Edie Sedgwick Wasted Her Time With Warhol

Apr 21

“I’m in love with everyone I’ve ever met in one way or another. I’m just a crazy, unhinged disaster of a human being.” ― Edie Sedgwick

Edie has always been someone I’ve been fascinated with; she was the girl who had everything and didn’t know it. Essentially the “it” girl of the 60’s, made famous at the time from her association with Andy Warhol. I am rolling my eyes thinking of how much money people have spent on his screen-printed cans as I write this. The most interesting thing about these post-modern artists is that they all find a way to fool the whole world into thinking their art, which MOST of the time isn’t impressive, is the most enthralling and beautiful new thing to look at. So, in a sense I suppose they have the most intriguing and mind puzzling job of all, figuring out a way to put rose color glasses on the world. But I digress. Edie was eaten up by the art world, easily pursued and used because of her trusting heart. I wanted to look at her life as I found her rather magnetic; perhaps you may learn a new thing about her you never heard.

Poor Little Rich Girl

Embed from Getty Images

Edie had come from old money; I mean her great-great-great-great uncle had signed the declaration of independence kind of old money. Her parents had a very controlling grip on her, homeschooling her and sending her and her siblings to boarding school, hardly allowing them out of their sight. Her father, of whom she would call “Fuzzy,” was an egotistical man filled with anger and needed control. She eventual got sent home from the boarding school for her eating disorder and things got bad quickly. She had witnessed Fuzzy sleeping with their neighbor, when she told her mother he apparently backhanded her, told her mother she was hallucinating, and had a doctor tranquilizer her. She then admitted to Fuzzy forcing himself upon her since she was eight years old, abusing her mentally, physically, and in the bedroom. Once he heard this information, he sent her away to a psychiatric hospital for a couple of years to keep her quiet.

Independence and Art School

When Edie finally got out, she had met a man from Harvard, he was handsome, a true gentleman, and Edie felt a connection. She decided that he would be her first real sexual encounter. Saying about the night with him that it was “beautiful” as she had “no expectations” of what making love should be. However, the thought couldn’t stay a fond one as she soon found out that she was pregnant with just that one encounter. She had to be taken to have an abortion, which of course devastated her and further added to her mental struggles. Soon after she decided to try her hand in art school, enjoying her independence and immediate attention she was receiving from the men at the university for her beauty. People who met her would have similar feelings of loving her, being attracted to her, and wanting to save her.

She studied sculpture and drew quite well, however quickly more tragedy came her way. Her brother, of whom had also butted heads with Fuzzy, had hung himself after coming out to his family. Eighteen months later another brother, of whom was suffering from metal issues as well, had crashed his motorcycle into a side of a bus and passed away. She describes their funerals as no one crying, no one missing them, and no sadness, she felt she had to cry enough for her whole family in mourning them. It sent her down a deep hole of depression of which she wouldn’t find a way out for the remainder of her life. Independence had hit her hard, she decided to take her trust fund, leave school, and flee to New York to start a new life.

Becoming an Icon

Embed from Getty Images

In 1965 Edie had taken a hand at modeling in the big city and soon met the pop artist Andy Warhol at a party, he quickly became fascinated with her. She reminded him of Marilyn Monroe in many ways which was one of his most important muses at the time. She was sophisticated, smart, and most importantly unhappy. The attraction was instant and incredibly magnetic. He quickly offered her to join him in the Factory, his famous art studio at the time. Edie met him just at the right time it seemed, he had just taken a hand in filmmaking. He decided to provide his new muse a role in one of his movies. His films were experimental with not many taking them seriously, however Edie took them rather seriously believing they were amazing works of art, caring very much about his vision. She was once quoted in saying “If all I cared about was me, I could make a million. And that’s what they will never understand.” Andy would cast people based solely on their looks and personalities. He saw great potential in Edie, when her first small role was a great success, he had decided to dedicate a whole film to her called Poor Little Rich Girl. The role was a success with many wanting to know more about the beautifully exciting woman that graced the screen. “Edie was incredible on camera—just the way she moved…The great stars are the ones who are doing something you can watch every second, even if it’s just a movement inside their eye,” Andy said.

She quickly started to take on a mirrored image of Andy, dying her hair platinum and chopping it all off, much like Andy’s then wig. He too started to mirror her turtlenecks and striped style. Edie was grabbing hold of Americas attention, becoming 1965’s Girl of the Year, which pleased Andy. They were inseparable, almost a couple; Edie proceeded to star in more of his movies, but although Andy had adored and admired Edie there seemed to be a darkness to his obsession.

It seemed Andy tried to push the envelope with Edie when making his films, he had her longtime friend, Chuck Wein interview her while she was lying in bed with a handsome man for Andy’s film Beauty No 2. Chuck had known quite personal information about Edie and her family and decided to push her to the brink while she was already put in an awkward situation. After pushing Edie to kiss the actor he indirectly brings up her past with Fuzzy, saying if the actor was only a bit older she could pretend it “was her daddy,” Edie breaks away from the kiss and defends herself. The result is rather macabre, a girl emotionally exhausted caught in a scene of this strange film, Andy using her for his benefit, for his modern art.

Soon after Edie and Andy began fighting a lot, Edie had quickly run through her entire trust fund and was angry with Andy for not paying her anything for her work. She begged Andy to stop showing the films they made together saying they made her look like a fool. She claimed he had ruined her life, as she had picked up a pretty bad substance abuse problem from hanging around the Factory. Andy and Edie were on the rocks, their friendship slowly flowing down river.

While Andy was angry with her for losing hope in his work another man had caught Edie’s eye, Bob Dylan.

Her Romance with Bob Dylan

Embed from Getty Images

Edie had fallen for another man, which made Andy furious. Of course, he didn’t want her sexually, but he didn’t want her fawning over another man either. Bob hated Andy, his art, and his hold on Edie. He tried to convince Edie to stay away from him, he apparently thought Andy hated women and wanted to ruin Edie.

Andy had put her in another film despite her new love intrest, this time showing Edie in a rather drugged out state. She is covered in bruises and walking around New York in a dragging and unhealthy manner. That same night Robert Heide, and friend of Andy’s claimed “When I got there, I saw Edie. She had tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong. ‘I try to get close to him, but I can’t,’ she whispered, and I knew she was talking about Andy. That’s when he arrived. Usually, he wore dirty dungarees and a striped shirt, but he was dressed in a blue suede suit from the Leather Man on Christopher Street. He didn’t say a word. We were all just sitting there when a limo pulled up to the front door. Bob Dylan walked in. Edie perked up, began talking in her little-girl Marilyn Monroe voice. Nobody else spoke. It was very tense. And then Dylan grabbed Edie’s arm and snarled, ‘Let’s split,’ and they did. Andy didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was upset. And then he said, ‘Show me the building Freddy jumped out of.’ [Freddy Herko, a dancer who while high on speed and LSD, had danced right out the window.] As we stared up at the window, Andy murmured, ‘Do you think Edie will let us film her when she commits suicide?’”

Edie began to claim that Bob and herself were infatuated with each other, spending more and more time together as Andy slowly cut her off emotionally from himself and his people. She had apparently thought that Bob’s manger would soon manger her, that Bob would star in a movie with her shooting her up to stardom.

In an interview with Edie’s brother in 2006 for the film adaption of her life, Factory Girl, he claimed that Edie was even pregnant with Bob’s child at one point. By the time she found out the doctor had advised her to have an abortion due to her eating disorder and her drug abuse. This was the first time the news was heard as he had kept Edie’s secret for years.

Although Edie saw a big future with Bob, Andy was thrilled to give her the news that Bob had decided to marry his longtime girlfriend, leaving Edie behind. Edie was devastated.

Bob has since said he and Edie had no romantic relationship and he had never had an affair. There is no sure way to know who was telling the truth, however many say his songs “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat,” “Just Like a Woman,” and “Like a Rolling Stone” are about Edie.

The Aftermath

Embed from Getty Images

Edie was not able to find work modeling after the films had come out. People began to see her in a vulgar light leaving companies not wanting to advertise using her image. She struggled to stay afloat and eventually had a nervous breakdown and overdose. Toward the end of her life, she sought treatment and had become clean. Having small art shows, marrying, and moving on with her life. However, when Edie was just 28 years old, she relapsed and sadly overdosed and passed away.

Although her life was short, she impacted the world with her words and energy. It is definite that the year 1965 impacted how her life played out, grimly twisting it and at the same time turning her into an icon. I find my attraction to her because of her elegance and strangely enough her voice. Hearing her audio makes me wish I could hold myself with the same charm and intelligence, instead of my usual awkward robotic-like self.

A close friend of Andy’s, Truman Capote said about him “Andy Warhol would like to have been Edie Sedgwick. He would like to have been a charming, well-born debutante from Boston. He would like to have been anybody except Andy Warhol.”