Remembering Holly Woodlawn, Andy Warhol muse and trans trailblazer
- Text by Miss Rosen
- Photography by Various (see captions)
Love You Madly — A new book explores the actress’s rollercoaster life and story, who helped inspire Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’.
Back in 1972, Lou Reed immortalised Andy Warhol’s bevy of superstars in one of his biggest hits, ‘Walk on the Wild Side’. Naturally, the grandest dame of them all opened the song: Holly Woodlawn (1946–2015), star of stage and screen, and a trailblazer for transgender representation in popular culture. Born in Puerto Rico’s Juana Díaz, Holly grew up in Miami Beach, taking her name from the anti-heroine of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and running away to New York at the tender age of 15 along with a group of her fellow trans friends.
Like Miss Golightly, Holly turned to sex work to stay alive. Then she met Andy Warhol, and her world was turned upside down. In 1969, she christened herself Holly Woodlawn and starred opposite Joe Dallesandro in Trash. What started as a bit part led to underground stardom, though not enough to truly cement herself in the film industry. Once again, she was left to fend for herself, and fell into relative obscurity until she crossed paths in Los Angeles with young screenwriter Jeff Copeland in 1988.
In Holly, Copeland saw a modern-day Norma Desmond come to life, a once luminous star whose life story belonged on the big screen. He dreamed of a film so grand, he knew what had to be done: he would write the book and sell the screen rights. In 1991, A Low Life in High Heels: The Holly Woodlawn Story was published to critical and commercial acclaim, with the paperback listing for over $1,850 today; but things didn’t work out quite like Copeland dreamed.
With the publication of Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn: A Walk On The Wild Side With Andy Warhol's Most Fabulous Superstar (Feral House), Copeland looks back at their adventures with a loving glint, much like Patrick Dennis writing Auntie Mame, with Woodlawn’s voice leaping off the page. Returning to his massive archive of audio recordings, videotapes, personal ephemera, and reams of notes, he pulls back the curtain for an unvarnished look at Woodlawn’s return to the public eye.
“I wanted to be a screenwriter; I was all about character and dialogue, so creating a voice for Holly Woodlawn was something I really wanted to do,” Copeland says. “I have such vivid memories, things I didn’t write in the book like changing the brakes on Holly’s car. God knows how I even did that.”
But Copeland persisted, and he paved the path that would make A Lowlife in High Heels an LGBTQ+ literary classic, defying all the naysayers he had met along the way. Woodlawn resisted labels and spoke her mind, but what played as catnip in the factory was an anathema to Hollywood. By asserting her voice at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Copeland enshrined Woodlawn as equal parts elder, survivor, and bon vivant.
Acting as her de facto manager and publicist, Copeland was determined to make his longtime dream of the Holly Woodlawn biopic come true. But it was too late; their friendship came to an end after her issues with alcohol abuse and it would never see the screen. But with Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn, the come together for one last madcap adventure on the page.
Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn: A Walk On The Wild Side With Andy Warhol's Most Fabulous Superstar by Jeff Copeland is published by Feral House.
Miss Rosen is a freelance arts and photography writer, follow her on X.
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