Julia Cameron, Martin Scorsese and Taxi Driver: the story that almost no one tells in its entirety

Julia Cameron and Martin Scorsese married in 1976, while filming Taxi Driver, one of the most influential films in the history of American cinema. They were together for less than two years. They had a daughter — Domenica Cameron-Scorsese. And the relationship, brief as it was, marked Julia Cameron's career in a way that has taken her decades to process in writing. This is the honest biography, in Spanish, of that story.

Who was Julia Cameron when she met Scorsese?

Julia Cameron was born in Libertyville, Illinois, in 1948. She studied at Georgetown and began writing for magazines such as Rolling Stone, Washington Post, The Village Voice y New York Magazine in the late 60s. By the early 70s she was already a respected cultural journalist in New York, especially known for her long profiles of film directors. Before Scorsese he had interviewed Brian De Palma, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Patti Smith.

When he met Martin Scorsese in 1975, Cameron was 27 years old. He had just moved from Washington to New York. Scorsese, two years older, had already filmed Mean Streets (1973) and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), and was in full pre-production of Taxi Driver. The magazine Oui I had commissioned Julia to do a long profile on Scorsese. That assignment was the beginning.

The filming of Taxi Driver and marriage (1976)

Cameron accompanied Scorsese during much of the filming of Taxi Driver, which took place in New York between the summer and fall of 1975. Robert De Niro did the total method — he drove real taxis for weeks. Jodie Foster was 12 years old. The soundtrack was by Bernard Herrmann, Hitchcock's composer, who died a few days after finishing it.

Julia and Martin married on December 30, 1976, a few months after the premiere of Taxi Driver (February 1976) and its success at Cannes (Palm d'Or). Their daughter, Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, was born in September 1976. The marriage had begun at the exact moment when Scorsese's career was exploding — with all the consequences that entailed: parties in Hollywood, new money, a booming 1970s cocaine ring, intense public life.

Separation and divorce (1977-1978)

The marriage lasted barely a year. Cameron and Scorsese separated in 1977. The divorce was finalized in 1978. Julia has spoken about the subject with surprising clarity over the years in interviews and in her own books. The main cause, by her own account, was the lethal combination of Scorsese's accelerated success, the addiction circles of the industry in the '70s, and her own descent into alcoholism.

The year of separation, 1977, was for Cameron the year of the bottom. And it was that background that pushed her to write, two years later, what would end up being the method of The Artist's Path — although the official publication of the book would come in 1992.

Professional collaboration after divorce

Despite the divorce, Cameron and Scorsese maintained a professional relationship that lasted for years. Julia wrote the script for The Last Waltz (1978) — Scorsese's documentary about The Band's farewell concert, considered one of the best music documentaries in history. He also collaborated on the script of New York, New York (1977), with Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro.

Professional cooperation was possible because both shared the same level of obsession with the craft. And because Domenica united them, even when they were divorced.

Scorsese's mark on The Artist's Way

Although Cameron rarely names Scorsese explicitly in his published work, the imprint of the relationship is present throughout. The Artist's Path. The chapter on creative jealousy, the chapter on the shadow of relationships with more successful artists, the chapter on reclaiming your own voice after being in the shadow of another — all can be read as a distillation of the learnings from her marriage to Scorsese.

Julia has said in interviews (with Oprah, with The Paris Review, with Andrew Solomon) that the experience of being married to a creative genius at age 27, while trying to be a creator herself, taught her 'how NOT to do it'. The Artist's Path It is, in large part, the manual on how to do it.

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