Per The New York Times, his "exploits in editing and writing seesawed between belles lettres and the witty accounts he wrote of his various madcap attempts to slip into other people's high-profile careers ... a lanky, urbane man possessed of boundless energy and perpetual bonhomie, became, in 1953, the first and only editor of The Paris Review.

A ubiquitous presence at book parties and other gala social events, he was tireless in his commitment to the serious, contemporary fiction the magazine publishes ... All of this contributed to the charm of reading about Mr. Plimpton's frequently hapless adventures as 'professional' athlete, stand-up comedian, movie bad guy or circus performer; which he chronicled in witty, elegant prose in nearly three dozen books.

"[2] Plimpton[2] was born in New York City on March 18, 1927, and spent his childhood there, attending St. Bernard's School and growing up in an apartment duplex on Manhattan's Upper East Side located at 1165 Fifth Avenue.

[5][6][7][8][9][10] His father was a successful corporate lawyer and name partner of the law firm Debevoise and Plimpton; he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, serving from 1961 to 1965.

[citation needed][17] Plimpton's studies at Harvard were interrupted by military service from 1945 to 1948, during which time he served in Italy as an Army tank driver.

[19] This periodical has carried great weight in the literary world, but has never been financially strong; for its first half-century, it was allegedly largely financed by its publishers and by Plimpton.

One of the magazine's most notable discoveries was author and screenwriter Terry Southern, who was living in Paris at the time and formed a lifelong friendship with Plimpton, along with writer Alexander Trocchi and future classical and jazz pioneer David Amram.

Per The New York Times, "As a 'participatory journalist,' Mr. Plimpton believed that it was not enough for writers of nonfiction to simply observe; they needed to immerse themselves in whatever they were covering to understand fully what was involved.

Plimpton sparred for three rounds with boxing greats Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson while on assignment for Sports Illustrated.

[2] Hemingway praised Out of My League as "beautifully observed and incredibly conceived, his account of a self-imposed ordeal that has the chilling quality of a true nightmare ...

"[2] In 1963, Plimpton attended preseason training with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League as a backup quarterback, and he ran a few plays in an intrasquad scrimmage.

Plimpton revisited pro football in 1971,[22] this time joining the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts and seeing action in an exhibition game against his previous team, the Lions.

[23] Plimpton's The Bogey Man (1968) chronicles his attempt to play professional golf on the PGA Tour during the Nicklaus and Palmer era of the 1960s.

Among other challenges for Sports Illustrated, he attempted to play top-level bridge, and spent some time as a high-wire circus performer.

[27][28][29] His firework, a Roman candle named "Fat Man",[27][28][29] weighed 720 pounds (330 kg)[27] and was expected to rise to 1,000 feet (300 m)[29] or more[27] and deliver a wide starburst.

[30] Plimpton was appointed Fireworks Commissioner of New York by Mayor John Lindsay,[26][30] an unofficial post he held until his death.

[19] He was a Bedouin in Lawrence of Arabia (1961), a thief in Rio Lobo (1970), Tom Hanks's antagonistic father in Volunteers (1985) and a psychologist in Good Will Hunting (1997).

In The Simpsons episode "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can", he hosts the "Spellympics" and attempts to bribe Lisa to lose with the offer of a scholarship at a Seven Sisters College and a hot plate: "it's perfect for soup!

"[40] A November 6, 1971, cartoon in The New Yorker by Whitney Darrow Jr. shows a cleaning lady on her hands and knees scrubbing an office floor while saying to another one: "I'd like to see George Plimpton do this sometime."

"[41] A feature in Mad titled "Some Really Dangerous Jobs for George Plimpton" spotlighted him trying to swim across Lake Erie, strolling through New York's Times Square in the middle of the night, and spending a week with Jerry Lewis.

She was the daughter of writers Willard R. Espy[46] and Hilda S. Cole, who had, earlier in her career, been a publicity agent for Kate Smith and Fred Waring.

Plimpton died on September 25, 2003, in his New York City apartment from a heart attack later determined to have been caused by a catecholamine surge.

The book offers memories of Plimpton from Norman Mailer, William Styron, Gay Talese and Gore Vidal among other writers, and was written with the cooperation of both his ex-wife and his widow.

[52] In 2006, the musician Jonathan Coulton wrote the song entitled "A Talk with George", a part of his 'Thing a Week' series, in tribute to Plimpton's many adventures and approach to life.