Having struggled the first time around, he brought in producer Scott Rudin. Scott Kramer, the producer who had overseen the Ramis/Belushi project, once again took possession of the rights. Langdon eventually came to agree with Waters and surrendered the rights to the book shortly after. “How can a movie ever live up to that book?” “It’ll never happen,” Waters said soon after. This, perhaps thankfully, never got off the ground. The so-called “Pope of Trash” planned to cast his “Pink Flamingos” star Devine as Ignatius. Josh Mostel, son of legendary Zero Mostel, was a more sensible suggestion, but this project eventually petered out, though not before a late ’80s attempt by John Waters to bring the project to life. Whoever these actors were, none ever signed on, leaving Longdon to make the desperate-seeming suggestion of comedian Jonathan Winters, who was in his late fifties at the time, almost twice the age of the 30-year-old character. Candy eventually passed on the role, leading to Walker having, in her words, “lunch with every fat actor in Hollywood.” John Langdon had acquired the rights to the book shortly after Belushi’s death and tasked writer Maidee Walker with adapting the novel in 1984. It was brought to him by, of all people, an oil magnate. With Ramis having left the project after Belushi’s death, it was not a director or producer that approached Candy. The next actor to be considered was John Candy. Inevitably, with such a successful novel and such a compelling lead character, it wasn’t long before Hollywood showed an interest, and over the next 30 years, it seemed as though every talented, heavyset actor in Hollywood would be linked with the role. Reilly went on to sell over two million copies and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, making Toole one of only three writers to win the prize posthumously.Īlmost as much as the book itself, readers were intrigued by the unique journey the novel took to publication, with a flamboyant yet grief-stricken mother dedicating what remained of her life to ensuring her son’s genius was recognized by the world. Eventually, she succeeded, and the New Orleans-set picaresque tale of slovenly philosopher and medievalist Ignatius J. Over the course of the next decade, Toole’s grieving mother Thelma dedicated her life to ensuring the second of these, “A Confederacy Of Dunces,” found publication.

Aged just 31, the literary professor and author left behind two unpublished novels. On March 26 1969, on a quiet country road outside Biloxi, Mississippi, John Kennedy Toole took his own life.

A of dunces