History
When Pop artist Andy Warhol began making experimental films in 1963, his early works included "motionless" films such as Sleep (1964). He soon began producing underground films at a rapid pace, filming friends, artists, and other figures who frequented his studio, the Factory. Those who appeared regularly in his films and became associated with his social circle came to be known as Warhol superstars. The superstars helped generate publicity for Warhol's films, while Warhol offered them exposure and a degree of celebrity in return. Someone once asked Warhol his criteria for a superstar, and he replied, "It's anybody who talks a lot." He later explained, "I only wanted to find great people and let them be themselves and talk about what they usually talked about and I'd film them for a certain length of time and that would be the movie."
As his filmmaking continued, he became increasingly interested in the bohemian eccentrics and unconventional personalities attracted to the studio. He also befriended socialites such as Baby Jane Holzer, who was the first figure associated with the superstar phenomenon and described by journalist Tom Wolfe as the "Girl of the Year" in 1964. "Andy calls everything super," said Holzer in 1964. "I'm a super star, he's a super-director, we make super epics—and I mean, it's a completely new and natural way of acting. You can't imagine what really beautiful things can happen!"
Other prominent figures associated with the first Factory, known as the "Silver Factory" because its walls were covered in foil and silver paint by Billy Name, included Gerard Malanga, Taylor Mead, Ondine, and Edie Sedgwick. They appeared in films such as Couch (1964), Soap Opera (1964), Camp (1965), and Vinyl (1965). In 1965, Vogue magazine anointed Sedgwick a "Youthquaker."
By 1966, Warhol had begun promoting a new group of superstars, including Ingrid Superstar, Nico, International Velvet, Mary Woronov, and Brigid Polk. The 1966 film Chelsea Girls, which depicted life among Warhol's circle at the Hotel Chelsea, became one of Warhol's most commercially successful works and helped bring his superstars and the Factory milieu to a wider audience beyond New York's underground art scene.
There were a number of Black superstars associated with Warhol during a period when racial discrimination remained widespread in the United States. Black performers who were part of Warhol's circle included Rufus Collins, Dorothy Dean, Pat Hartley, Donyale Luna, Abigail Rosen, and Carol LaBrie.
Warhol and his superstars were regulars at Max's Kansas City, a gathering place for artists, musicians, and other figures of the downtown cultural scene. The restaurant's back room became closely associated with Warhol and members of the Factory. Warhol exchanged artwork for credit with the restaurant's owner, Mickey Ruskin, and allowed members of his circle to use his charge account.
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In 1968, radical feminist Valerie Solanas, who had appeared in minor roles in Warhol's films I, a Man (1967) and Bike Boy (1967), attempted to assassinate Warhol at the Factory. While Warhol recovered in the hospital, several members of his circle appeared in John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy (1969), including Viva, Ultra Violet, Jed Johnson, Jay Johnson, International Velvet, Paul Morrissey, and Gerard Malanga. They appeared in a psychedelic party sequence inspired by the Factory.
Through his subsequent film collaborations with director Paul Morrissey, Warhol introduced a new coterie of superstars, including Joe Dallesandro, Candy Darling, Jackie Curtis, Holly Woodlawn, Jane Forth, and Donna Jordan. The Warhol–Morrissey films Flesh (1968), Trash (1970), Women in Revolt (1971), L'Amour (1972), and Heat (1972) featured many of these performers and further established the superstars as recognizable figures within the youth culture. Dallesandero in particular became a sex symbol of gay subculture. The New York Times proclaimed Forth the "New Now Face" in 1970.
In the 1970s, the Factory had increasingly become a business enterprise, with Warhol also publishing Interview magazine and seeking to establish himself in Hollywood. The Factory environment of this period has been compared to the Hollywood studio system at its height in the 1930s and 1940s. Former Interview editor Bob Colacello likened Warhol to film producer Louis B. Mayer, co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios.
In 1971, Warhol staged his play Pork in New York and London. The productions featured performers including Tony Zanetta, Wayne County, Geri Miller, Cyrinda Foxe, and Cherry Vanilla, who became known as Warhol superstars.
The prominence of the Warhol superstars declined as Warhol increasingly returned his attention to painting. Warhol's last film Bad (1977) was directed by his boyfriend Jed Johnson and featuring several performers associated with his earlier films.
