The kid is back in the picture

Robert Evans, the infamous movie producer who, by his own count, is on his fourth life, talks about breaking the rules and brushes with death.

By Dimitra Kessenides

Jul 30, 2002 | Hollywood can play rough. Sure, it'll scoop you up and smother you with kisses when you're on -- you look good, you say the right things, you make somebody else rich, and it doesn't get any better. But you blow it, and it'll blow you off. One false move -- you're used, abused and left for dead.

But if you leave big, there's always room for a sequel. Robert Evans is proof. The legendary producer was, in his first life, the leading man of a classic Hollywood saga: A handsome young actor, perfectly at home in the business called show, gets discovered not once, but twice, and, at the tender age of 35, is handpicked to lead production for Paramount Pictures with little more than a couple of acting credits to his name. As head of production at Paramount Pictures he rolled out "Love Story," "The Godfather," "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby." A burst of extraordinary moviemaking, fueled by a binge of dangerous merrymaking, follows and then screeches to a dramatic halt after a drug bust in the early '80s, followed by a link in the press to the murder of an investor in one of his films. (It was "The Cotton Club," and Evans eventually was cleared of any connection to the crime.)

Dumped and disgraced, Evans withdrew from public view for a good long while. He hit bottom in 1997 when, after three strokes in two days, he says he "died" for a moment or two. Then, Hollywood being what it is, or Robert Evans being who he is, or both, a miraculous recovery set in.

Evans is now 72 -- or, by his reckoning, a mere 5 years old counting forward from his brush with death -- and he is back. His 1994 autobiography, "The Kid Stays in the Picture," sparked a conflagration of cultlike celebrity in the industry, especially when the taped version of the book -- read by Evans in his supersuave growl -- began making the rounds and generating giddy buzz, particularly among the younger ranks of actors and others aspiring or thriving in the biz. A filmed version of the book, which just opened in New York and Los Angeles, will roll out nationally over the next three weeks, bobbing along happily on a growing wave of critical acclaim.

Evans the senior citizen remains perfectly suited for stardom: He's got the tan, the shades and the voice -- as sweet and low as it ever was. And in the voice, a new cavalcade of swank and frank utterances. He's delightfully old school, and the crowd loves it. "My own life makes a better job than the job itself," he says when asked about being scooped up and smothered with kisses all over again. "I'll tell you something else, it's a lot more fun looking at it than living it."

Captured briefly on the phone, Evans reflects on his rekindled romance with Hollywood, and imparts the wisdom of a man who has been there and back.

You're riding a whirlwind. Has it been fun?

I'm tired, but I must tell you, tired good, not tired bad. It's been a very exciting experience.

Is it different -- the whirlwind, that is -- the second, third, fourth time around?

Well, let's put it this way. You look at it differently when it's your own ass on the line. I've never in my history -- I've been in this racket for 40 years -- had a response to a film of my own life. My own life makes a better job than the job itself. I'll tell you something else, it's a lot more fun looking at it than living it.

That can't be true.

That is true. The lows can be very low, baby.

C'mon, watching it can't come close to some of the real experiences.

Well, I can say I've led a very adventurous life. I have broken all the rules. I believe in breaking the rules, that's the way you move forward. If you live by the rules you stay still, and by breaking them you get in a lot of trouble. I keep moving, and I feel as though I'm 5 years old, even though I had a stroke five years ago. They thought I wouldn't live and here I am talking to you.

So you still feel like a kid?

I celebrated my birthday on June 29, and Sumner Redstone made a big cake and a huge card that said, "Happy Fifth Anniversary Kid!"

Any drawbacks to the attention you're getting right now?

No, it's all a high. Because I'm not only doing it for this. I have another movie going right now, with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. I'm writing a sequel to my book called "The Fat Lady Sang," and I'm going to do the story on Sidney Korshak called "Power."

Busy as ever.

I want to keep busier.

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