Andrea Feldman
Encyclopedia
Andrea Feldman was an American actress and Warhol Superstar
. She committed suicide in 1972.
, Trash
and Heat
A regular in the back room of Max's Kansas City
, she pioneered a performance which she called "Showtime", in which she performed a strip tease on the round table, at the center of the room. She became known for her dependence on drugs, particularly amphetamine
s.
Feldman was featured in a 1970 documentary called Groupies, where she referred to herself by a nickname given to her by the Warhol crowd; Andrea "Whips" Feldman. She also often referred to herself as "Andrea Warhol". She was known by her friends as "Crazy Andy".
, to the New York City apartment of her parents to witness what she called her "final starring role". Holding a Bible
in one hand and a crucifix
in the other, Feldman jumped from the fourteenth floor of 51 Fifth Avenue.
Feldman’s suicide preceded the release of Andy Warhol's Heat
, in which she had a much larger role than in previous Warhol films, by only three weeks. Feldman's performance garnered positive reviews. Judith Christ, a critic for New York
magazine wrote: "The most striking performance, in large part non-performance, comes from the late Andrea Feldman, as the flat-voiced, freaked-out daughter, a mass of psychotic
confusion, infantile and heart-breaking."
Warhol superstar
Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life...
. She committed suicide in 1972.
Career
Andrea Feldman was a native New Yorker. She attended Quintano's School for Young Professionals, a high school for the performing arts. She starred in three Warhol films; Imitation of ChristImitation of Christ (film)
- Production :Andy Warhol shot sixteen 32-minute reels of film for all the interior shots during January 1967 in a Hollywood Hills home called the Castle...
, Trash
Trash (film)
Trash is a 1970 American film directed and written by filmmaker Paul Morrissey.The movie stars Joe Dallesandro, transsexual Holly Woodlawn and Jane Forth. Dallesandro had previously starred in several other Andy Warhol/Paul Morrissey films such as The Loves of Ondine, Lonesome Cowboys, and Flesh...
and Heat
Heat (1972 film)
Heat also known as Andy Warhol's Heat, is an American film written and directed by Paul Morrissey, produced by Andy Warhol, and starring Joe Dallesandro, Sylvia Miles, and Andrea Feldman....
A regular in the back room of Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
, she pioneered a performance which she called "Showtime", in which she performed a strip tease on the round table, at the center of the room. She became known for her dependence on drugs, particularly amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s.
Feldman was featured in a 1970 documentary called Groupies, where she referred to herself by a nickname given to her by the Warhol crowd; Andrea "Whips" Feldman. She also often referred to herself as "Andrea Warhol". She was known by her friends as "Crazy Andy".
Death
In August 1972, several days after returning from Europe, Feldman summoned several ex-boyfriends, including poet Jim CarrollJim Carroll
James Dennis "Jim" Carroll was an author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was made into the 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.-Biography:Carroll was born to a...
, to the New York City apartment of her parents to witness what she called her "final starring role". Holding a Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in one hand and a crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
in the other, Feldman jumped from the fourteenth floor of 51 Fifth Avenue.
Feldman’s suicide preceded the release of Andy Warhol's Heat
Heat (1972 film)
Heat also known as Andy Warhol's Heat, is an American film written and directed by Paul Morrissey, produced by Andy Warhol, and starring Joe Dallesandro, Sylvia Miles, and Andrea Feldman....
, in which she had a much larger role than in previous Warhol films, by only three weeks. Feldman's performance garnered positive reviews. Judith Christ, a critic for New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine wrote: "The most striking performance, in large part non-performance, comes from the late Andrea Feldman, as the flat-voiced, freaked-out daughter, a mass of psychotic
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
confusion, infantile and heart-breaking."
Filmography
- ****Four Stars (film)Four Stars is a 1967 avant-garde film by Andy Warhol, actually consisting of 25 hours of film . In typical Warhol fashion of the period, each reel of the film is 35 minutes long, or 1200 ft...
(Four Stars) aka 24 Hour Movie (1967) - Groupies (1970) documentary
- TrashTrash (film)Trash is a 1970 American film directed and written by filmmaker Paul Morrissey.The movie stars Joe Dallesandro, transsexual Holly Woodlawn and Jane Forth. Dallesandro had previously starred in several other Andy Warhol/Paul Morrissey films such as The Loves of Ondine, Lonesome Cowboys, and Flesh...
(1970) - HeatHeat (1972 film)Heat also known as Andy Warhol's Heat, is an American film written and directed by Paul Morrissey, produced by Andy Warhol, and starring Joe Dallesandro, Sylvia Miles, and Andrea Feldman....
(1972)