Paul Alexander

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Paul Alexander (born 1955 in Birmingham) is a biographer, playwright, and director

Alexander studied with Barry Hannah at the University of Alabama and participated in the Iowa Writers' Workshop with Marvin Bell and Donald Justice. He began his career as a reporter for the Houston bureau of TIME magazine.

After editing a volume of essays about poet Sylvia Plath, Alexander wrote a biography of her entitled Rough Magic. He followed that with a book detailing the battle over Andy Warhol's estate after his death and biographies of actor James Dean and author J. D. Salinger.

In 1996 Alexander became a regular feature writer for George magazine. He profiled presidential candidates Robert Dole, George W. Bush, and John Kerry for George and Rolling Stone and contributed to numerous other periodicals. His next three books profiled Kerry, John McCain, and Karl Rove, respectively. Alexander's first stage play, Strangers in the Land of Canaan was produced by the Sanctuary Theater Workshop in 1996 and was performed at The Actors Studio.

In 2001 Alexander teamed with fellow writer John Calvin Batchelor on a late-night radio talk show on WABC in New York. Batchelor and Alexander was picked up for syndication on the ABC Radio Network and was, for a while, the nation's top-rated late night radio program. Alexander left the program in 2003 to pursue a career in film and theater.

Alexander wrote a script for a one-woman show about Sylvia Plath, entitled Edge. The production, starring Angelica Torn, was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle award and toured successfully in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Alexander followed up by directing Torn in a London production of Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden at King's Head Theatre.

Alexander directed the 2004 feature-length biopic Brothers in Arms which detailed John Kerry's experiences in the Vietnam War.

In 2008 Alexander founder The Artists Theatre Group, a New York-based non-profit stage company. The company debuted with a revival of Edge, with Angelica Torn reprising her role as Plath. In 2009 the company produced the New York premiere of Frank McGuinness's Gates of Gold about the founding of Dublin's Gate Theatre. The company's 2010 follow-up, a revival of Deane and Balderston's 1977 adaptation of Dracula, opened to poor reviews.

Publications

  • Alexander, Paul, editor (1985) Ariel Ascending: Writings about Sylvia Plath. ISBN 9780060153335
  • Alexander, Paul (1991) Rough Magic: A Biography of Sylvia Plath ISBN 9780670818129
  • Alexander, Paul (1994) Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of James Dean ISBN 9780670849512
  • Alexander, Paul (1994) Death and Disaster: The Rise of Warhol's Empire and the Race for Andy's Millions ISBN 9780679432739
  • Alexander, Paul (1999) Salinger: A Biography ISBN 9781580630801
  • Alexander, Paul (2002) Man of the People: The Life of John McCain ISBN 9780471228295
  • Alexander, Paul (2004) The Candidate: Behind John Kerry's Remarkable Run for the White House ISBN 9781573222938
  • Alexander, Paul (2008) Machiavelli's Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove ISBN 9781594868252

References