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56-841: Tootsie was partly inspired from a play written by McGuire in the early 1970s, and was first made into screenplay by Dick Richards , Bob Kaufman , and Robert Evans , in 1979. Richards, who was selected as director, introduced the project to Hoffman, who obtained complete creative control after signing on: revisions to the screenplay and from Richards and his successor, Hal Ashby , being replaced by Pollack caused delays to production, which eventually began in November 1981. Principal photography took place across New York and in New Jersey , with filming locations including Manhattan , Hurley , and Fort Lee . The film's theme song, " It Might Be You ", performed by Stephen Bishop , peaked at No. 25 on

112-519: A Best Supporting Actress Nomination. Sylvester Stallone also appears on screen in an early, pre- Rocky role. Film critic Rex Reed said, " Farewell, My Lovely is the kind of movie Humphrey Bogart would have stood in line to see." Richards went on to direct the British war drama March or Die (1977), starring Gene Hackman , Catherine Deneuve , and Terence Hill ; the horror film Death Valley (1982); an adaptation of Erich Segal ’s book by

168-543: A Clear Day You Can See Forever , Save the Tiger , The Conversation , Chinatown , The Great Gatsby , and many others. Dissatisfied with his financial compensation and desiring to produce films under his own banner, Evans struck a deal with Paramount in 1972 that enabled him to stay on as executive vice president of worldwide production while also working as an independent producer on five films. Other producers at Paramount felt this gave Evans an unfair advantage. After

224-437: A beer. Michael later waits for Julie outside the studio. She is reluctant to talk to him, but he tells her that he and her father played pool and had a good time. She finally admits she misses Dorothy. Michael tells her Dorothy is within him and he misses her too. He remarks, "I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man." Julie forgives him and they walk away together, engaged in conversation. In

280-506: A business trip, he was by chance spotted by actress Norma Shearer , who thought he would be right to play the role of her late husband Irving Thalberg in Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). Thus he began a brief film acting career. In 1962, Evans went into film producing instead, using his accumulated wealth from the clothing business, and began a meteoric rise in the industry. He was made head of Paramount Pictures in 1967. While there, he improved

336-853: A comedy. Scenes set at New York's Russian Tea Room were filmed in the actual restaurant, with additional scenes shot in Central Park and in front of Bloomingdale's . Scenes were also filmed in Hurley, New York and at the National Video Studios in New York. Additional filming took place in Fort Lee, New Jersey . Tootsie opened in 943 theaters in the United States and Canada and grossed $ 5,540,470 during its opening weekend. After 115 days, it surpassed Close Encounters of

392-548: A dinner party in honor of director Wes Craven , Evans suffered a stroke while giving a toast, and was rushed to nearby Cedars-Sinai Medical Center . Evans flatlined in the ambulance, but was resuscitated. Suffering a series of three strokes in quick succession, he was left paralyzed on his right side and completely unable to speak. During his hospital stay, he was encouraged by media mogul and friend Sumner Redstone , who stayed at his bedside, to work on his speech and recovery. A few days after Evans's stroke, Frank Sinatra died from

448-413: A gross of $ 19 million. Worldwide, it grossed 241 million dollars. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 91% of 53 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: " Tootsie doesn't squander its high-concept comedy premise, with fine dialogue and sympathetic treatment of the characters" Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned

504-505: A guilty plea to a misdemeanor in federal court after being arrested for engineering a large cocaine buy with his brother Charles. As part of his plea bargain , he filmed an anti-drug TV commercial. The alleged drug dealing, which Evans continued to deny (the misdemeanor was later wiped from his record), came out of his own involvement with the drug. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer in a 1994 interview, "Bob 'Cocaine' Evans

560-461: A heart attack in one of the adjoining rooms at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Witnessing his body being taken away, Evans said it was an event that furthered his desire to recover. Evans eventually regained his ability to talk and returned to producing. From 2013, he relied on a cane for shorter walks and had limited mobility. Evans died in Beverly Hills, California on October 26, 2019, at

616-506: A leading role on The Aldrich Family situation comedy. He was spotted by actress Norma Shearer next to the pool at The Beverly Hills Hotel on November 6, 1956. She successfully touted him for the role of her late husband Irving Thalberg in Man of a Thousand Faces . The same year, Evans also caught the eye of Darryl F. Zanuck , who cast him as Pedro Romero in the 1957 film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway 's The Sun Also Rises , against

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672-585: A more regular basis, with a mixed track record that included both flops (such as Jade in 1995) and hits (such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in 2003, his final film credit). Evans was born in New York City, New York, the son of Florence (née Krasne), a housewife who came from a wealthy family, and Archie Shapera, a dentist in Harlem . He described both of his parents as "second-generation Jews ". He grew up on New York City's Upper West Side during

728-442: A national sensation. When Sandy catches Michael in her bedroom half undressed because he wants to try on her clothes for ideas for Dorothy's wardrobe, he covers up by claiming he wants to have sex with her. Sandy is receptive and they sleep together. Exacerbating matters further, Michael is attracted to one of his co-stars, Julie Nichols, a single mother with a daughter from a previous relationship and in an unhealthy relationship with

784-514: A poll conducted by both ABC and People Weekly Magazine . Tootsie was selected as the No. 5 Best Comedy. National Film Registry — Inducted in 1998. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: The film was first released on CED Videodisc in 1983, on VHS and Betamax videocassettes by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video in 1985 and on DVD in 2001. These releases were distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Video . The film

840-428: A revised script. As preproduction began, the project experienced additional delays when Richards left as director over "creative differences". He instead became one of the film's producers, and Hal Ashby became the director. Columbia then forced Ashby to quit because of the threat of legal action that would ensue if his postproduction commitments on Lookin' to Get Out were not fulfilled. Hoffman, in an attempt to get

896-446: A role written for Dabney Coleman . Pollack resisted the idea, but Hoffman eventually convinced him; it was Pollack's first acting work in years. Pollack cast Coleman as the sexist, arrogant soap opera director Ron Carlisle. To prepare for his role, Hoffman watched the 1978 film La Cage aux Folles several times. He also visited the set of General Hospital for research and conducted extensive makeup tests. Hoffman has stated that he

952-432: A way out, but Julie is so outraged at Michael's deception that she punches him in the stomach once the cameras have stopped rolling and storms off. Some weeks later, Michael is moving forward with producing Jeff's play. He returns Les's engagement ring, and Les says, "The only reason you're still living is because I never kissed you." Despite his anger, Les admits that Michael was good company as Dorothy, and Michael buys him

1008-655: A writer for The New York Times , wrote an article about Evans's aggressive production style. This got Evans noticed by Charles Bluhdorn , who was head of the Gulf+Western conglomerate which owned Paramount, and hired Evans as production vice-president in 1966 as part of a shakeup at Paramount Pictures (which included Bart, whom Evans would recruit as a Paramount executive). "We didn't strive for commercial. We went for original. We fell on our asses on some of them, but we also touched magic." Robert Evans, 2002 When Evans took over as head of production for Paramount,

1064-712: Is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Known as a storyteller and an "actor’s director", Richards worked with Robert Mitchum , Gene Hackman , Martin Sheen , Blythe Danner , Catherine Deneuve , Alan Arkin , Wilford Brimley , and many others. Born and raised in New York, Richards rose to prominence during the 1960s advertising revolution, becoming a world-renowned photographer and commercial director with clients including Coca-Cola , Volkswagen , Polaroid , General Motors , Hertz , Pepsi , etc. His celebrated advertising work won every major industry award including

1120-490: Is how I'll be known to my grave". He argues that he never should have been convicted of federal selling and distribution charges, as he was only a user. Evans married seven times. He first married Sharon Hugueny in 1961, staying with her until 1962. Subsequently, he married Camilla Sparv (1964–1967), Ali MacGraw (1969–1973), Phyllis George (1977–1978), Catherine Oxenberg (1998), Leslie Ann Woodward (2002–2004), and Victoria White (2005–2006). Evans's marriage to Oxenberg

1176-432: Is in love with another woman, and Sandy screams and breaks up with him. The tipping point comes when, due to Dorothy's popularity, the show's producers want to extend her contract for another year. Michael extricates himself when a technical problem forces the cast to perform live, by improvising a revelation about Emily: that she is actually Edward, Emily's twin brother who took her place to avenge her. This allows everybody

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1232-537: The Billboard Hot 100 . Tootsie was theatrically released in the United States on December 17, 1982, by Columbia Pictures . The film grossed $ 241 million worldwide, becoming the third-highest grossing film of 1982, and received critical acclaim for its humor, Hoffman and Lange's performances, dialogue, and social commentary. It was nominated for ten awards at the 55th Academy Awards , including Best Picture , and won Best Supporting Actress for Lange. In 1998,

1288-780: The Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago from September 11 to October 14, 2018, before opening on Broadway in the spring of 2019. The musical has music and lyrics by David Yazbek . Robert Horn wrote the book, Denis Jones choreographed and Scott Ellis directed. Santino Fontana starred as Michael Dorsey. He was joined by Lilli Cooper as Julie Nichols, Sarah Stiles as Sandy Lester, John Behlmann as Max Van Horn, Andy Grotelueschen as Jeff Slater, Julie Halston as Rita Mallory, Tony Award winner Michael McGrath as Stan Fields and Tony nominee Reg Rogers as Ron Carlisle. Dick Richards Dick Richards (born 1936)

1344-533: The Cannes Lion for best worldwide commercial, as well as multiple Clio’s and New York Art Director Awards . Pauline Kael referred to Richards as "a photographer who became a whiz at TV commercials [before directing movies]". After years in the New York commercial world, Richards moved to Hollywood and directed his first feature film, The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972), which was praised for its historical accuracy and period atmosphere. The film won Richards

1400-488: The National Film Registry . Robert Evans Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera ; June 29, 1930 – October 26, 2019) was an American film producer who worked on Rosemary's Baby (1968), Love Story (1970), The Godfather (1972), and Chinatown (1974). Evans began his career in a successful business venture with his brother Charles Evans , selling women's apparel. In 1956, while on

1456-497: The 1930s, where he was better off than most people living during the Great Depression . In his early years, he did promotional work for Evan-Picone, a fashion company founded by his brother Charles . After high school, he did a variety of voice work on radio. With a clear, deep voice as a teenager and a knack for foreign accents, by his estimation he performed in more than 300 radio shows before he turned 18. This included

1512-433: The 1970s, fashion company executive Charles Evans began filmmaking, following in the path of his brother Robert Evans , a successful actor, producer and studio executive, "because I enjoy movies very much. I have the time to do it. And I believe if done wisely, it can be a profitable business." In the early 1970s, Don McGuire's Would I Lie to You? , a play about an unemployed male actor who cross-dresses in order to find jobs,

1568-574: The Gold Dust Twins sneaks up on you-you discover it like a ‘sleeper.’ I found it a funny, velvety film, with the kind of tenderness you can almost feel on your fingertips." That same year Richards directed Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling in the Raymond Chandler adaptation, Farewell, My Lovely (1975). Roger Ebert said the movie "Never steps wrong" and called it "a totally assured piece of work". Sylvia Miles earned

1624-609: The Third Kind as Columbia's greatest domestic hit of all time. Its final international gross in the United States and Canada was $ 177,200,000, making it the second-highest-grossing movie of 1982 after E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold more than 56.9 million tickets in the U.S. The film grossed $ 63.8 million internationally and was the highest-grossing film in Germany, with

1680-493: The WGA's Screen Writer's Annual Story Award and earned Jerry Bruckheimer his first film credit as associate producer. Richards and Bruckheimer, friends from their commercial days, went on to make three more movies together. After seeing his directorial debut, Universal Pictures producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown hired Richards to direct the film Jaws (1975). They soon grew irritated by Richards's habit of describing

1736-487: The ailing Paramount's fortunes through a string of commercially and critically acclaimed films. In 1974, he stepped down to produce films on his own. In 1980, Evans's career, and life, took a downturn after he pled guilty to cocaine trafficking. Over the next 12 years, he produced only two films, both financial flops: The Cotton Club (1984) and the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes (1990). In 1993, he produced films on

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1792-505: The early 1980s, Evans was introduced to theatrical impresario Roy Radin , a producer of traveling musical and comedy revues, by cocaine dealer Karen Greenberger (aka Lanie Jacobs). Radin was trying to break into the film industry with a movie about the legendary New York nightclub, the Cotton Club . The deal arranged on the film The Cotton Club mandated that Evans and Radin establish a production company in which each would own 45% of

1848-474: The film 4 out of 4 stars praised the film as "the kind of Movie with a capital M that they used to make in the 1940s, when they weren’t afraid to mix up absurdity with seriousness, social comment with farce, and a little heartfelt tenderness right in there with the laughs." In 1998, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in

1904-401: The film a score of 88 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Roger Ebert praised the film, awarding it four out of four stars and observing: " Tootsie is the kind of Movie with a capital M that they used to make in the 1940s, when they weren't afraid to mix up absurdity with seriousness, social comment with farce, and a little heartfelt tenderness right in there with

1960-626: The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Michael Dorsey is a respected actor, but nobody in New York City wants to hire him because he is a perfectionist and difficult to work with. He makes ends meet by working as a server in a restaurant and teaching acting classes. After many months without an acting job, Michael hears of an opening on

2016-470: The film with the remaining 10% split between two other parties. Radin offered Greenberger (aka Jacobs) a $ 50,000 finder's fee for her efforts, which she found unsatisfactory. As The Cotton Club film financing was being arranged, the 33-year-old Radin was murdered in 1983. Contract killer William Mentzer was among four people sentenced for shooting Radin multiple times in the head and using dynamite to make identification by authorities more challenging. At

2072-640: The floundering studio was the ninth largest. Despite his inexperience, Evans was able to turn the studio around. He made Paramount the most successful studio in Hollywood and transformed it into a profitable enterprise for Gulf+Western. During his tenure at Paramount, the studio turned out films such as Barefoot in the Park , The Odd Couple , Romeo and Juliet , Rosemary's Baby , The Italian Job , True Grit , Love Story , Harold and Maude , The Godfather , The Godfather Part II , Serpico , On

2128-530: The huge critical and commercial success of the Evans-produced Chinatown , he stepped down as production chief, which enabled him to produce films on his own. From 1976 to 1980, working as an independent producer, he continued his streak of successful films with Marathon Man , Black Sunday , Popeye and Urban Cowboy . After 1980, his film output became both more infrequent and less critically acclaimed. He produced only two films over

2184-452: The interest of Sydney Pollack to direct, asked Elaine May , who provided a few weeks of work that added the character played by Murray to go along with suggesting Garr for a key role. May, alongside other writers who lent suggestions (such as Barry Levinson ), albeit uncredited. In November 1981, Sydney Pollack agreed to direct and produce the film at Columbia's suggestion. Hoffman suggested that Pollack play Michael's agent George Fields,

2240-400: The job as a way to raise $ 8,000 to produce a play by his roommate Jeff Slater, which will star himself and Sandy. As "Dorothy", Michael plays Emily Kimberly as a plausible feminist, which surprises the other actors and the crew, who expected "Dorothy" to give a mild-mannered performance, in contrast to the empowered " Gloria Steinem type" suggested in the script. His character quickly becomes

2296-554: The laughs. This movie gets you coming and going...The movie also manages to make some lighthearted but well-aimed observations about sexism. It also pokes satirical fun at soap operas, New York show business agents and the Manhattan social pecking order." In 2011, ABC aired a primetime special, Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time , that counted down the best movies chosen by fans based on results of

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2352-409: The next twelve years: The Cotton Club and The Two Jakes . From 1993 to 2003 he produced the films Sliver , Jade , The Phantom , The Saint , and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days . Evans produced and provided the voice for his eponymous character in the 2003 animated series Kid Notorious . In 2004 Evans hosted a Sirius Satellite Radio show, In Bed with Robert Evans . In 2009, Evans

2408-400: The popular daytime soap opera Southwest General from his friend and acting student Sandy Lester, who unsuccessfully auditions for the role of hospital administrator Emily Kimberly. In desperation, and following an argument with his agent, Michael disguises himself as a woman named "Dorothy Michaels" and auditions for Southwest General himself, and he is cast as Emily Kimberly. Michael takes

2464-561: The process, Richards shared the screenplay with Dustin Hoffman , his partner in a company that bought and developed film-development properties. Hoffman wanted complete creative control and Evans agreed to remove himself from screenwriting tasks, instead becoming a producer of the film, which was retitled Tootsie. Before Hoffman officially became involved, his role had been offered to Peter Sellers and Michael Caine . The film remained in development for another year as producers waited for

2520-496: The same name, Man, Woman, and Child (1983), starring Martin Sheen and Blythe Danner ; and Heat (1986), starring Burt Reynolds . In 1983 Richards won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy for Tootsie (1982), which he optioned, developed and produced with Sydney Pollack . The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards (including a Best Picture nomination for Richards and Pollack). Roger Ebert gave

2576-423: The shark as a white whale (which also disinterested author Peter Benchley ) and dropped him from the project, replacing him with Steven Spielberg . Richards' next film, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975), starring Alan Arkin , McKenzie Phillips and Harry Dean Stanton , opened to positive reviews. In her book, Reeling , Pauline Kael calls Richards "A real southpaw" and said that, " Rafferty and

2632-801: The show's amoral, sexist director, Ron Carlisle. At a party, when Michael (as himself) approaches Julie with a pick-up line to which she had previously told "Dorothy" she would be receptive, she throws a drink in his face. Later, as Dorothy, when he makes tentative advances, Julie (having just ended her relationship with Ron per Dorothy's advice) makes it known that she is not a lesbian. Meanwhile, Dorothy has her own admirers to contend with: older cast member John Van Horn and Julie's widowed father, Les. Les proposes marriage, insisting that Dorothy think about it before answering. When Michael returns home, he finds John, who almost forces himself on Dorothy until Jeff walks in on them. A few minutes later, Sandy arrives, asking why he has not answered her calls. Michael admits he

2688-617: The trial, Greenberger was convicted of second-degree murder and kidnapping. Her involvement was said to be over a fear of being cut out of a producer's role and potential profits from the film. As a result, the trial was dubbed the "Cotton Club" murder trial. Heeding the advice of his attorney Robert Shapiro , Evans refused to testify during a May 1989 preliminary hearing, invoking the Fifth Amendment to avoid incriminating himself. Police reports that had been submitted to obtain search warrants indicated at least two witnesses said Evans

2744-594: The wishes of co-star Ava Gardner and Hemingway himself. In 1959, he appeared in Twentieth Century Fox 's production of The Best of Everything with Hope Lange , Diane Baker and Joan Crawford . Dissatisfied with his own acting talent, he was determined to become a producer. He got his start by purchasing the rights to a 1966 novel titled The Detective which Evans made into a movie starring Frank Sinatra , Lee Remick , Jack Klugman , Robert Duvall and Jacqueline Bisset , in 1968. Peter Bart ,

2800-413: Was also an occasional film producer ( Tootsie , 1982, Monkey Shines , 1988 and Showgirls , 1995). His nephew is broadcast journalist Michael Shure . Another nephew is Charles Evans, Jr. a documentary producer. His sister, Alice Shure, who was associate producer on Without a Trace (1983), has produced other films, and founded documentary film production companies. On May 6, 1998, during

2856-491: Was also released by the Criterion Collection in a LaserDisc edition in 1992. A special 25th-anniversary edition DVD was released by Sony Pictures in 2008. The film was released on Blu-ray disc in 2013, but only for selected international territories such as Germany and Japan. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD by the Criterion Collection on December 16, 2014. A stage musical of the film premiered at

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2912-575: Was annulled after nine days. He married his seventh wife, Victoria White O'Gara (widow of Lord White ), while in Mexico , in August 2005 shortly after his 75th birthday. She filed for divorce on June 16, 2006, citing irreconcilable differences. Evans had one child, Josh Evans , from his marriage to MacGraw. Josh is a film producer. Evans's brother Charles Evans (1926–2007) was a businessman involved in clothing, real estate, promoting fire detectors and

2968-524: Was in talks to produce a film about auto executive John DeLorean , as well as an HBO miniseries titled The Devil and Sidney Korshak . Neither project came to fruition. In July 2019 Paramount did not renew its contract with Robert Evans Productions, which had been in place since 1974 after Evans stepped down from running the studio. Evans had a staff of three and had been working from his Woodland estate in Beverly Hills because of poor health. In

3024-464: Was involved in the Radin murder. Greenberger testified during her 1991 trial that Evans was not involved in the murder. She also claimed during her trial that she had been Evans's lover. "I had 10 years of a horrific life, Kafkaesque. There were nights I cried myself to sleep." Robert Evans, The New York Times interview (1993) Evans was convicted of cocaine trafficking in 1980. He entered

3080-442: Was shocked to learn that although makeup could be used to allow him to credibly appear as a woman, he would never be a beautiful one. His epiphany occurred when he realized that although he found Dorothy interesting, he would not have spoken to her at a party because she was not beautiful, and because of this, he had missed the opportunity for many conversations with interesting women. He concluded that he had never regarded Tootsie as

3136-453: Was shopped around Hollywood for several years until it came to the attention of comedian and actor Buddy Hackett in 1978. Interested in playing the role of the talent agent, Hackett showed Evans the script, and Evans purchased an option on the play. Delays in the film's production forced Evans to renew the option, but in 1979, he cowrote a screenplay based on the play with director Dick Richards and screenwriter Bob Kaufman. A few months into

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