Fame & Fortune: Eric Bogosian For Eric Bogosian, the goal is art, not money By Larry Getlen • Bankrate.com

Eric Bogosian has been one of the alternative theater world's premier iconoclasts. With shows such as "Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll," "Drinking in America" and "Wake Up and Smell The Coffee," Bogosian has skewered every possible vision of Americana, and become an art house icon in the process.

But Bogosian has also dabbled in the mainstream. His play "Talk Radio" became a highly acclaimed film (that he starred in) directed by Oliver Stone. He portrayed a terrorist in Steven Segal's "Under Siege 2," a project he says bankrolled several of his more-artistic endeavors. And, he has worked in television, including at one point creating a TV show with Steven Spielberg.

Bogosian began portraying characters in New York City's punk clubs in the '70s, before he knew what a one-man show was. But the attention he attracted there led to a performance of his first one-man show, "Men Inside," at the opposite end of the artistic world -- the New York Shakespeare Festival.

His one-man shows have introduced us to a plethora of urbane, abrasive and hysterical characters portraying the seedier side of American life, but Bogosian recently announced his retirement from the format, saying he's now looking to concentrate on different creative avenues, including writing his second novel.

Bogosian spoke with Bankrate about the one-man show format, and some of his more profitable endeavors.

Bankrate: John Leguizamo, another actor renowned for one-person shows, became the highest paid actor on Broadway at one point due to those shows. Has putting on one-man shows been a profitable venture for you?

Eric Bogosian: I was never on Broadway. I have never been part of that world because it's a different set of dynamics in terms of bringing a thousand people to the theater every night, and the kind of marketing that has to go around that. I'm personally not comfortable with it. I did really well, though. I predate John by 10 or 15 years. The first show that really took off for me was "Drinking in America," in 1986. I did very well with it. I did well with a number of the solo shows, but I didn't think, 'Oh, this is why I'm doing it.' Also, my solos get performed all around the world. Some of the runs of the shows in foreign countries have been quite lengthy, and for much larger houses than I ever performed for, so that has dividends.

Bankrate: Where do you make the bulk of your income?

Eric Bogosian: In the mid-'80s I became somebody of interest to Hollywood, and I began to work as a screenwriter, and more recently as a TV writer. If you look at all my Writers Guild and Screen Actors income, my income splits three ways. I write for screen and TV, I act in screen and TV, and I perform live. Generally, the invisible part of my income over the last 15 years is that I've written for all the major studios, and it's very lucrative. It's my day job, I guess.