![Burroughsx390](https://www.advocate.com/media-library/burroughsx390.jpg?id=32717964&width=1200&height=876)
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
The cult author of such seminal works as Junkie and Naked Lunch is the subject of director Yony Leyser's William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, a probing look at the writer who lived to tell about the extremes of drug and queer cultures. Leyser incorporates rare archival photos and interviews as well as new ones with luminaries like punk poet-singer Patti Smith (who admits to borrowing lyrics from him) and director Gus Van Sant (who cast Burroughs in Drugstore Cowboy for authenticity). His later-in-life boyfriend, Marcus Ewert, reveals a surprising nugget: Despite having accidentally killed his wife, Joan, in a notorious shooting stunt gone wrong, Burroughs continued to sleep with a loaded gun in his bed for the rest of his life. Naturally it's fellow iconoclast John Waters who best sums up Burroughs's complicated appeal: "He was the first person who was famous for the things you were supposed to hide -- he was gay, a junkie, he didn't look handsome, he shot his wife, and he wrote poetry about assholes and heroin." The documentary will be shown on the PBS series Independent Lens February 22.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Kamala Harris rides wave of Democratic energy at kickoff event in Wisconsin
July 23 2024 3:36 PM
'Devastated:' A six-week abortion ban will go into effect in Iowa next week
July 23 2024 2:28 PM
Four hours, 44,000 Black women, and one Zoom call
July 23 2024 2:17 PM
Record 1.2 million people show out for Cologne’s Pride parade
July 23 2024 10:51 AM
Here's how far-right activist Leonard Leo helped fund Bud Light boycott
July 23 2024 10:27 AM
Elon Musk’s comments about his trans daughter prove why she doesn’t speak to him
July 23 2024 9:16 AM
Nancy Pelosi endorses Kamala Harris for president
July 22 2024 4:07 PM