(Heinrich Karl) Henry Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) is an American writer who, using various alter egos, (including Henry Chinaski), wrote largely about his own existence - working menial jobs, writing, drinking, and his various affairs/relationships with women.

Bukowski was born in Germany to a German mother and Polish-American serviceman father. In 1922 the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and then later, to Los Angeles, California, where Bukowski was raised. Growing up, Heinrich, who was called Henry, suffered through an unhappy childhood. He was picked on by other kids because of his German accent, and later, because of his terrible acne and social awkwardness. His parents were also very strict, particularly his father, who physically abused him.

Bukowski published his first short story (as Charles Bukowski) at age twenty four, but did not enjoy any immediate success. Between his twenties and late forties, he spent years working various labor intensive jobs, including a two extended stretches at the US Post Office (of three and ten years). Through most of this time he drank heavily, for a while traveling the country living an itinerant life, shacking up in various run-down apartments and hotels, and later, boozing and brawling in skid row Los Angeles bars. As detailed in his fiction, his early life was often marked by violence and dysfunction (including tumultuous relationships with women) brought on, at least in part, by his heavy alcohol consumption.

In the mid-fifties when he was around thirty five, Bukowski began writing poetry. At this point he was still occasionally publishing stories and poems in smaller publications. In the late nineteen sixties and seventies though, he became popular among college age readers and began getting offers to make appearances and give readings at various college campuses and coffee shops. It was around this time that John Martin, the publisher of Black Sparrow, made a deal with the 49 year old Bukowski (guaranteeing him $1000/month for life) that allowed him to quit the post office and write full-time. Soon after, his first novel, Post Office, was published.

Bukowski’s rising popularity among counterculture youth made for a strange marriage. The outspoken writer was from a different generation, and did not agree politically on many of the major issues with the vast majority of those expressing this new found admiration. He seemed to revel in the first real fame he had enjoyed, however, taking advantage of the paid opportunities (as well as the fringe benefits) that came his way. Without the burden of having to work another job, he would go on to publish six novels and a number of poetry and short story collections in the intervening years.

Bukowski spent his latter years in San Pedro, California writing and living a more placid lifestyle with his wife Linda Lee Beighle, whom he met in 1976 and married in 1985. Bukowski was married twice, and fathered one daughter, Marina Louise Bukowski, with another woman. He has been depicted in at least four narrative films and several documentaries, along with a number of taped readings that are available on DVD (Bukowski (1973); Charles Bukowski: The Last Straw (1980); There’s Gonna Be a Goddamn Riot Here (1979); and Bukowski at Bellevue (1995). He participated in the making of the film Barfly, penning the script, and working with director Barbet Schroeder to bring the project to the screen.

The following is a list of some of the best known narrative and documentary films based on his life and/or work.

Tales of Ordinary Madness(1983) (IT) Directed by Marco Ferreri. Starring Ben Gazzara. Italian production. Gazzara plays Charles Serking, an alcoholic, sex addicted poet.

The Charles Bukowski Tapes(1985) (Doc) Directed by Barbet Schroeder. Schroeder’s documentary would lead to the making of Barfly several years later.

Crazy Love(1987) (FR) Directed by Dominique Derrudere. French film based on Bukowski’s Love is a Dog from Hellthat examines three separate days over a twenty year period in the life of lead character Harry Voss (Josse Depauw) as he navigates the rough waters that constitute his dealings with the opposite sex.

Barfly(1987) Directed by Barbet Schroeder. Starring Mickey Rourke as Henry Chinaski and Faye Dunaway as his drinking buddy/lover Wanda as they frequent Los Angeles dive bars.

Lune Froide (1991) (FR) Directed by Patrick Bouchitey. Black and white French film starring Jean-Francois Stevenin as Simon and the director Bouchitey as Dede, two aimless drunks searching for booze and sex.

Charles Bukowski: Born Into This(2003) (Doc) Directed by John Dullaghan. Documentary containing interviews with some of the important people in Bukowski’s life, as well as celebrities like Bono, Sean Penn, harry Dean Stanton, and Tom Waits, who were influenced by his work.

Factotum(2005) Directed by Bent Hamer. Starring Matt Dillon. Based on the Bukowski novel, Swede Hamer’s take on Henry Chinaski, played by a decidedly better-looking Matt Dillon. Co-Starring Marisa Tomei.

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