Edie Sedgwick: A biography
by Emma Green
Edie Minturn Sedgwick was born on 20th April 1943 to a wealthy family of impressive heritage. Edie was raised on a 3000-acre ranch which was bought with money inherited by her mother. Family fortunes increased even further in the 1950s when oil was discovered on the ranch. Edie and her 7 brothers and sisters were privately educated.
Despite their prosperous lifestyle, Edie's upbringing was plagued with trauma. Mental illness run through the family with her father suffering bipolar disorder and mental breakdowns, and her mother being institutionalised. Her brother Bobby killed himself on the same day Edie was in a near-fatal car accident herself, and her other elder brother Minty committed suicide after
his father's disgrace to him coming out as a homosexual. Bobby, Minty and Edie all were sent to the same mental institute, "Silver Hill" by their father for varous reasons. Edie was sent there after catching her father having sex with another woman in their house, and when she went to tell her mother, he accused Edie of being "insane" and had her sectioned. It is also rumoured that Edie was sexually molested by her father too, from a young age. She also suffered from bulimia, and at her most extreme, her weight whittled down to just 90 pounds (6 stone 6 pounds), so she was yet again institutionalised.
In the early 1960s, Edie moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, while studing at Radcliffe College. Edie studied sculpture and spent her time partying and driving her Mercedes. At one of her therapy sessions, she met Chuck Wein, who was a bohemian that styled himself as an Edwardian dandy. After she turned 21, she went to live in New York, in her grandmother's 14 room apartment, and spent her nights at the top clubs and discotheques. Chuck joined her and was determined to turn Edie into a beautiful, social butterfly. He strived to be Edie's promoter as he saw a lot of potential in her, and he continously plotted at moving Edie up into high society. He knew she had a special quality, but because she was infamously disorganised and couldn't pull herself together, Chuck took over her entire life.
In January 1965, she was introduced to Andy Warhol. Chuck worked and lived at Warhol's "Factory" and so began bringing Edie on a regular basis. Edie started in appearing in Warhol's avant-garde films such as "Vinyl" as a last-minute replacement . Warhol took a shine to the socialite and was attracted to Edie because of her wealth, her family's fame, her stunning looks and her sparkling personality. He crowned Edie as the "Queen of the Factory" and she became an underground superstar. Her on-screen persona was compared to that of Marilyn Monroe and her association with Warhol built both of their reputations. With glamourous Edie in tow, Warhol would visit parties and gallery openings, and the duo
generated reams of free publicity. Before Edie, Andy was deemed an outsider but with her, he was wooed and complimented by the rich and wealthy, and became very 
much a part of the art establishment.
Her newfound celebrity, howver, meant Edie started to get offers to leave Warhol and go into mainstream cinema. She was also being influenced by the pull of several musician lovers she was seeing at the time, including a rumoured Bob Dylan. Her and Warhol's relationship started to become strained in 1966 with her disatisfaction of her decreasing role in Andy's life. They also argued about money, because he only occasionally paid her for her work in his films, and she would reguarly pick up tabs for Warhol and other Factory members. Edie then stopped coming to the Factory all together and left Andy's crowd.
She decided to pursue her modelling again and she appeared on the cover of American "Vogue". But her career never took off, because the fashion industry were put off by people with drug problems, and Edie was badly addicted. She then turned back to her acting but her auditions were never "good enough". By the end of 1966, her celebrity had nearly diminished and she had spent nearly $80,000 on drugs, in 6 months. A typical breakfast for her was a saucer of speed. To support her habit, she stole antiques and art from her grandmother's apartment, and sold them for money. She also got into dealing, but got busted. In October 1966, Edie's apartment set on fire and she suffered terrible burns on her back, arms and legs.
She broke off her connections with the Bob Dylan music scene too, when she discovered Dylan had gone behind her back and married another woman. Her affair with another musician, Bob Neuwrith also ended because he could not deal with her erratic behaviour and drug dependancy.
For the last 4 years of her life, she had several on-off affairs with other drug addicts, and was yet again in and out of mental asylums and hospitals. She landed her most defining role in "Ciao Manhatten" where she plays a girl very similar to herself who was caught up in the fame and whirlwind of New York. This film was not finished until years later. The shoot of the film was anarchic, with many of the back-stage crew and actors highly addicted on cocaine and needing regular doses. By late 1968, Edie was an emotional and physical wreck; she could hardly walk or talk due to poor blood circulation in her brain.
In 1969, she met her future husband in a psychiatric ward and she married him on July 4th 1971. She managed to stay clean from the July to the October of that year, untill her doctor prescribed her pills to treat an injury and to help her sleep. On the night of November 15th 1971, Edie attended a fashion show, then a party afterwards where she was verbally abused by a guest who called her "heroin addict". She left the party early, and when her husband came to pick her up, she was heavily drunk. Back at her apartment, Edie took her meditation and went to sleep. When her husband woke the next morning, he found Edie lying next to him, dead. Her death was ruled as an Accident/Suicide.
by Emma Green
Edie Minturn Sedgwick was born on 20th April 1943 to a wealthy family of impressive heritage. Edie was raised on a 3000-acre ranch which was bought with money inherited by her mother. Family fortunes increased even further in the 1950s when oil was discovered on the ranch. Edie and her 7 brothers and sisters were privately educated.
Despite their prosperous lifestyle, Edie's upbringing was plagued with trauma. Mental illness run through the family with her father suffering bipolar disorder and mental breakdowns, and her mother being institutionalised. Her brother Bobby killed himself on the same day Edie was in a near-fatal car accident herself, and her other elder brother Minty committed suicide after
his father's disgrace to him coming out as a homosexual. Bobby, Minty and Edie all were sent to the same mental institute, "Silver Hill" by their father for varous reasons. Edie was sent there after catching her father having sex with another woman in their house, and when she went to tell her mother, he accused Edie of being "insane" and had her sectioned. It is also rumoured that Edie was sexually molested by her father too, from a young age. She also suffered from bulimia, and at her most extreme, her weight whittled down to just 90 pounds (6 stone 6 pounds), so she was yet again institutionalised.In the early 1960s, Edie moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, while studing at Radcliffe College. Edie studied sculpture and spent her time partying and driving her Mercedes. At one of her therapy sessions, she met Chuck Wein, who was a bohemian that styled himself as an Edwardian dandy. After she turned 21, she went to live in New York, in her grandmother's 14 room apartment, and spent her nights at the top clubs and discotheques. Chuck joined her and was determined to turn Edie into a beautiful, social butterfly. He strived to be Edie's promoter as he saw a lot of potential in her, and he continously plotted at moving Edie up into high society. He knew she had a special quality, but because she was infamously disorganised and couldn't pull herself together, Chuck took over her entire life.
In January 1965, she was introduced to Andy Warhol. Chuck worked and lived at Warhol's "Factory" and so began bringing Edie on a regular basis. Edie started in appearing in Warhol's avant-garde films such as "Vinyl" as a last-minute replacement . Warhol took a shine to the socialite and was attracted to Edie because of her wealth, her family's fame, her stunning looks and her sparkling personality. He crowned Edie as the "Queen of the Factory" and she became an underground superstar. Her on-screen persona was compared to that of Marilyn Monroe and her association with Warhol built both of their reputations. With glamourous Edie in tow, Warhol would visit parties and gallery openings, and the duo
generated reams of free publicity. Before Edie, Andy was deemed an outsider but with her, he was wooed and complimented by the rich and wealthy, and became very 
much a part of the art establishment. Her newfound celebrity, howver, meant Edie started to get offers to leave Warhol and go into mainstream cinema. She was also being influenced by the pull of several musician lovers she was seeing at the time, including a rumoured Bob Dylan. Her and Warhol's relationship started to become strained in 1966 with her disatisfaction of her decreasing role in Andy's life. They also argued about money, because he only occasionally paid her for her work in his films, and she would reguarly pick up tabs for Warhol and other Factory members. Edie then stopped coming to the Factory all together and left Andy's crowd.
She decided to pursue her modelling again and she appeared on the cover of American "Vogue". But her career never took off, because the fashion industry were put off by people with drug problems, and Edie was badly addicted. She then turned back to her acting but her auditions were never "good enough". By the end of 1966, her celebrity had nearly diminished and she had spent nearly $80,000 on drugs, in 6 months. A typical breakfast for her was a saucer of speed. To support her habit, she stole antiques and art from her grandmother's apartment, and sold them for money. She also got into dealing, but got busted. In October 1966, Edie's apartment set on fire and she suffered terrible burns on her back, arms and legs.
She broke off her connections with the Bob Dylan music scene too, when she discovered Dylan had gone behind her back and married another woman. Her affair with another musician, Bob Neuwrith also ended because he could not deal with her erratic behaviour and drug dependancy.
For the last 4 years of her life, she had several on-off affairs with other drug addicts, and was yet again in and out of mental asylums and hospitals. She landed her most defining role in "Ciao Manhatten" where she plays a girl very similar to herself who was caught up in the fame and whirlwind of New York. This film was not finished until years later. The shoot of the film was anarchic, with many of the back-stage crew and actors highly addicted on cocaine and needing regular doses. By late 1968, Edie was an emotional and physical wreck; she could hardly walk or talk due to poor blood circulation in her brain.
In 1969, she met her future husband in a psychiatric ward and she married him on July 4th 1971. She managed to stay clean from the July to the October of that year, untill her doctor prescribed her pills to treat an injury and to help her sleep. On the night of November 15th 1971, Edie attended a fashion show, then a party afterwards where she was verbally abused by a guest who called her "heroin addict". She left the party early, and when her husband came to pick her up, she was heavily drunk. Back at her apartment, Edie took her meditation and went to sleep. When her husband woke the next morning, he found Edie lying next to him, dead. Her death was ruled as an Accident/Suicide.
Edie was only 28 years old.
Who was the woman who verbally assaulted Edie at the American Family premiere party?
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