As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride (36 page)

With Pope John Paul II and my mother. The Vatican. June 7, 1988. ©
Servizio Fotografico de “L’O.R.”

With President Clinton. The White House. March 5, 1998.

From left: Myself, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wally Shawn, Carol Kane, and Billy Crystal. Celebrating the 25th Anniversary at the New York Film Festival. Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. October 2, 2012.
Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Onstage at Lincoln Center. From left: Rob Reiner, Robin Wright, William Goldman, Wallace Shawn, Chris Sarandon, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, me, Billy Crystal, and the moderator, Scott Foundas. October 2, 2012. ©
David Godlis

Y
ou’ve heard the saying “it takes a village to raise a child.” Well, it takes a small village to write a book. I have to start by acknowledging Joe Layden, who co-wrote the book with me. I couldn’t have done it without him, and I am forever indebted to the amount of work he put in to the process. I must also thank William Goldman, whose approval I needed to write the book in the first place. Since
The Princess Bride
is still his favorite material, he was naturally unsure about the idea at first. But after a few conversations on the phone, during which I explained how it would be tenderly approached, he finally relented and gave me permission. And for that I am truly grateful; otherwise I would not be sitting here writing any of this. I am also grateful for his books
Adventures in the Screen Trade
and
Which Lie Did I Tell?,
which were a joy to reread after so many years and gave me a fascinating insight
into his state of mind during the process of trying to get the film off the ground in the first place.

Next is our superlative producer, Norman Lear, who I thank not only for his wonderful epilogue, but for providing me with all the call sheets and script notes, which he said would help jog my memory. He was right, they most certainly did. I also have to thank him for sharing all the wonderful photographs from Act III’s private collection, which now grace this tome. Indeed I am truly grateful to all the folks at Act III—especially Julie Dyer, Penny Wright, Jackie Jensen, and their archivist, Jean Andersen—for assisting me in the research for this book.

I have to thank Rob Reiner for his great foreword, and also thank him, Andy Scheinman, and the whole cast—including Robin Wright, Billy Crystal, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Chris Sarandon, Carol Kane, Wallace Shawn, and Fred Savage—for contributing their memories to the book. This book might have my and Joe Layden’s names on the cover as authors, but these guys all took time out of their busy schedules to share remembrances about their personal experiences on the making of the film, without which this book would not have been possible. I am also grateful to André’s family, friends, and associates, who helped fill in his feelings about the film, especially to Robin Christensen and Marc Spiegel. I am also deeply indebted to my dear friend, Birgit Michelini, for making all those visits to the Vatican archives on our behalf.

I have to thank my publisher, Touchstone, for having faith in me to pull this off in the first place. Thanks go to my editor, Matthew Benjamin, who gently nurtured my writing journey, and to all the other folks at Touchstone and Simon & Schuster who helped in the creation of this book and supported me and taught me a great deal in the process, including Sophie Vershbow, Brian Belfiglio, Meredith Vilarello, David
Falk, Jessica Chin, Laura Flavin, Elaine Wilson, and last but not least, Susan Moldow and Sally Kim.

I am seriously indebted to the talented Shepard Fairey for designing the magnificent poster for the sleeve. And to his wife, Amanda, for helping to make it happen. It turned out greater than we could have imagined. (And if you would like to learn a little bit more about Shepard Fairey, just turn the page.) I need to thank my manager Ben Levine, who suggested the idea for this book in the first place and never wavered in his belief that it would come to pass. And I want to thank my other manager, Ryan Bundra, and my agent, Katherine Latshaw, for helping make the deal happen.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give thanks to my incredibly patient wife, Lisa Marie, who had to endure my being sequestered for weeks at a time in order to make the many deadlines for this book. Being apart from my family was perhaps the hardest part of the process of writing this mini-memoir and I am grateful to her and our daughter for being so understanding (and to Skype for helping make it a little less unbearable!).

Finally, I want to thank the incredibly loyal fans of
The Princess Bride,
who now span generations. You are the ones who have continued to keep this film alive after a quarter century, and thus made this book possible. I am forever indebted to you all.

Your humble Westley,

C. E.

S
hepard Fairey was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. While at R.I.S.D. he created the “OBEY GIANT” art campaign, with imagery that has changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. His work has evolved into an acclaimed body of art that includes the 2008 “HOPE” portrait of Barack Obama, which can be found in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Since the start of his career in 1989, he has exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, both indoor with his fine art and outdoor with his street art and murals. His works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and many others.

For more information, visit
www.obeygiant.com
.