Geoffrey Giuliano (born September 11, 1953)
''Tell Me What You See - Biography - A Brief Life Sketch of Geoffrey Giuliano/Jagannatha Dasa'', downloaded from internet on May 13, 2011 is an American actor and author.

Early life

Giuliano was born on September 11, 1953, in Rochester, New York. He moved to Tampa, Florida, with his family when he was 12 years old, where he graduated from Plant High School and Hillsborough Community College. He later attended and graduated from

SUNY Brockport State University of New York at Brockport (also known as SUNY Brockport or Brockport State, and previously The College at Brockport) is a public university in Brockport, New York, United States. It is part of the State University of New York (S ...

Literary work

Giuliano has written extensively on popular music, particularly

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. By 1999, he had authored 20 books, including ''Dark Horse: The Private Life of George Harrison'' (1990) and ''Blackbird: The Life and Times of Paul McCartney'' (1991). In an interview for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in September 1992, Giuliano referred to the Beatles as "real shits in real life" and dismissed

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

as "just shallow and vacuous". On October 5 that year,

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

's wife, Olivia Harrison responded, writing, "like a starving dog he iulianoscavenges his heroes, picking up bits of gristle and sinew along the way." She also complained about Giuliano's use of a quote by Harrison on the cover of ''Dark Horse'', saying: "My husband once made the remark: 'That guy knows more about my life than I do.' Giuliano missed the joke and used it to endorse his book." When interviewed in Los Angeles on December 14, 1992, Harrison said of Giuliano: "Yeah, I met him briefly. I have no way of recalling what year it was. I met him at the home of "Legs" Larry Smith for possibly thirty minutes." Giuliano's biography of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, ''Lennon in America: 1971–1980'' ( Cooper Square Press, 2000), was similarly controversial. Giuliano said the book was based in part on transcripts of Lennon's diaries given to him by the late American singer

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...

and on audio tapes recorded by Lennon. Several people close to Nilsson said they did not believe that he ever had the transcripts in his possession; others familiar with the journal and the tapes disputed the accuracy of Giuliano's interpretation. Writing in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', David Segal described Giuliano's text as "a highly critical, luridly detailed account"; he quoted Giuliano's response when he was asked to corroborate his claim that Nilsson gave him the diaries: "It's obvious that I'm going to do things in an ethical manner." Steven Gutstein, a former

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

assistant district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represe ...

who read the diaries during an early 1980s larceny lawsuit, recalled that they contained "a lot of philosophical musings combined with mundane details of everyday life". Colin Carlson of ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' said of ''Lennon in America'', "Non-fans will be put off by this image of Lennon as cad, drug addict, and paranoiac; this often sensationalized account is for voyeurs and fans with deconstructive tendencies and is one of the best, most detailed books available on this subject." Less impressed, a ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' reviewer commented, "If Giuliano's own double-talk isn't enough to diminish this work's credibility, his endless, voyeuristic descriptions of Lennon's sexual encounters are." The 2005 film '' Stoned: The Wild & Wicked World of Brian Jones'' was partly based on Guiliano's book ''Paint It Black: The Murder of

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

'' (1994). In December 2021, he wrote an audio book detailing his experiences acting in the 2021 South Korean series ''

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean Utopian and dystopian fiction, dystopian Survival film, survival Thriller (genre)#Television, thriller horror television series created, written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. The series revol ...

'', where he played "VIP #4". The book was titled ''Surviving Squid Game, I Am VIP 4.''

Selected bibliography

*''Dark Horse: The Private Life of George Harrison'' (1990) *''Blackbird: The Life and Times of Paul McCartney'' (1991) *''The Lost Beatles Interviews'' (1994) *''Paint It Black: The Murder of Brian Jones'' (1994) *''Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend'' (1996) *''Lennon in America: 1971–1980, Based in Part on the Lost Lennon Diaries'' (2000)

Acting career

As a teenager, Giuliano joined the Tampa Community Theater, starring in productions of '' Streetcar Named Desire'' and ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''. In the early 1980s, he starred in

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

and

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

commercials, playing

Ronald McDonald Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, an ...

in the latter. However, he later denounced his work in these commercials, stating that he had been “brainwashing...youngsters into doing wrong” and “selling out to concerns who make millions by murdering animals" in his role as Ronald McDonald. He appeared in the documentary film '' McLibel'', where he stated that working as Ronald McDonald felt like " the man in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

who was propaganda minister". Giualiano played Captain Li in the 2005 film '' Mysterious Island'' and Siris in the 2012 film '' Scorpion King 3''; both movies were filmed in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, where he resides. In 2013, he also portrayed Karl Redbeard in the Malaysian action film '' Vikingdom''. He played a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

mob boss in the 2020 South Korean zombie movie ''

Peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

''. This role attracted the attention of the producers of the South Korean survival thriller series ''

'', where he was cast as "VIP #4" in 2021. His role in the series earned him some recognition, leading him to write an audio book on his experiences on the set, titled ''Surviving Squid Game, I Am VIP 4.''

Personal life

Giuliano has been a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

since 1972, and has advocated for vegetarianism and against

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

. He lives in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

with his son. He also has a daughter. In March 2020, Giuliano and his son travelled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

for a "spiritiual pilgrimage". Intending to stay in the country for two weeks, he only brought $2000 in cash with him. However, the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

led to international flights to Thailand being cancelled, stranding the two in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Giuliano stated that the two soon ran out of money and were forced to survive on "monkey nuts and bananas" with no fresh clothes. Both of them were eventually able to return to Thailand on a humanitarian flight in October 2020. The incident attracted media coverage in both India and Thailand.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Giuliano, Geoffrey 1953 births American biographers American male film actors American people of Italian descent Living people American male biographers Writers from Rochester, New York People from Albion, Orleans County, New York People from Niagara County, New York State University of New York at Brockport alumni Historians from New York (state) Hillsborough Community College alumni Geoffrey Giuliano Geoffrey Giuliano Beatles historians American vegetarianism activists