Edie Sedgwick
Sedgwick (center), with Pat Hartley, filming Ciao! Manhattan in 1967
Born
Edith Minturn Sedgwick

(1943-04-20)April 20, 1943
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 16, 1971(1971-11-16) (aged 28)
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Resting placeOak Hill Cemetery
Other namesEdith Sedgwick Post
EducationRadcliffe College
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
  • socialite
Years active1965–1971
Spouse
Michael Post
​
(m. 1971)​
RelativesSedgwick family (paternal), Henry deForest (maternal grandfather)
Signature

Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American actress and fashion model who was one of Andy Warhol's superstars, starring in several of his short films during the 1960s.[1] Her prominence led to her being dubbed an "It Girl",[2][3] while Vogue magazine named her a "Youthquaker".[4]

Sedgwick broke with Warhol in 1966 and attempted to forge an independent acting career. However, her mental health deteriorated from drug abuse and she struggled to complete the semi-autobiographical film Ciao! Manhattan. Sedgwick gave up drugs and alcohol after meeting her future husband, Michael Post, and completed filming Ciao! Manhattan in early 1971. Post and Sedgwick married in July 1971; she died four months later of an overdose at age 28.

Early life and education

Edie Sedgwick was born in Santa Barbara, California, the seventh of eight children of Alice Delano de Forest (1908–1988) and Francis Minturn Sedgwick (1904–1967), a rancher, sculptor[5] and member of the historical Sedgwick family of Massachusetts. Sedgwick's mother was the daughter of Henry Wheeler de Forest, the president and chairman of the board of the Southern Pacific Railroad.[6] She was named after her father's aunt, Edith Minturn Stokes, who was famously painted with her husband, Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, by John Singer Sargent.[7] She was of English and French Huguenot ancestry.

Despite the family's wealth and high social status, Sedgwick's early life was troubled.[8] Initially schooled at home and cared for by nannies, the Sedgwick children were rigidly controlled by their parents. Being raised on their father's California ranches, they were largely isolated from the outside world and were instilled with the idea that they were superior to most of their peers. It was within these familial and social conditions that Sedgwick by her early teens developed an eating disorder, settling into an early pattern of binging and purging. At age 13 (the year her grandfather Henry Dwight Sedgwick died), she began boarding at the Branson School near San Francisco. According to her older sister Alice "Saucie" Sedgwick, she was soon taken out of the school because of her eating disorder. Her father severely restricted her freedom when she returned home.

All the Sedgwick children had conflicted relationships with their father (whom they called "Fuzzy"). By most accounts, he was narcissistic, emotionally remote, controlling and frequently abusive. He also openly carried on extramarital affairs with other women. On one occasion, Edie walked in on her father while he was having sex with one of his mistresses. She reacted with great surprise, but he claimed that she had imagined it, slapped her and called a doctor to administer tranquilizers to her.[9] As an adult, Sedgwick told people that he had attempted to molest her several times, beginning when she was aged 7.[8]

In 1958, Sedgwick's parents enrolled her at St. Timothy's School in Maryland. She was eventually taken out of the school due to her continuing eating disorder, which had progressed to anorexia.[10] In the autumn of 1962, at her father's insistence, Sedgwick was committed to the private Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut. As the regime was very lax, she easily manipulated her situation at Silver Hill and her weight kept dropping. She was later sent to Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, the Westchester County division of New York Hospital, where her anorexia improved markedly. Around the time she left the hospital, she had a brief relationship with a Harvard student, became pregnant and procured an abortion, citing her present psychological issues.[11]

In the autumn of 1963, Sedgwick moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and began studying sculpture with her cousin, artist Lily Saarinen. According to Saarinen, Sedgwick "was very insecure about men, though all the men loved her."[12][13] During this period, she partied with members of an elite bohemian fringe of the Harvard social scene.

Sedgwick was deeply affected by the loss of her older brothers, Francis Jr. (known as "Minty") and Robert (known as "Bobby"), who died within eighteen months of each other. Francis, who had a particularly unhappy relationship with their father, suffered several mental breakdowns, eventually dying by suicide in 1964 while committed at Silver Hill Hospital. Robert, her second oldest brother, also suffered from mental health problems and died when his motorcycle crashed into the side of a New York City bus on New Year's Eve 1965.

The Factory

On her twenty-first birthday in April 1964, Sedgwick received an $80,000 trust fund from her maternal grandmother. Soon after, she relocated to New York to pursue a career in modeling. In March 1965, Sedgwick met artist and avant-garde filmmaker Andy Warhol at a party at the apartment of producer Lester Persky and began frequently visiting Warhol's art studio, The Factory, in Midtown Manhattan.[1] During one of her subsequent visits, Warhol was filming Vinyl (1965), his interpretation of Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange. Despite Vinyl's all-male cast, Warhol put Sedgwick in the movie. Around this time, she also made a small cameo appearance in another Warhol film, Horse (1965).[1] Sedgwick's appearances in both films were brief but generated enough interest that Warhol decided to cast her in the starring role of his next films.

The first of these films, Poor Little Rich Girl (1965), was originally conceived as part of a series of films featuring Sedgwick called The Poor Little Rich Girl Saga. The series was to include Poor Little Rich Girl, Restaurant, Face and Afternoon. Filming of Poor Little Rich Girl began in March 1965 in Sedgwick's apartment; it depicted her going about her daily routines. Her next film for Warhol was Kitchen, which was filmed in May 1965 but not released until 1966. Written by Factory scriptwriter Ronald Tavel, the film stars Sedgwick, Rene Ricard, Roger Trudeau, Donald Lyons and Elecktrah. After Kitchen, Chuck Wein replaced Tavel as a writer and assistant director for the filming of Beauty No. 2 (1965), which was filmed in June and premiered in July 1965. The film shows Sedgwick lounging on a bed in her underwear with Gino Piserchio and being taunted by Wein off-screen.[1]

Warhol's films were for the most part shown only in underground film theaters and in viewings held at The Factory, and were not commercially successful. Regardless, Sedgwick began receiving attention from the mainstream media, who reported on her appearances in the films and on her personal style. During this period, she developed a distinct look including black leotards, mini dresses, large chandelier earrings and heavy eye make-up. Sedgwick also cut her naturally brown hair short and dyed it with silver spray, thus matching her look with Warhol's, who was known for wearing silvery hair pieces. Warhol dubbed Sedgwick his "Superstar", and they began appearing together at various public events.

Sedgwick and Warhol continued making films together —Outer and Inner Space, Prison, Lupe and Chelsea Girls— throughout 1965. The edited footage of Sedgwick in Chelsea Girls would eventually become the film Afternoon. Their relationship deteriorated by late 1965, however, and Sedgwick demanded that Warhol stop showing her films. Lupe is often thought to be Sedgwick's last Warhol film, but she filmed The Andy Warhol Story with Rene Ricard in November 1966, almost a year after finishing Lupe. The Andy Warhol Story was an unreleased film that was only screened once at The Factory. Along with Sedgwick, the film featured Ricard satirically pretending to be Warhol.

Post-Factory years

Following her estrangement from Warhol's inner circle, Sedgwick began living at the Chelsea Hotel, where she became close to Bob Dylan. Dylan and his friends eventually convinced Sedgwick to sign up with Albert Grossman, Dylan's manager. According to Paul Morrissey, Sedgwick had developed a crush on Dylan that she thought he reciprocated. She was also under the impression that she and Dylan would star in a mainstream film together. Unbeknownst to Sedgwick, however, Dylan had secretly married his girlfriend Sara Lownds in November 1965. Morrissey claimed that Sedgwick was informed of the marriage by Warhol (who reportedly heard about it through his lawyer) in February 1966. Friends of Sedgwick's later said that she saw the supposed offer of doing a film with Dylan as a ticket to a mainstream film career. Morrissey claimed that Dylan likely never had plans to star in a film with Sedgwick and "hadn't been very truthful."[14]

Since Sedgwick's death, Dylan has routinely denied that he ever had a romantic relationship with her but did acknowledge knowing her. In December 2006, several weeks before the release of the controversial film Factory Girl,[15] the Weinstein Company and the film's producers interviewed Sedgwick's older brother, Jonathan, who claimed that Sedgwick told him she had aborted a baby she claimed was Dylan's shortly after she was injured in a motorcycle accident. As a result of the accident, doctors consigned her to a mental hospital, where she was treated for drug addiction. No records from a hospital or the Sedgwick family exist to support this story. Nonetheless, Jonathan claimed, "Staff found she was pregnant but, fearing the baby had been damaged by her drug use and anorexia, forced her to have the abortion."[16][17]

In 1966, Sedgwick was named one of the "fashion revolutionaries" in New York by Women's Wear Daily, alongside Tiger Morse, Baby Jane Holzer, Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, Rudi Gernreich, André Courrèges, Emanuel Ungaro, Yves Saint Laurent and Mary Quant.[18] Throughout most of that year, Sedgwick was involved in an intense but troubled relationship with Dylan's friend Bob Neuwirth. During this time, she became increasingly dependent on barbiturates. In early 1967, unable to cope with Sedgwick's drug abuse and erratic behavior, Neuwirth broke off their relationship.

Later years

After breaking with Warhol, Sedgwick attempted to forge a legitimate acting career. She auditioned for Norman Mailer when the stage adaptation of his novel The Deer Park was being produced. But Mailer "turned her down....—She was very good in a sort of tortured and wholly sensitive way—...She used so much of herself with every line that we knew she'd be immolated after three performances."[19]

In March 1967, Sedgwick began what may have seemed propitious but in fact began her torturous and final decline: the shooting of Ciao! Manhattan, a semi-autobiographical underground film co-directed by John Palmer and David Weisman. During this, Sedgwick accidentally set her room on fire in the Chelsea Hotel and was briefly hospitalized with burns. Due to her rapidly deteriorating health from drug use, the film was suspended. After further hospitalizations for drug abuse and mental issues in 1968 and 1969, Sedgwick returned to her family's ranch in California to recuperate. In August 1969, she was hospitalized again in the psychiatric ward of the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital after being arrested for drug offenses by local police. While in the hospital, Sedgwick met another patient, Michael Post, whom she would marry in July 1971.[20]

Sedgwick was hospitalized again in the summer of 1970 but was let out under the supervision of a psychiatrist, two nurses and the live-in care of filmmaker John Palmer and his wife Janet. Determined to finish Ciao! Manhattan and have her story told, Sedgwick reconnected with the film crew and began shooting in Arcadia and Santa Barbara in late 1970. She also recorded audio tapes reflecting on her life story, accounts Weisman and Palmer incorporated into the film's dramatic arc. Filming completed in early 1971, and the film was released in February 1972.

Marriage and death

Sedgwick married Post on July 24, 1971, during a period where she had achieved sobriety. However, in October 1971, Sedgwick relapsed after taking prescription pain medication given to her for a physical illness, which in turn led to abusing barbiturates and alcohol.

On the night of November 15, 1971, Sedgwick went to a fashion show at the Santa Barbara Museum that included a segment filmed for the television show An American Family.[21] After the show, she attended a party where she drank alcohol. She then phoned her husband to pick her up. On the way home, Sedgwick expressed thoughts of uncertainty about their marriage.[22] Before they both fell asleep, Post gave Sedgwick the medication that had been prescribed for her. According to Post, Sedgwick started to fall asleep very quickly and her breathing was "bad – it sounded like there was a big hole in her lungs", but he attributed it to her heavy smoking habit and went to sleep.[23]

When Post awoke the following morning at 7:30 a.m., he found Sedgwick dead. The coroner ruled her death as "undetermined/accident/suicide". Her death certificate states the immediate cause was "probable acute barbiturate intoxication" due to ethanol intoxication. Sedgwick's alcohol level was registered at 0.17% and her barbiturate level was 0.48 mg%. She was 28.[24]

Sedgwick was not buried in her family's Sedgwick Pie cemetery plot but in the small Oak Hill Cemetery in Ballard, California. Her epitaph reads "Edith Sedgwick Post – Wife of Michael Brett Post 1943–1971".[25]

Music

Sedgwick inspired a number of songs.

Other

  • Sedgwick popularized the mini-skirt by purchasing children's skirts and wearing them as her own.[40]
  • The previously niche phrase "Superstar" was popularized and became a mainstream term because of Sedgwick being dubbed one by Andy Warhol and the increased mainstream media attention the pair received. Sedgwick can be seen defining the term on the Merv Griffin Show, indicating that the word was not a staple in the general public's vocabulary before her appearance on the show.[41]
  • Warren Beatty bought the rights to Sedgwick's life story in the 1980s and was planning to make a movie, initially with Molly Ringwald then with Jennifer Jason Leigh starring as Sedgwick.[42] Al Pacino was tapped to play Andy Warhol. It was also reported that a film titled The War at Home was to be loosely based on her life during The Factory years, with Linda Fiorentino slated to portray her. It was to be based on John Byrum's fictionalized account of a working-class man who becomes enamored of her. Neither was ever produced.[43]
  • Actress and model Jennifer Rubin played Sedgwick in the 1991 film The Doors, directed by Oliver Stone.
  • The Escape Artist is a 1994 novel by a Madrid-based writer, Jonathan Holland. The villain of the novel is a character called Marc, about whom it is said: "He'd spent most of his teens working with Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey, and he'd slept with someone called Edie Sedgwick: apparently Jean Shrimpton was not the only beautiful woman in the world with the name of a dinner lady." All of Marc's life-story is false.[44]
  • In the 2002 film Igby Goes Down, Amanda Peet's character, Rachel, is described as an "Edie Sedgwick wanna-be" and dresses in Sedgwick-inspired attire throughout the film.[45]
  • A 2004 off-Broadway play entitled Andy & Edie was written and produced by Peter Braunstein. It ran for 10 days.[46] Misha Moore, who portrayed Sedgwick, claimed to be the late model's niece. At the request of the Sedgwick family, The New York Times published a notice of correction.[47]
  • Director Mike Nichols and actress Natalie Portman considered doing a film about Sedgwick and Andy Warhol but decided to film an adaptation of Patrick Marber's play Closer instead, which was released in 2004.[48]
  • In 2007 film I'm Not There, Michelle Williams's character Coco Rivington is modelled on Sedgwick
  • Sienna Miller played Sedgwick in George Hickenlooper's film Factory Girl, a fictionalized account of Sedgwick's life, released in December 2006. The film portrays Warhol, played by Guy Pearce, as a cynic who leads Sedgwick into a downward spiral of drug addiction and psychiatric problems. Hayden Christensen plays "Billy Quinn", an apparent conglomeration of various characters but a look-alike of Bob Dylan. (As of late 2006, Dylan was apparently threatening to pursue a defamation lawsuit, claiming the film implicates him as having driven Sedgwick to her death.) Michael Post, Sedgwick's widower, appears as a taxi driver in one of the last scenes of the film.[49]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1965 Vinyl Non-speaking role
1965 Beauty No. 2
1965 Space
1965 Restaurant Short
1965 Prison[50] alternative title: Girls in Prison
1965 Kitchen
1965 Horse Non-speaking role; first appearance in a Warhol film
1965 Afternoon
1965 Outer and Inner Space Short
1965 Bitch
1965 Screen Test No. 1 Herself
1965 Screen Test No. 2 Herself
1965 Poor Little Rich Girl Poor Little Rich Girl Credited as Mazda Isphahan
1965 Factory Diaries
1966 Lupe Lupe Vélez
1966 Face
1967 Four Stars**** alternative title: The Four Star Movie; uses footage of Sedgwick from previous Warhol films
1967 The Andy Warhol Story final film with Warhol
1969 Walden Herself alternative title: Diaries, Notes and Sketches
1972 Ciao! Manhattan Susan Superstar posthumously released

Bibliography

  • Victor Bockris and Gerard Malanga: Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story
  • Victor Bockris: Andy Warhol
  • Michael Opray: Andy Warhol. Film Factory
  • Jean Stein: Edie: American Girl
  • Andy Warhol: The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
  • Melissa Painter and David Weisman: Edie: Girl on Fire Book and Film
  • Steven Watson: Factory Made: Warhol And the Sixties
  • Nat Finkelstein and David Dalton: Edie: Factory Girl
  • John Sedgwick: In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, pp. 210–217
  2. ↑ Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline; Mitchell, Claudia (2008). Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. p. 467. ISBN 978-0-313-33910-3.
  3. ↑ "The "It Girls" of Every Decade". Vanity Fair. October 13, 2016.
  4. ↑ Benoit, Tod (2003). Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die?: Fitting Ends and Final Resting Places Of the Famous, Infamous and Noteworthy. Black Dog Publishing. p. 479. ISBN 1-57912-287-6.
  5. ↑ "Francis Minturn "Duke" Sedgwick (1904–1967)". sedgwick.org. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  6. ↑ New York Times, article "Henry de Forest, Lawyer, dies at 82", May 28, 1937
  7. ↑ Heyman, Stephan (March 23, 2012). "The Haves Who Gave". The New York Times.
  8. 1 2 Anolik, Lili (December 6, 2017). "Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick: A Brief, White-Hot, and Totally Doomed Romance". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  9. ↑ Stein, Jean; Plimpton, George (1982). Edie – An American Biography. Knopf. p. 105. ISBN 0-394-48819-9.
  10. ↑ "Edie Sedgwick: The It girl who was inspiration to Dylan and Warhol". The Independent. February 5, 2006. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  11. ↑ Koenig, Rhoda (January 9, 2007). "Edie Sedgwick: The life and death of the Sixties star". The Independent. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Arts & Architecture Collection: Lily Saarinen". Artsandarchitecturecollection.com. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  13. ↑ Sedgwick, John (January 2007). "Elegy for an It Girl". Boston. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  14. ↑ Stein, Jean; Plimpton, George (1982). Edie – An American Biography. Knopf Doubleday. p. 284. ISBN 0-394-48819-9.
  15. ↑ Lee, Nathan (January 30, 2007). "Edie Made Easy". The Village Voice.
  16. ↑ Cole, Olivia (January 7, 2007). "Warhol muse lost baby by Dylan". The Times. London, England. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Gone in 15 minutes". The Times. London, England. January 14, 2007. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Revolution In Fashion Reaction In New York: These Were The Revolutionaries". Women’s Wear Daily. Vol. 112, no. 74. April 14, 1966. pp. 4–5. ProQuest 1564944345.
  19. ↑ Stein, Jean; Plimpton, George (1982). Edie – An American Biography. Knopf. p. 314. ISBN 0-394-48819-9.
  20. ↑ Milliard, Coline (October 30, 2014). "Movie Producer Sues Warhol Superstar's Widower Over Image Rights". ArtNet News.
  21. ↑ Stein, Jean; Plimpton, George (1982). Edie. Knopf. p. 410. ISBN 0-394-48819-9.
  22. ↑ Stein, Jean; Plimpton, George (1982). Edie. Knopf. pp. 415–417. ISBN 0-394-48819-9.
  23. ↑ Stein, Jean; Plimpton, George (1982). Edie. Knopf. p. 418. ISBN 0-394-48819-9.
  24. ↑ Stein, Jean; Plimpton, George (1982). Edie. Knopf. p. 421. ISBN 0-394-48819-9.
  25. ↑ Stein, Jean; Plimpton, George (1982). Edie. Knopf. pp. 424–426. ISBN 0-394-48819-9.
  26. ↑ Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Billboard Books. pp. 347–348. ISBN 0-8230-7974-0.
  27. ↑ Creswell, Toby (2006). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 534. ISBN 1-56025-915-9.
  28. ↑ Bockris, Victor (1994). Transformer: The Lou Reed Story. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 107. ISBN 0-684-80366-6. Andy said I should write a song about Edie Sedgwick. I said 'Like what?' and he said 'Oh, don't you think she's a femme fatale, Lou?' So I wrote 'Femme Fatale' and we gave it to Nico. (Lou Reed)
  29. ↑ "Primal Scream to Re-Issue 'Velocity Girl'". April 18, 2019.
  30. ↑ "'Factory Girl' mythology". February 8, 2007.
  31. ↑ "James Ray And The Performance – A New Kind Of Assassin (1989, CD)". Discogs. 1989.
  32. ↑ "Factory Girl (song for Edie Sedgwick), by Tal Cohen-Shalev". Tal Cohen-Shalev.
  33. ↑ Alizée
  34. ↑ Keith, Kelsey (July 31, 2009), "Exclusive: Pop Duo Dean & Britta Sing Along with The Factory", Flavorwire, The song we did for Edie Sedgwick — "It Don't Rain in Beverly Hills" — the lyrics were written by our artist friend, Jack Early, and had nothing to do with Edie, but worked so well for her tragic life.
  35. ↑ "Taylor Momsen Tries to Dress Like Edie Sedgwick". The Cut. January 6, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  36. ↑ Lady Gaga (August 20, 2013). "Applause is back at #1 on the worldwide charts! & we're just getting started. Back to rehearsal *pounds boxing gloves+hifives Sedgwick Swan*". Twitter.com.
  37. ↑ Insanally, Karenna (January 16, 2015). "Exclusive: G-Eazy talks Downtown Love | Milk". Milk.xyz. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  38. ↑ Lin, Summer (May 11, 2018). "Beach House's Victoria Legrand on Eternal Muse Edie Sedgwick". CR Fashion Book. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  39. ↑ Bassil, Ryan (May 1, 2018). "The Enduring Brilliance of Beach House". Vice. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  40. ↑ "2. Love (Prime)". THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANDY WARHOL. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  41. ↑ "Andy Warhol & Edie Sedgwick Interview (Merv Griffin Show 1965)". Retrieved January 9, 2021 – via YouTube.
  42. ↑ Hutchings, David (March 24, 1986). "Molly Ringwald Goes to the Head of the Teen Class with Pretty in Pink, but She'd Rather Play Grown-Up". People. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  43. ↑ Hruska, Bronwen (October 8, 1995). "Ever Hopeful Davis". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  44. ↑ Holland, Jonathan (1994). The Escape Artist. Faber & Faber. p. 175. ISBN 0-571-17101-X.
  45. ↑ Bernard, Sarah (December 12, 2003). "She'll Take Manhattan". premiere.com.
  46. ↑ "offoffonline – off-off-Broadway reviews, listings, and more". Archived from the original on October 27, 2004.
  47. ↑ "Corrections". The New York Times. December 20, 2006.
  48. ↑ Stein, Joel (November 29, 2004). "Movies: A Fantasy You Can Bring Home to Mother". Time. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  49. ↑ "Miller denies Dylan 'defamation'". BBC News. December 31, 2006. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  50. ↑ Kern, Lauren (May 3, 2004), "Andy's Baby: A Warhol screen-test subject watches her celluloid debut for the first time.", New York Magazine
Wikiquote has quotations related to Edie Sedgwick.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.