Warren Beatty's Mark

Warren Beatty is one of those rare talents who seems to have not only great looks, but the golden touch.

As an actor, director, producer and writer, Beatty has had unquestionable influence on American cinema, which is why he was among the recipients at this year's Kennedy Center Honors. The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen sat down with him the day before the ceremony.

Beatty started out as a stage actor in New York City. But it took almost no time for him to find his way onto the silver screen

"Splendor In The Grass" shot him into the limelight.

What was it about the business that impressed him most then?

"I thought it was a good way to get rich and famous," Beatty tells Chen.

But soon rich and famous wasn't enough. Beatty decided he wanted more.

"It was Hollywood 1966," Faye Dunaway recalls. "I stood in a hotel room for a little picture called 'Bonnie And Clyde' - a little picture that the kid, as executives had taken to call him, was putting together.

Beatty produced and starred in "Bonnie And Clyde," negotiating an unprecented forty percent of the profits and solidifying his reputation as a groundbreaking filmmaker -- addressing hot button topics such as the sexual revolution in "Shampoo" and reincarnation in "Heaven Can Wait."

By then, he was not only acting and producing, but writing and directing.

Like Orson Welles, Beatty has been nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for wearing four hats in one film. But in Beatty's case, it has happened twice, for "Heaven Can Wait" and "Reds."

"Reds" won Beatty his first Oscar - for Best Director. And his reputation grew and grew.

Jack Nicolson said of Beatty at the Kennedy Center awards ceremony, "For years, Warren has dreamed of attending these awards not as honoree, but as president of the United States. Things didn't turn out that way."

Would he ever run for office?

"No," Beatty says, "I don't want to run for office. I never have wanted to run for office. If I believe something, I have the opportunity to go ahead and say it."

His life took a turn in 1991, when he fell for his 'Bugsy' co-star, Annette Benning.

Once Hollywood's most infamous ladies man, Beatty has now settled down, and with Benning came, well, his most challenging role yet: father of four.

Beatty says, "One of them is 12; one of them is ten; one is seven; and one is four. And they are like four small Eastern European countries. They send ambassadors to me and to my superior half periodically. And then we try to make dictatorial edicts that are not very successful."

But if these kids are anything like their dad, success won't be hard to come by.