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Paul Bartel (August 6, 1938 – May 13, 2000) was an American actor, writer and director. He was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy Eating Raoul, which he co-wrote, starred in and directed. Bartel appeared in over 90 movies and TV episodes, including such titles as Eat My Dust!
Yet his true passion, and talent, was for filmmaking. As a director Bartel demonstrated a John Waters -like affinity for the perverse, and had three notable successes: the Roger Corman production DEATH RACE 2000 (1975), EATING RAOUL (1982) and SCENES FROM THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN BEVERLY HILLS (1989).
As a gay youth who grew up amidst the repressive social codes of post-war American suburbia, Bartel expressed his sexuality not through strident, post-Stonewall liberation but through subversion and parody. His repressed energy was transmuted into films of even darker comedy than American audiences were accustomed to seeing.
The young Paul Bartel would have seemed an unlikely candidate for such scandalous and subversive filmmaking. Raised in a conventional middle-class New Jersey family, Bartel knew from an early age that he wanted to make movies. After high school, he enrolled in UCLA's prestigious film school.
American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker Paul Bartel is perhaps best known as the director and star of the quirky sleeper Eating Raoul (1982). Born in New York City, Bartel was a film aficionado since childhood and entered the industry at age 13 working as an assistant animator for UPA.
- August 6, 1938
- May 13, 2000
Before his death in 2000, Paul Bartel worked mostly as an actor. He appeared in more than sixty films, including made-for-TV movies. With occasional exceptions like his role in Eating Raoul , Bartel mostly played character parts in supporting roles.
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One of the few openly gay directors in Hollywood, Paul Bartel is a visual satirist who has directed a range of bawdy, violent, sophisticated and nearly always controversial films. His work is distinguished primarily by its subject matter rather than by its style.
