Brian Epstein est un Acteur et Producteur Britannique né le 19 septembre 1934 à Liverpool (Royaume-uni)
Brian Epstein
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Nom de naissance Brian Samuel EpsteinNationalité Royaume-uniNaissance 19 septembre 1934 à Liverpool (
Royaume-uni)
Mort 27 aout 1967 (à 32 ans) à Londres (
Royaume-uni)
Brian Samuel Epstein (/ɛpstaɪn/; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English music entrepreneur, best known for managing the Beatles.
Epstein first discovered the Beatles in November 1961, during a lunchtime Cavern Club performance. He was instantly impressed, and saw great potential in the group. After being rejected by nearly all major recording companies in London, Epstein secured a meeting with George Martin, head of EMI's Parlophone label. In May 1962, Martin agreed to sign the Beatles, partly because of Epstein's conviction that the group would become internationally famous.
The Beatles' early success has been attributed to Epstein's management style, and the band trusted him without hesitation. In addition to handling the Beatles' business affairs, Epstein often stepped in to mediate personal disputes within the group. The Beatles' unquestioning loyalty to Epstein would later prove detrimental, as the band rarely read contracts before signing them. Shortly after the song "Please Please Me" rose to the top of the charts in 1963, Epstein advised the creation of Northern Songs, a publishing company that would control the copyrights of all Lennon–McCartney compositions recorded between 1963 and 1973. Music publisher Dick James and his partner Charles Silver owned 51% of the company, Lennon and McCartney each owned 20%, and Epstein owned 9%. By 1969, Lennon and McCartney had lost control of all publishing rights to ATV Music Publishing. Still, Epstein's death in 1967 marked the beginning of the group's dissolution and had a profound effect on each individual Beatle. In 1997, Paul McCartney said, "If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian."
Epstein's influence on the Beatles and his complicated personal life continue to provoke controversy. In 2012, Tom Hanks announced that his production company Playtone will back a biopic of the famed Beatles manager. They describe the film as "the story of a man who threw the biggest party of the 1960s, but ultimately forgot to invite himself."
In 2013, author Vivek Tiwary released a graphic novel, The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story. A film of the same name, originally to be produced by Bruce Cohen and directed by Peyton Reed, was scheduled for release in 2014. Tiwary said about that project that the film would "be less a music bio and more of an inspirational human-interest story about an outsider". Tiwary, Stuart Ford and Simon Cowell went on to co-produce a film by that name, said to be set for release in 2016 Tiwary, credited as the film's writer, wrote at the IMDb: 'His story will unfold via a mixture of history, fantasy, allegory, dream sequences, & hallucinations. Biographie
Throughout Epstein's life he was known to be kind and caring to his family, friends of his family, and business colleagues. When Lennon married Cynthia Powell, on 23 August 1962, Epstein served as best man and paid for the couple's celebration lunch afterwards. During Cynthia's pregnancy Epstein paid for a private room in a hospital and offered the Lennons the sole use of his flat on Falkner Street, Liverpool, when they needed a home. He also agreed to be godfather to Lennon's son Julian.
Sexual orientation
Epstein's homosexuality was not publicly known until some years after his death, although it had been an open secret among his friends and business associates.
While Epstein was in the Army, he commissioned a tailor to make an officer's uniform for him that he wore when cruising the bars of London, but was arrested one night at the Army and Navy Club in Piccadilly by the military police for impersonating an officer. Epstein managed to avoid a court martial by agreeing to see an army psychiatrist, who learned of Epstein's sexuality. After 10 months he was discharged from the army on medical grounds for being "emotionally and mentally unfit". Epstein later stated that his first homosexual experience was when he returned to Liverpool after being discharged.
Epstein spent a year studying acting at RADA, but dropped out shortly after his arrest for "persistent importuning" outside a men's public toilet in Swiss Cottage, London; cottaging, as it was called, was one of the few public places gay and bisexual men could meet at the time, especially if they were closeted. When Epstein first saw the Beatles perform he noticed their stage attire first, saying, "They were rather scruffily dressed, in the nicest possible way, or I should say in the most attractive way: black leather jackets, jeans, long hair of course." McCartney said that when Epstein started to manage the Beatles they knew that he was homosexual but did not care, because he encouraged them professionally and offered them access to previously off-limits social circles.
Although Lennon often made sarcastic comments about Epstein's homosexuality to friends and to Epstein personally, no one outside the group's inner circle was allowed to comment. Ian Sharp, one of Lennon's art school friends, once made a sarcastic remark about Epstein, saying, "Which one of you [Beatles] does he fancy?" Sharp was sent a letter by Epstein's office within 48 hours that demanded a complete apology. Sharp apologised, but was then completely ostracised. McCartney sent him a letter directing him to have no contact with any of them in the future. Epstein went on holiday to places such as Amsterdam, Torremolinos and Barcelona or Manchester at weekends, as the attitude to homosexuals there was more tolerant than Liverpool, even though Liverpool did have several gay bars.
In his autobiography, Best stated that Epstein drove them both to Blackpool one evening where Epstein expressed his "very fond admiration." Epstein then supposedly said, "Would you find it embarrassing if I ask you to stay in a hotel overnight?" Best replied that he was not interested, and the two never mentioned the incident again. There were reports of a brief sexual encounter between Lennon and Epstein during a four-day holiday in Barcelona, in April 1963. Lennon always denied the rumours, telling Playboy in 1980: "Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated ... but we did have a pretty intense relationship." Lennon's first wife Cynthia also maintains that Lennon's relationship with Epstein was platonic. A fictionalised account of the Spanish holiday is featured in the 1991 film, The Hours and Times.
Epstein's autobiography, A Cellarful of Noise, was published in the UK in October 1964, and later in the US. It was ghost-written by journalist Derek Taylor, who served as Epstein's assistant that year, and then as the publicist for NEMS from 1968 to 1970. Lennon reportedly once quipped that the memoir should have been titled A Cellarful of Boys. Male homosexual activity was illegal in England and Wales until September 1967, when it was decriminalised; however, this was one month after Epstein's death.
Drug use
After the start of his management career, Epstein started taking stimulants, usually Preludin, which did not require a prescription at the time. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr had also taken it since their days in Hamburg. Epstein explained his use of the drug as the only means of staying awake at night during numerous concert tours. In 1964, Brown suspected that Epstein was taking too many pills, as he would often cough at parties, which Brown realised was Epstein's way of secretly putting pills into his mouth without anyone noticing. McCartney often met Epstein at late night clubs in London, remembering that Epstein would often grind his jaws, and once saying, "Ugghhh, the pills" to McCartney. Epstein also developed dependencies on the drug carbromal, a barbiturate-like sedative/hypnotic drug.
In 1964, after having been introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan in New York, Epstein was observed by McCartney standing in front of a mirror, pointing at himself and repeatedly saying "Jew!", while laughing loudly, which McCartney found hilarious and "very liberating". Epstein later became heavily involved in the 1960s drug scene. During the four months when the Sgt. Pepper album was being recorded, Epstein spent his time on holiday, or at the Priory Clinic in Putney, where he tried unsuccessfully to curb his drug use. He left the Priory to attend the Sgt. Pepper launch party at his house on 24 Chapel Street, but returned to the Priory immediately after.
Epstein added his name to an advertisement that appeared in The Times on 24 July 1967, which called for the legalisation of cannabis, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana's medical uses. The advertisement was sponsored by a group called Soma and was signed by sixty-five people, including the Beatles, Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing, sixteen doctors, and two members of parliament. Epstein responded to questions about the advertisement by saying, "My opinion is that pot smoking is definitely less harmful than drinking alcohol. I am not addicted to either, but I have been very drunk and very 'high'." In June 1967, after McCartney had admitted to LSD use, Epstein defended him to the media, stating that he had taken the drug himself.
Gambling
In August 1965, the Beatles and Epstein visited Elvis Presley at his house in Perugia Way in Los Angeles, where Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, set up a roulette wheel and several packs of playing cards. Epstein immediately asked to play, as he was known for his love of gambling. McCartney frequently visited gambling clubs in London, such as Curzon House, Epstein's favourite club, where he often ran into Epstein. He once saw Epstein put a Dunhill lighter worth £100 on the table, then lose it during a game of cards. Epstein often lost thousands of pounds by playing baccarat or chemin de fer, the original version of baccarat when it was introduced to France, but would stay at Curzon House the whole evening, eating an expensive meal and drinking fine wines. The club never presented Epstein with a bill, as they knew he lost so much in the casino.
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