Hollywood impressario Shep Gordon is the subject of a Mike Myers film—his first as a director—that recently debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. Here, Gordon tells some of the stories that didn’t make it into Supermensch.
Shep Gordon at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.
Shep Gordon is the outrageous Hollywood insider, the compassionate music manager with the Midas touch. After a chance encounter with Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix in the late ’60s, he went on to transform acts such as Alice Cooper, Teddy Pendergrass, and even Anne Murray from (mostly) conventional performers into celebrity megastars. With stunts that included packaging an album in paper panties and once hurling a live chicken onstage, Gordon’s reputation as a genius bad boy eventually became as renowned as the talent he was managing—but at a cost.
This summer, he takes center stage as the subject of Mike Myers’s documentary debut, Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon. With narrative provided by Gordon’s posse—Michael Douglas, Tom Arnold, Willie Nelson, Emeril Lagasse, Sylvester Stallone, and Steven Tyler—Myers blends photographs and archival footage with Gordon’s unique flair as a raconteur to take us through his journey from hedonistic worshipper of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll to evolved JuBu (Jewish Buddhist) who’s brewed Tibetan yak butter tea for the Dalai Lama. Along the way, Gordon, now 66, plays out his favorite roles as an adoptive father, generous host, and loyal friend who has still never let go of a lifelong yearning for a child of his own.
How did you meet Mike Myers?
SHEP GORDON: We met on Wayne’s World back in ’91 and again in Hawaii. I love to cook and I love telling stories. Someone would say, “The Dalai Lama was in LA,” and I’d say, “Oh, I cooked for him,” and Mike would say, “You’re kidding me! Tell me the story.” And it just became this funny relationship. He’d call me up and say, “Can I come over, and you’ll tell me a story?”
How did telling stories turn into a documentary?
SG: Mike asked if he could make a movie about me, and I said no for many years. I didn’t really see the point. Then I had some surgery, and he called me in the hospital when I was heavily medicated, and I said yes. [Laughs]
How is Mike Myers as a director?
SG: Amazingly detail-oriented. I remember walking into his apartment, and I got scared because the entire apartment was my life—photos everywhere, my grandmother, my house…. It was like CSI or something. He’s compassionate but exact in his work.
Gordon with pals Adrien Brody, Alice Cooper, and Clint Eastwood.
How does it feel to have the houselights shining on you?
SG: It’s so out of my wheelhouse, and it was a little embarrassing for me for quite a while. But to see and hear the reaction of people has really been amazing.
Like what?
SG: Some people say that seeing it makes them want to be more generous. And then some people say, “I really want to go and adopt some kids.” Mike really made something that touches people.
You turned Alice Cooper into a superstar and then went on to Anne Murray. How did that work?
SG: It’s really all the same, what I do. Annie was the farthest thing from Alice that I could get. Her problem was that her image was very straight when everyone wanted to be cool. My job was to make her cool because she had the chops.
You’ve been Alice Cooper’s manager for 46 years. Is it true you’ve never had a contract?
SG: We still don’t have one. Creatively, a lot of times we disagree. Politically, we’re very different. But I don’t think there’s ever been a moment when we’ve raised our voices at each other or in any way had a lack of respect for each other, never a second.
Shep Gordon and Alice Cooper in a still from Supermensch.
You went on to manage Teddy Pendergrass and brand his sexuality for all-women audiences. Is it true you were the one who had to tell him he would never walk again after his car accident?
SG: It’s a story that’s unbelievably touching. It was one of the toughest things I ever had to do. Every once in a while I get a tear in my eye when I watch him on a video. I definitely miss him.
Did you ever feel you wanted out?
SG: I never felt that way. I felt I needed to save myself, but not by backing away. I had too much of everything. Excess in every category: weight, drugs, women. It was many years later when I woke up one day and decided I didn’t want to be in any business. I wanted to be in the Shep business and see where that led me.
And then you went to Maui and learned to cook. Cook for real.
SG: I went to cooking school and studied with the great Roger Vergé. I was very happy with the choice I made. Now everyone comes to Maui…. and it’s free meals.
Gordon relaxing in Hawaii.
You came out of semi-retirement to turn chefs like Emeril Lagasse into celebrities.
SG: I saw in the chef circuit the same thing that I experienced in the black music circuit. They were artists who weren’t businessmen who had been manipulated into believing that they had to provide their art for free. I sorta knew how to organize and elevate them from cooks to culinary artists.
It worked big time. Now tell me the story of how you became involved with the Dalai Lama.
SG: I got really lucky. I got taken to see His Holiness when I got back to Hawaii, and I made an offering to feed him and they said yes. In Trinidad and in New York. I got to do it three times, which was truly amazing.
What’s the greatest thing you learned from him?
SG: I think what he provides more than anything is that he’s a light that allows you to become those things you want to be in his presence.
You were in Hawaii, and you had a sudden brush with death. In the documentary, your assistant says you woke up, and she could tell you felt bad that she was the only person there to hold your hand.
SG: Very true. I realized that I sort of moved the journey of my life into corners that hadn’t been shared. I have my family, but I’ve never really developed a “family.” You can’t get everything in life. You do the best you can do.
You selected your family in a way. You adopted the grandchildren of a former girlfriend.
SG: I think chance threw us together. I love them all. The little baby you saw in the documentary is going to be walking the red carpet with me.
Michael Douglas, who provided great narrative about you, says that you love the ladies—Sharon Stone, in particular. Is that true?
SG: Very true. We had a great ride for about three years.
So, what’s next for you?
SG: I never know what’s next. If you follow the documentary, it’s all, You’re Jewish. You’re a manager. Great. It’s whatever. I have no clue. [Laughs]