The Gambler (song)

"The Gambler" is a song written by Don Schlitz, recorded by several artists, most famously by American country music singer Kenny Rogers.

Don Schlitz wrote this song in August, 1976 when he was 23 years old. It took two years of shopping the song around Nashville before Bobby Bare recorded it on his album "Bare" at the urging of Shel Silverstein. Bare's version didn't catch on and was never released as a single, so Schlitz recorded it himself, but this version failed to chart higher than #65. However, other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, including Johnny Cash, who put it on his album Gone Girl. However, it was Kenny Rogers who finally broke the song loose, in a version produced by Larry Butler. His version was a #1 Country hit and even made its way to the Pop charts at a time when Country songs rarely crossed over. It was released in November 1978 as the title track from his album The Gambler which won him the Grammy award for best male country vocal performance in 1980. In 2006 Don Schlitz appeared in the Kenny Rogers career retrospective documentary "The Journey", where he praised both Rogers' and Butler's contributions to the song stating "they added several ideas that were not mine, including the new guitar intro".

The Gambler (1974 film)

The Gambler is a 1974 drama film written by James Toback and directed by Karel Reisz. It stars James Caan, Paul Sorvino and Lauren Hutton. Toback wrote it as a fictional story using his own teaching career and gambling addiction as inspiration.

Caan was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.

Plot

Axel Freed is a New York City Harvard University–educated English professor and author with a gambling addiction that begins to spiral out of control. In the classroom, Freed inspires his college students with his interpretations of Fyodor Dostoevsky's work. In his personal life, Axel has the affection of the beautiful Billie and the admiration of his family, including his mother Naomi, who is a doctor, and his grandfather, a wealthy businessman.

Unbeknownst to them, Axel's reckless gambling has left him with a huge debt. His bookie, Hips, likes the professor personally but threatens grave consequences if he does not pay up. When Billie, having been informed by Axel that he owes $44,000, questions the wisdom of her associating with him, Axel confidently tells her she loves his life's dangers, including "the possibility of blood".

The Gambler

The Gambler may refer to:

Arts

Music

Literature

Film, television and theatre

The Gambler (film series)

The Gambler is a series of American western television films starring Kenny Rogers as Brady Hawkes, a fictional old-west gambler. The character was inspired by Rogers' hit song "The Gambler". There are five movies in the series. The first four are directed by Dick Lowry while the last was directed by Jack Bender. The movies are:

Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (1980)

Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (105 min) debuted on CBS on April 8, 1980. It was a ratings and critical success that has spawned four sequels. The show won a Best Edited Television Special Eddie Award and garnered two Emmy nominations (for cinematography and editing of a limited series).

Kenny Rogers stars as Brady Hawkes, the titular gambler, who embarks on a journey to meet Jeremiah (Ronnie Scribner), the young son he never knew after Jeremiah sends him a letter. Along the way, Brady meets Billy Montana (Bruce Boxleitner) and the two become friends. Billy (while trying to help Brady in his quest) fancies himself as a professional poker player on his own. Although Billy makes mistakes along the way (some of these include: trying to find a way to cheat or do some smooth talking), Brady makes sure that he stays on good behavior during a train ride to Yuma, CA. The duo help Jennie Reed (Lee Purcell), a prostitute who has trouble with a train baron. At the end, Brady's son's stepfather (Clu Gulager) is confronted.