Fair, where his column appeared for 22 years. Collected in this volume for the first time, the interviews offer unique insight into a particular New York social circle populated by the glitterati, fashionistas, celebrities, and other socialites. Having landed in New York in the early 1980s after graduating from the University of Georgia, Wayne immediately immersed himself in downtown clubs, and his predilection for fashion designers and celebrities reflects the exclusivity and stratification of that scene. (References to air-kisses abound.) The "Q&As," as the author calls them, are conversational and irreverent, and Wayne never shies away from asking controversial, occasionally random questions. He asks Joan Rivers about her fondness for plastic surgery, 90-year-old architect Philip Johnson about Viagra, and on which date David Copperfield first slept with supermodel girlfriend Claudia Schiffer, among other non sequiturs. Updated with contemporary introductions, not all of Wayne's interviews seem slated for posterity. His fawning adoration of "alpha fox" Ivanka Trump and the assurance that she would "keep POTUS 45 [her father, Donald Trump] grounded and real" is already terribly dated. Other interviewees include model Kate Moss, Donatella Versace, Carrie Fisher, Marc Jacobs, Barry White, Kathleen Turner, Farrah Fawcett, Tony Curtis, Charlton Heston, Martha Stewart, and Russell Simmons. Featuring a foreword by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter (who says Wayne reminds us "that we could all use a bit more mischief in our lives before the age of the individual passes us by for good"), Wayne's collected interviews are playful snapshots of the rarefied world of celebrity shoulder-rubbing. At times fascinating, the interviews offer a casual, unguarded look at some of the most high-profile personalities of the past 30 years.

Kirkus Reviews

To better savor GW’s ill-mannered, quick-witted tongue, keep this one around to sip one sitting at a time.

Associated Press Staff