Editing Harry Nilsson (section)

===1980–1992: Winding down===
[[File:With A Bullet.jpg|thumb|Nilsson's 1982 Single, "With a Bullet"]]
Nilsson's musical output after leaving RCA Victor was sporadic. He wrote a musical, ''Zapata'', with Perry Botkin Jr. and libretto by [[Allan Katz]], which was produced and directed by longtime friend [[Bert Convy]]. The show was mounted at the [[Goodspeed Musicals|Goodspeed Opera House]] in [[East Haddam, Connecticut]], but never had another production. He wrote all the songs for [[Robert Altman]]'s movie-musical ''[[Popeye (film)|Popeye]]'' (1980),<ref name="Eden" /> the score of which met with unfavorable reviews.<ref>{{Cite web |last=45press |date=1980-01-01 |title=Popeye (Soundtrack) |url=https://www.harrynilsson.com/music/popeye-soundtrack/ |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=The Official Harry Nilsson Site |language=en-US}}</ref> Nilsson's ''Popeye'' compositions included several songs that were representative of Nilsson's acclaimed ''Point'' era, such as "Everything Is Food" and "Sweethaven". The song "He Needs Me" was featured years later in the film ''[[Punch-Drunk Love]]''. Nilsson recorded one more album, ''[[Flash Harry (album)|Flash Harry]]'', co-produced by [[Bruce Robb (producer)|Bruce Robb]] and [[Steve Cropper]], which was released in the UK but not in the US. From this point onward, Nilsson increasingly began referring to himself as a "retired musician".

Nilsson was profoundly affected by the death of [[John Lennon]] on December 8, 1980. He joined the [[Coalition to Stop Gun Violence]] and overcame his preference for privacy to make appearances for [[gun control]] fundraising. He began to appear at [[The Fest For Beatles Fans|Beatlefest conventions]] and he would get on stage with the Beatlefest house band "Liverpool" to sing either some of his own songs or "[[Give Peace a Chance]]".<ref name="Who is" />

Nilsson was asked by [[Graham Chapman]] to contribute a score and songs to the 1983 movie ''[[Yellowbeard]]''. However, after Nilsson had done some preliminary writing and recording work, the producers of the film decided not to continue with Nilsson's music, telling Chapman that they didn't think Nilsson could be counted on to finish the material in the allotted time.<ref>Chapman, Graham (2005). Yellowbeard: High jinks on the high seas. Carroll & Graf, pp. 24-25</ref> None of Nilsson's music was used in the finished film.

After a long hiatus from the studio, Nilsson started recording sporadically once again in the mid to late 1980s. Most of these recordings were commissioned songs for movies or television shows. One notable exception was his work on a Yoko Ono- Lennon tribute album, ''[[Every Man Has a Woman]]'' (1984) (Polydor); another was a cover of "[[Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah]]" recorded for [[Hal Willner]]'s 1988 [[tribute album]] ''[[Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films]]''. Nilsson donated his performance royalties from the song to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.<ref name="Who is" />

In 1985, Nilsson set up a production company, Hawkeye, to oversee various film, TV, and multimedia projects with which he was involved. He appointed his friend, satirist and screenwriter [[Terry Southern]], as one of the principals. They collaborated on a number of screenplays including ''Obits'' (a ''[[Citizen Kane]]''-style story about a journalist investigating an obituary notice) and ''[[The Telephone (1988 film)|The Telephone]]'', a comedy about an unhinged unemployed actor.<ref name="Who is" />

''The Telephone'' was virtually the only Hawkeye project that made it to the screen. It had been written with [[Robin Williams]] in mind but he turned it down; comedian-actress [[Whoopi Goldberg]] then signed on, with Southern's friend [[Rip Torn]] directing, but the project was troubled. Torn battled with Goldberg, who interfered in the production and constantly digressed from the script during shooting, and Torn was forced to plead with her to perform takes that stuck to the screenplay. Torn, Southern, and Nilsson put together their own version of the film, which screened at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] in early 1988, but it was overtaken by the 'official' version from the studio, and this version premiered to poor reviews in late January 1988. The project reportedly had some later success when adapted as a theatre piece in Germany.<ref>Lee Hill – ''A Grand Guy: The Life and Art of Terry Southern'' (Bloomsbury, 2001).</ref>

In 1990, Hawkeye floundered, and Nilsson found himself in a dire financial situation after it was discovered that his financial adviser, Cindy Sims, had embezzled all the funds he had earned as a recording artist. The Nilssons were left with $300 in the bank and a mountain of debt, while Sims was imprisoned for less than two years before her 1994 release and was not required to pay restitution.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19941107/1940340/in-the-end-only-creditors-talked-to-nilsson |title=In The End, Only Creditors Talked To Nilsson |access-date=January 27, 2009 |work=The Seattle Times |date=November 7, 1994 |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726095041/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19941107&slug=1940340 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1991, the [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] album ''For Our Children'', a compilation of children's music performed by celebrities to benefit the [[Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation]], included Nilsson's original composition "Blanket for a Sail", recorded at the Shandaliza Recording Studio in Los Angeles.<ref name="Who is" /> Also in 1991, he recorded a cover of "[[How About You?]]" for the soundtrack of the [[Terry Gilliam]] film ''[[The Fisher King]]''. In 1992, he wrote and recorded the title song for the film ''[[Me Myself & I (film)|Me Myself & I]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nilssonschmilsson.com/index.php?action=DISC&subaction=SONGS&order=recorded_year%2Crecorded_month%2Crecorded_day |title=Harry Nilsson Discography|access-date=July 12, 2019}}</ref>

Nilsson made his last concert appearance on September 1, 1992, when he joined [[Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band]] on stage at [[Caesars Palace]] in [[Las Vegas]], to sing "Without You" with [[Todd Rundgren]] handling the high notes. Afterward, an emotional Starr embraced Nilsson on stage.<ref name="Who is" /> Nilsson's final album, tentatively titled ''Papa's Got a Brown New Robe'' (produced by [[Mark Hudson (musician)|Mark Hudson]]) was not released, though several demos from the album were later made available on promotional CDs and online.<ref name="Who is" />