Eugene Louis Vidal Jr. was born on 3 October 1925, in West Point, New York State USA, to Nina Gore, an actress, and Eugene Luther Vidal, an aeronautics instructor and aviation pioneer. He was a writer and public intellectual, best known for his books “Julian”, “Myra Breckinridge”, “Lincoln”, the political work “United States: Essays 1952-1992”, and the memoir “Palimpsest”.
A prolific writer, how rich was Gore Vidal? Sources state that Vidal has amassed a fortune over $30 million. His net worth has been amassed mostly through his writing and political career.
Gore Vidal Net Worth
Vidal’s parents divorced during his teenage years, and both of them eventually remarried. After their divorce, his mother took him to live with her in Virginia. He attended the Sidwell Friends School and St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. and later the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. When he was 17 years old, he joined the US Army, and worked as an office clerk within the US Army Air Force. It was during this time that Vidal wrote his first piece, a military novel called “Williwaw”, which he released in 1946. Since then, he went on to release numerous novels, such as the 1948 “The City and the Pillar”, which shocked the public with its examination of homosexuality. His net worth began to grow.
During the ’50s he started to write political and editorial essays, plays and screenplays, finding great success. These included the plays “Visit to a Small Planet”, “The Death of Billy the Kid” and “The Best Man: A Play about Politics”, which earned him critical acclaim and significantly increased his popularity and his net worth also.
The ’60s saw the release of Vidal’s famous novels “Julian”, covering the life of the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate, “Washington, D.C.”, portraying the presidential era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and “Myra Breckinridge”, a satire lampooning both transsexuality and contemporary American culture. Achieving great critical and commercial success with all three pieces, his net worth grew larger.
From the mid-’60s to 2000, Vidal concentrated on historical novels, creating the seven-book series called “Narratives of Empire”, consisting of “Burr”, “Lincoln”, “1876”, “Empire”, “Hollywood”, “Washington, D.C.” and “The Golden Age”. He also focused on topical satire, releasing the novels “Myron”, “Kalki”, “Duluth”, “Live from Golgotha” and “The Smithsonian Institution”. All contributed to his wealth.
Speaking about non-fiction, Vidal’s most notable works covering socio-political, sexual, historical and literary subjects include the essay anthologies “Armageddon” and “United States: Essays 1952–92”, winning the National Book Award for Non-fiction for the latter one, as well as his memoir, “Palimpsest”. These pieces reinforced his status of an icon, boosting his fame and fortune.
Aside from writing, Vidal was deeply involved in politics, being a public intellectual identified with the liberal politics of the old Democratic Party. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in the ’60s, and for governor of California in the ’80s. His political career gathered him a huge fan base, and also added to his net worth.
Vidal was a popular talk-show guest, and worked as an actor, making appearances in films such as “Roma”, “Bob Roberts”, “With Honors”, “Gattaca” and “Igby Goes Down”, further improving his wealth.
In his private life, Vidal was bisexual and was in a long-lasting relationship with Howard Austen fom 1950 until the latter passed away in 2003. Vidal died of pneumonia in 2012, aged 86.
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