Brigid Berlin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brigid Berlin aka Brigid Polk (born September 6, 1939 in New York City ; † July 17, 2020 there ) was an American artist , actress and an Andy Warhol superstar.

Life

Brigid grew up with two sisters in an established New York family. Her mother Muriel (Johnson) "Honey" Berlin was active in Manhattan's upper class , her father Richard E. Berlin was chairman of the Hearst newspaper empire for 32 years . She was already familiar with prominent visitors as a child, but soon began to refuse her parents. Their marriage in 1960 failed.

Brigid met Andy Warhol in 1964 and became part of the Warhol universe. Her nickname "Polk" referred to the habit of the always overweight Brigid to put himself and others in syringes with drug cocktails made of amphetamines and vitamin B (in English "to poke"), which were freely available as an appetite suppressant . She was also Warhol's inspiration for his play Pork , in which he implemented the countless telephone calls between Brigid and her mother.

Brigid Berlin was one of the few “superstars” who belonged to the close circle of friends of the eccentric artist until Warhol's death. From 1975 she became his permanent employee in the factory; Brigid was dubbed as the "Duchess", German "Duchess", in Warhol's crew. The name came from her role in the "Mole People", a group of men and women around the Factory who were supplied with drugs by her. She worked as Warhol's secretary and transcribed his countless interviews. She appeared in some of Andy Warhol's early films, such as The Chelsea Girls , in which she gives a minute-long monologue while calmly putting a syringe on herself.

One obsession was continuous photography and tape recordings of more or less important everyday situations. She was also responsible for the live recording of The Velvet Underground album Live at Max's Kansas City , which she recorded in its entirety, including audience reactions, on a cheap tape recorder. This resulted in one of the first complete bootlegs , black pressings, of the record industry.

From 1975 until Warhol's death in 1987, she was co-editorially responsible for his Interview magazine . In addition, she caused a sensation with her off-Broadway “One Woman” performances and her so-called “ tit paintings ” . Brigid Berlin gave the funeral speech for Andy Warhol in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York . She died in a Manhattan hospital in July 2020 at the age of 80 after health problems largely confined her to bed for years.

Filmography

Others:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Leland: Brigid Berlin, Socialite Who Joined Warhol's World, Dies at 80. In: The New York Times , July 18, 2020 (English). Retrieved July 18, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Berlin, Brigid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Polk, Brigid
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist
DATE OF BIRTH September 6, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH 17th July 2020
Place of death New York City