Huston’s daddy complex
Legendary director John Huston was a hard-drinking, irascible philanderer and bona fide eccentric—and Anjelica Huston adored him.
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Modern men just don’t measure up to Anjelica Huston’s dad, said Rhys Blakely in The Times (U.K.). The actress’s late father, legendary director John Huston, was a hard-drinking, irascible philanderer and bona fide eccentric—and she adored him. “I’ve heard my father described as a Lothario, a drinker, a gambler, a man’s man, more interested in killing big game than in making movies,” Huston says. “He was fascinating.” Growing up in the shadow of a headstrong director, screenwriter, actor, boxer, trophy hunter, and raconteur wasn’t always easy; at times, she admits, her father could be cruel. “Of course; it’s part of being interesting,” she says. “I don’t think I looked at my father and thought—you know—‘You’re ideal.’ I knew he was tricky. Handsome and winsome and tricky.” Her longtime boyfriend, Jack Nicholson, was cut from the same roguish mold, but Huston says that kind of man has gone out of style. “I just don’t see those kinds of guys any more. I don’t think men are as testosterone-heavy as they used to be. Maybe it’s just because I’m older. But I think men are the new women.” She leans forward, confidentially. “That means women might be the new men, and [men] could cook for us, clean for us, look after our babies. It could really work well. I’m up for it.”
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