Harry Dean Stanton’s life has already been the subject of two documentaries — Tom Thurman’s Harry Dean Stanton: Crossing Mulholland (2011) and Sophie Huber’s Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2012) — however Joseph B. Atkins’ Harry Dean Stanton: Hollywood’s Zen Rebel is the first official biography about the actor and singer, and the first to be released since his 2017 death at age 91.

In pop culture, Stanton is one of those actors that people don’t always bother to learn more about. From Alien to The Straight Story to countless westerns, he accumulated over 200 movie credits but only got to play the leading man a couple of times. The term “character actor” gets thrown around a lot when describing Stanton, but it’s not a phrase the actor would have used. He may have been a supporting player most of the time, but he always had high ambitions.

Stanton wasn’t one for talking about himself and rarely expands on his answers in the aforementioned documentaries (the reason he agreed to participate in Huber’s film is because she said it would be about his music). Instead, it’s Stanton’s celebrity friends —  including director David Lynch and musicians Kris Kristofferson and Michelle Phillips — who talk at length about what made the subject great and such a natural in front of the camera. Atkins, meanwhile, never got to meet Stanton personally but interviewed a lot of the actor’s family members for the 2020 book, and fills in some of the gaps the subject purposely left in his history. 

“Well, there’s a lot of things, personal things, I don’t want to talk about,” Stanton tells Huber in Partly Fiction.  Then, after the filmmaker mentions the actor’s mother, the subject gets dropped. Atkins, however, picks up the topic during the first chapter of Harry Dean Stanton: Hollywood’s Zen Rebel about the subject’s childhood in Kentucky. Stanton was the oldest of three boys, and his mother, Ersel, left the family during his teenage years. The mother and son were eventually able to reconcile, but Stanton had to work through some anger first.

After serving in the Navy, Stanton attended the University of Kentucky (Atkins’ book was published by the University Press of Kentucky), and then travelled to California and the Pasadena Playhouse. Music was always important to the actor — he sang in Cool Hand Luke, and performed in a barbershop quartet with his brothers. In Chapter11 of Harry Dean Stanton: Hollywood’s Zen Rebel, Atkins looks at various bands that the subject founded.

Throughout the years, Stanton suffered various hardships. His recurring role on Big Love came at a time when he had just been embezzled by his financial manager, and his acclaimed performance in Paris, Texas didn’t lead to more starring roles. Wim Wenders’ 1984 classic was the film Stanton was most proud of, though, and Atkins devotes a full chapter to it.  

Stanton may not have wanted to talk about his past, but Atkins’ book will appeal to both fans and Hollywood aficionados alike, as there aren’t many performances that the biography doesn’t cover. Any Stanton admirer will naturally want to learn more about Repo Man, but it’s nice to read about Death Watch for a change.

Rachel Bellwoar (@ziggystarlog) drinks a lot of Coca Cola. Her tastes fall somewhere between David Bowie and David Lynch and, when she’s not writing for Vague Visages, you can find her reviews at Comicon, Flickering Myth, That’s Not Current and Diabolique Magazine.