Gore Vidal: his finest TV appearances
"Never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television," Vidal said. He didn't.
By George Eaton Published 01 August 2012 9:13
Gore Vidal poses for a photo in his Los Angeles home in 2006. Photograph: Getty Images.
Like most of you, I woke to the sad news that Gore Vidal has died at the age of 86. The New Statesman was fortunate enough to publish one of his final British interviews, conducted by Melvyn Bragg as part of his guest editorship of the magazine.
Among Vidal's bon mots was his advice to "never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television". With that in mind, here's footage of some of his most notable TV appearances, including his famous duel with William F. Buckley Jr at the 1968 Democratic convention.
Latest tweets
More from New Statesman
- Online writers:
- Steven Baxter
- Rowenna Davis
- David Allen Green
- Mehdi Hasan
- Nelson Jones
- Gavin Kelly
- Helen Lewis
- Laurie Penny
- The V Spot
- Alex Hern
- Martha Gill
- Alan White
- Samira Shackle
- Alex Andreou
- Nicky Woolf in America
- Bim Adewunmi
- Glosswitch
- Kate Mossman on pop
- Ryan Gilbey on Film
- Martin Robbins
- Rafael Behr
- Eleanor Margolis
- Tools and services:
- Polls
- Predictions
- Archive
- Magazine
- PDF edition
- RSS feeds
- Advertising
- Subscribe
- Special supplements
- Stockists




















3 comments
The sort of guy who should be President, and never will be for precisely that reason.
Now Gore Vidal is himself a triumph of the embalmer's art.
What a guy. RIP.