Charles Portis (1933–2020)
Author of True Grit
About the Author
Charles Portis lives in Arkansas, where he was born (1933) and educated. Portis served as a reporter for the New York Herald-Tribune and was also its London bureau chief. His first novel, Norwood, was published in 1966. His other novels are True Grit, The Dog of the South, Masters of Atlantis, and show more Gringos. True Grit has been made into a movie two times, once in 1969 with John Wayne (who won his only academy award by playing the main character of Rooster Cogburn), and a second time in 2010 with Jeff Bridges as the main character. Mr. Bridges was nominated for the Rooster Cogburn role, but did not win. Charles Portis died on February 17, 2020 in Little Rock, Arkansas at age 86. He had been under hospice care for two years. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Charles Portis
Collected Works: Norwood / True Grit / The Dog of the South / Masters of Atlantis / Gringos / Stories & Other Writings (2023) 88 copies
The John Wayne Collection: Volume 1: True Grit / Rio Lobo / El Dorado — Writer — 3 copies
A Velha Raposa 1 copy
Stories & Other Writings 1 copy
Portis (Collected Works) 1 copy
Associated Works
The 50 Funniest American Writers: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion (2011) — Contributor — 246 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Portis, Charles McColl
- Birthdate
- 1933-09-28
- Date of death
- 2020-02-17
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- El Dorado, Arkansas, USA
- Place of death
- Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
- Cause of death
- Alzheimer's disease
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
London, England, UK
Little Rock, Arkansas, USA - Education
- University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (BA|1958)
- Occupations
- journalist
author - Organizations
- United States Marine Corps (Korea)
Arkansas Gazette
New York Herald Tribune
Members
Discussions
True Grit in Westerns (December 2016)
Reviews
Lists
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 17
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 6,706
- Popularity
- #3,651
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 309
- ISBNs
- 159
- Languages
- 13
- Favorited
- 25
But I suppose some credit is due to the author. You really get the sense that this was a lived experience or Portis, so well does he settle you into the milieu of his world. It's so full of rich detail on so many aspects of life in the period and in the place that it's no wonder it's been adapted into movies several times. It was a brilliant stroke to make his main character a female in this world, and make her push so hard against the patriarchy at every step. That enriched the characters and the storytelling and gave you a hero to cheer for at many points along the way.
It as also fun to meet the (in)famous Rooster Cogburn on the page, having seen several depictions on film. He is quite a character, but even he seems small in the presence of Mattie Ross. She's just one of the great, best drawn characters, male or female, in American literature.… (more)