Works by
Holly Woodlawn
[Aka Haroldo Santiago Franceschi Rodriguez Danhakl]
(Performer, Lounge Singer, Superstar, Writer)
[October 26, 1946 - ]

Biography/Memoirs

• A Low Life in High Heels: The Holly Woodlawn Story (1991) by Holly Woodlawn and Jeff Copeland

Movies

• Superstar in a Housedress (2004)
  Available at Holly Woodlawn's website click here.
  In hardback, the biography of Jackie Curtis PLUS the DVD with the complete uncut version of the film and extras!

• Milwaukee, Minnesota (2003)
  Having lived his entire life under the watchful eye of his overbearing mother, Albert must fend for himself after an unidentified car suddenly kills her. Free for the first time, Albert quickly responds to the bait dangling in front of him by two con artists, pitting one against the other in a race for his trust and fortune. Using the skills that make him a gifted fisherman, Albert turns the tables on his seemingly doomed fate, revealing nothing is quite what it seems in this Midwestern tale of love and deceit. Stars Troy Garity, Alison Folland, Randy Quaid, Bruce Dern, Hank Harris.

• Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998)
  Billy is a struggling gay photographer who is tired of being the other man. When billy falls in love with gabriel a waiter and aspiring musician who is apparently straight he tries to win gabriels affections by convincing him to model for his latest project a series of remakes of famous hollywood screen kisses. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 02/05/2002 Starring: Sean P. Hayes Richard Ganoung Run time: 92 minutes Rating: R Director: Tommy Ohaver

• Holly Woodlawn in Broken Goddess (1993)
  Available at Holly Woodlawn's website click here.
  Broken Goddess is a gorgeous black-and-white salute to both silent films and the Woodlawn image - the glamourous star fighting to transcend her unreal image. The story is told in title cards adapted from the moody love songs of Laura Nyro against a soundtrack of Debussy's music. The project was originally conceived around Bette Midler to play silently behind her as she sang "Superstar" at the Continental Baths, but Bette was too busy to film. Holly Woodlawn, who was riding high on the smashing success of Warhol's Trash [directed by Paul Morrissey] seemed the perfect inspiration for the piece to filmmaker Dallas. It was shot in the very early dawn light, surreptitiously, because filming permits were expensive. It took twelve mornings (from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m.) that spanned two months of the summer of 1973 at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park in New York City. Void of the crowds, the fountain was the perfect silent movie set. The early morning light makes Holly Woodlawn appear to be made of the same pale marble as the fountain. Professional makeup artist Vincent Nasso created a look for Holly he called Western Kabuki; a face like a mask that encompassed Greek tragedy, pop art, and silent cinema. The result is stunning. The film opened to wide acclaim at New York's Playboy Theatre on Holly's birthday, October 26, 1973 and had a six-week run paired with Alla Nazimova's 1923 silent film production of Oscar Wilde's Salomé. Broken Goddess remains one of the great underground New York films of its period.

• Night Owl (1993) (a.k.a. "Nite Owl)
  Jeffrey Arsenault, director with John Leguizamo, Lisa Napoli, David Roya, Ali Thomas, James Raftery

• Caberet in the Sky (1974)
  Available at Holly Woodlawn's website click here.
  Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis in the legendary opening night performance May 31, 1974.

• Women In Revolt (1972)
  Take a walk on the wild side with three girls from different walks of life -- and they've all got man problems! High-society dame Candy, frigid middle-class matron Jackie, and gutter nymphomaniac Holly are inspired by the fashionable Women's Lib movement to get organized as PIG (Politically Involved Girls) and give up men. However, their attempts to go lesbian and build new careers only lead to exploitation and abandonment in this outrageous, gender-bending cult comedy from director Paul Morrissey.

• Trash (1970) (a.k.a "Andy Warhol's Trash")
  Trash, which follows Flesh in the Paul Morrissey-Andy Warhol-Joe Dallesandro trilogy, is every bit as off-putting as its predecessor. Trash, however, is a step up from Flesh in terms of its technical side; while still far from "professional," its camerawork and sound are more controlled and purposeful. It also gives the impression of featuring a more coherent plot, but in truth it is still a series of vignettes loosely tied to a motivating factor. However, there is considerably more action in Trash. There is also a magnificent chemistry between Dallesandro and Holly Woodlawn, who gives a love-it-or-hate-it performance that is full of bizarre life. Dallesandro is once again a low-key performer, at times irritating, but the guilelessness of his performance is perfect in the context of the film. The general level of acting is also appreciably higher than in Flesh, with memorable turns from Michael Sklar and Andrea Feldman. Many will be turned off by the film, but those cultists who embrace it do so honestly -- there's a raw fascination to the film, a method to Morrissey's madness. He's not interested in creating a "good" film; he's interested in creating a personal film that bears an indelible stamp, and in that he succeeds brilliantly.

Music

• Lou Reed's song, Walk on the Wild Side (1974) mentions Holly Woodlawn (Holly came in from Miami, FLA; hitchhiked her way across the USA; plucked her eyebrows along the way; shaved her legs, then he was a she ... Hey babe ... take a walk on the wild side."

See also:

• Andy Warhol Close Up (1999) by Bob Colacello
  Presents an insider's look at the man and phenomenon that was Warhol.

• Man Enough to be a Woman: The Autobiography of Jayne County(1996) by Jayne County
  Wayne/Jayne County's weird fierce autobiography.