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IMDbPro

Jack Kerouac(1922-1969)

  • Writer
  • Actor
  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Jack Kerouac
A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster's fabled road trip across America.
Play trailer2:24
Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place (2011)
2 Videos
3 Photos
Jack Kerouac was born into a French-Canadian family and spoke French before he learned English. His father was a printer and a local businessman. His first story was inspired by the radio show "The Shadow". As a young writer he styled himself after Thomas Wolfe, and attended Columbia University. Although his most famous novel is "On the Road", some of his other better known novels are "The Town and the City" and "The Dharma Bums", about a group of writers and Zen. Kerouac, who was married thrice, was a very heavy drinker, which was a major factor in his deteriorating health. He died in 1969, during emergency surgery.
BornMarch 12, 1922
DiedOctober 21, 1969(47)
BornMarch 12, 1922
DiedOctober 21, 1969(47)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos2

View Poster
View Poster

Known for

On the Road (2012)
On the Road
6.0
  • Writer
  • 2012
Eric Roberts and Elizabeth Rice in Paradise Club (2015)
Paradise Club
5.2
  • Soundtrack
  • 2015
The Subterraneans (1960)
The Subterraneans
5.0
  • Writer
  • 1960
Big Sur (2013)
Big Sur
5.7
  • Writer
  • 2013

Credits

IMDbPro

Writer



  • Narciso Ibáñez Menta, Darío Lavia, and Chucho Fernández in Selecciones de Cineficción Radio (2024)
    Selecciones de Cineficción Radio
    Podcast Series
    • essay "Nosferatu"
    • 2025
  • List of Essentials
    Short
    • Adapted from "List of Essentials" by
    • 2020
  • I riassuntini (2018)
    I riassuntini
    TV Series
    • based on the novel by (2020)
    • 2018
  • L'aura de minuit (2015)
    L'aura de minuit
    Video
    • Writer
    • 2015
  • Big Sur (2013)
    Big Sur
    5.7
    • novel "Big Sur"
    • 2013
  • On the Road (2012)
    On the Road
    6.0
    • based on the novel by
    • 2012
  • Michel Bulteau in Michel Bulteau & Serge Teyssot-Gay: Mexico City Blues (2011)
    Michel Bulteau & Serge Teyssot-Gay: Mexico City Blues
    Music Video
    • choruses "Mexico City Blues"
    • 2011
  • On the Trail: Jack Kerouac in Cheyenne
    Short
    • novel
    • 2010
  • Alfred Leslie: Cool Man in a Golden Age
    Video
    • Writer
    • 2009
  • Book of Blues
    8.5
    Short
    • poems
    • 2001
  • The Fifties (1997)
    The Fifties
    8.0
    TV Mini Series
    • novel "On The Road"
    • 1997
  • John Steinbeck in Un siècle d'écrivains (1995)
    Un siècle d'écrivains
    6.8
    TV Series
    • excerpts from a work by
    • 1996
  • United States of Poetry (1995)
    United States of Poetry
    8.7
    TV Mini Series
    • poem
    • 1995
  • Drug-Taking and the Arts (1993)
    Drug-Taking and the Arts
    7.6
    • novel "On The Road"
    • 1993
  • What Happened to Kerouac? (1986)
    What Happened to Kerouac?
    7.0
    • works "On the Road", "Visions of Cody", "Desolation Angels", "Mexico City Blues" and "Dr. Sax and others"
    • 1986

Actor



  • Smoke Break Retro Cigarette Ads (2019)
    Smoke Break Retro Cigarette Ads
    • 2019
  • Pull My Daisy (1959)
    Pull My Daisy
    6.4
    Short
    • Narrator
    • 1959

Additional Crew



  • Asa Lindh in Venus Blue (1998)
    Venus Blue
    5.4
    Short
    • poetry excerpts
    • 1998

Videos2

Magic Trip
Trailer 2:24
Magic Trip
New York In The Fifties
Trailer 1:31
New York In The Fifties
New York In The Fifties
Trailer 1:31
New York In The Fifties

Personal details

  • Alternative names
    • Jean-Louis Incogniteau
  • Height
    • 5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)
  • Born
    • March 12, 1922
    • Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
  • Died
    • October 21, 1969
    • St. Petersburg, Florida, USA(intestinal hemorrhage)
  • Spouses
      Stella KerouacNovember 18, 1966 - October 21, 1969 (his death)
  • Children
    • Jan Kerouac
  • Other works
    Novel: "The Dharma Bums"
  • Publicity listings
    • 6 Biographical Movies
    • 6 Print Biographies
    • 8 Portrayals
    • 18 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial

Did you know

  • Trivia
    When World War II broke out, in a drunken haze he enlisted in the Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard all on the same day. He ultimately shipped out for Naval training at Great Lakes, but soured on the whole idea after a few weeks, and started to give an unfinished manuscript more attention than anything else. Sensing a breakdown of some kind, his superiors sent him for psychological evaluation, leading to his discharge from the Navy. Later he enlisted in the Merchant Marine, serving a successful hitch and qualifying for veteran's benefits.
  • Quotes
    You can't fight City Hall. It keeps changing its name.
  • Trademark
    Originated the term "Beat Generation."
  • Nicknames
    • Ti Jean
    • Jean-Louis
    • Memory Babe
    • Zagg
  • Salary
    • The Subterraneans
      (1960)
      $15,000

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