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Candy Darling and a drunken Tennessee Williams make for an awkward press conference
12.07.2013
09:25 am
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Tennessee and Candy
Candy Darling and Tennessee Williams
 
While many Warhol fans know about Candy Darling’s significant part in the Tennessee Williams play, Small Craft Warnings; many of them don’t know that Darling was cast looong past the golden period of Williams’ career. After the death of a beloved ex-boyfriend from lung cancer in 1963 (a man who Williams had cared for from diagnosis to death, despite their recent break-up), Williams’ life was marked by alcoholism, drug abuse, and depression. He never reclaimed the success of his earlier career, and was often strung out, even in public.

In the clip below, (an excerpt from the slightly low-rent, but super-informative A & E special, Tennessee Williams: Wounded Genius), you can watch a moment from the play’s infamous press conference. While Williams slurs and fawns all over his actors, Darling looks on in what appears to be obvious discomfort. Small Craft Warnings opened off-Broadway in 1972 to lukewarm reviews. In a painful blur of art and life, Williams actually took over the role of an alcoholic doctor practicing medicine without a license—a change he made in the middle of the play’s run.
 

Posted by Amber Frost
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12.07.2013
09:25 am
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Blonde on a Bum Trip: Andy Warhol, Candy Darling and Jane Fonda, early 70s
12.18.2012
04:55 pm
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Early 70s BBC clip of Andy Warhol, pioneering transsexual actress Candy Darling, Jane Fonda and several hangers-on, including Factory regular Eric Emerson, on a boat during a farewell party for Fonda.

A part of this was used in Beautiful Darling, the superb 2011 documentary about Candy Darling. We posted here at DM in advance of the film’s release, but I didn’t actually see it until last week and I really loved it. Beautiful Darling is a terrific film, extremely well-researched and co-produced by Darling’s best friend and roommate, Jeremiah Newton. Highly recommended.

(I just noticed that they are selling a special NARS “Andy Warhol Limited Edition Beautiful Darling” cosmetics bag with Candy Darling’s picture on it on Amazon).
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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12.18.2012
04:55 pm
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Beautiful Darling: The Life And Times Of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar
05.06.2011
02:59 pm
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Tonight in Los Angeles, Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn (who I lived down the hall from in a Hollywood apartment building for about a month in 1995 before she moved out and had an amazing yard sale) will be present for the 9pm screening of the documentary Beautiful Darling, about the life of the legendary Candy Darling, at the Downtown Independent theater.

Born James Slattery in Massapequa, Long Island, in 1944, Candy Darling transformed herself into a stunning blonde actress who in the mid-Sixties became an active player in New York’s “downtown” scene. In her passionate act of self-creation, Candy Darling mesmerized. A party fixture, she appeared in Warhol films, and Tennessee Williams cast her in a play. She was seen and written about, and then, before she turned 30, cancer claimed her life.

Using vintage footage and interviews old and new, and anchored by the presence of Candy’s very close friend, Jeremiah Newton, director James Rasin creates a critical and loving portrait of a singular and audacious life. With Jackie Curtis, Holly Woodlawn, Penny Arcade, Paul Morrissey, Fran Lebowitz, John Waters. Candy’s letters and diaries read by Chloë Sevigny. 2010. USA. 86 min.

Tickets are $10, Holly Woodlawn will be doing a Q&A after the film.
 

 
Thanks, Robert Coddington!

Posted by Richard Metzger
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05.06.2011
02:59 pm
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