Tagged: Tough Guys Don’t Dance
Tough Guys Don’t Dance: Ryan O’Neal’s Party Sweater
Vitals
Ryan O’Neal as Tim Madden, ex-convict and aspiring writer prone to blackouts
Provincetown, Massachusetts, Summer 1986
Film: Tough Guys Don’t Dance
Release Date: September 18, 1987
Director: Norman Mailer
Costume Designer: Michael Kaplan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
My family’s vacation in New England this week has me reflecting on my questionable decision last year to watch Norman Mailer’s self-directed adaptation of his own Cape Cod-set novel Tough Guys Don’t Dance.
Tough Guys Don’t Dance: Ryan O’Neal in Denim
Vitals
Ryan O’Neal as Tim Madden, ex-convict and aspiring writer prone to blackouts
Cape Cod, Fall 1986
Film: Tough Guys Don’t Dance
Release Date: September 18, 1987
Director: Norman Mailer
Costume Designer: Michael Kaplan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Oh man! Oh God, oh man! Oh God, oh man! Oh God, oh man! Oh God, oh man! Oh God…!
While some recognize Ryan O’Neal from 1970s classics like Love Story, Paper Moon, and Barry Lyndon and others know him for his supporting role on Bones, the above poetry has immortalized the actor’s performance from the baffling 1987 neo-noir Tough Guys Don’t Dance, adapted and directed by Norman Mailer from his own novel of the same name.
Today is the first anniversary of O’Neal’s April 20, 1941 birthday since his death in December 2023 at the age of 82. Continue reading


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