George Plimpton.

Educated at St. Bernard’s School, Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard College, and the University of Cambridge, George Plimpton was born on March 18, 1927 in New York City to Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton and Pauline Plimpton. His Upper East Side upbringing gave him a distinctive mid-Atlantic accent. These experiences directly influenced his later work as a journalist and editor.

On the football field, Plimpton quarterbacked in a preseason NFL game. On the baseball diamond, he pitched to Willie Mays and Richie Ashburn before the 1959 All-Star Game. Under the big top, he performed as a trapeze artist for a circus. In the ring, he fought boxers Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson. As founder and long-time editor of The Paris Review, he interviewed Ernest Hemingway. On screen, he appeared in Good Will Hunting 1997, Nixon 1995, and Just Cause 1995. He also played himself on The Simpsons and was a frequent talk show guest.

Plimpton married Freddy Medora Espy in 1968 and they divorced in 1988. He married Sara Whitehead Dudley in 1991. He had four children: Taylor Ames, Laura Dudley, Olivia Hartley, and Medora Ames Plimpton. In 1968, he also witnessed the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

His participatory journalism inspired later immersive reporters, and he received the St. Louis Literary Award. His work at The Paris Review influenced literary culture. He is remembered for his many film cameos and his participatory sports journalism. Alan Alda portrayed him in the 1968 film Paper Lion based on his book.