By all accounts — at least those shared in Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, the documentary/love letter from actor-comedian-director Mike Myers that opens today at the Cedar Lee Theatre — semi-retired talent manager Shep Gordon is one standup guy. From Sylvester Stallone to the Dalai Lama, Gordon has made a laundry list of loyal big-name friends over the years, many of whom appear in the film singing his praises. The Long Island liberal’s life in showbiz started by accident. He was tripping on acid when he fell into the company of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. According to Shep, whose memories are at times understandably hazy, the legendary guitarist suggested he manage Alice Cooper. Although the affiliation started out more as a cover for drug dealing activities, Gordon eventually took the management gig seriously, helping the band develop its theatrical shock rock image (think see-through costuming and bloody chickens) and finding creative ways to build up airplay.
Gordon’s association with Cooper remains to this day, and the two guys are like brothers. But, once Gordon figured out he had a talent for getting his clients much-needed publicity and getting them paid, he expanded his representation to include acts as diverse as Anne Murray, Blondie and Luther Vandross. In managing Teddy Pendergrass, Gordon is credited with helping to break the “chitlin’ circuit” that kept African-American artists from making any real money. And culinary superstar Emeril Lagasse explains how Gordon cooked up the concept of the celebrity chef.
Every story is told with such humor and heart that the film is two-thirds over before you realize you don’t know all that much about Mr. Nice Guy. We uncover bits and pieces, of course. His dad wasn’t that nice. He was the black sheep of the family. He knew how to party, perhaps too much. He loves the ladies, also a bit too much. And, though he often plays host to large groups of adoring celebrities, he’s never really been able to make a relationship—or a family of his own—work.
Clearly, Shep Gordon has lived a really interesting life. He comes off as a great storyteller, eminently likeable and more than a little bit lonely. It’s a fun film and well worth seeing but overall Supermensch is way more of an entertaining tribute to someone a lot of famous men see as a “great guy” than a real portrait of an unlikely kingmaker.
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2014.
Sounds like a guy that really liked to rock hard, and had a blast over the course of his life. I wonder if he sees his life as “lonely” or expresses regret that he doesn’t have a relationship or family of his own to speak of.
Saw the movie today and really enjoyed it. I had the opportunity to meet Alice Cooper once, and he is as genuine as there is. Though the movie portrays an unbelievable life, if Alice vouches for it then I believe it to be true. Great entertainment, and if you appreciate pop-culture and history it is a well-spent 2 hours.
This may seem unbelievable obviously but he’s is my great uncle (grandpas brother) I have met shep multiple times and he’s even visited my house in upstate New York I’m only 16 so we haven’t ever had a huge deep conversation. He definetly Is the most wonderful man I’ve ever met, he’s so generous and thoughtful. I doubt he will ever have a deep conversation about his life with me but Ive heard all of the stories in the movie from either my dad or grandfather. I knew how he became a manager for Janis Joplin all the way to how his brother (my grandfather, Edward) had a dog that hated him but his family didn’t care because Ed was favored more. They are good brothers now but even after shep became famous his parents still didn’t think he was as good as Ed who graduated from Cornell with a doctorine degree. The second to last time I saw shep was when Alice did a show at the turning stone in New York and I ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant with everyone in the band including Shep. Truly an amazing experience that I’m lucky to have had.
I must admit I didn’t know much about Shep Gordon until I listed to an Art of Charm podcast recently. So that lead me to research more on him, because I loved that interview. It’s amazing how many different experiences he had.