Superstar in a Housedress: The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis (25 page)

Paul Serrato – Musician / Composer

Paul Serrato met Jackie Curtis in 1967. He composed music for Curtis’s
Lucky Wonderful
(1968) and
Vain Victory
(1970). One song from
Vain Victory
“White Shoulders, Black and Blue” became a cult classic and was Jackie’s favorite standard. Paul acted as musical director for Jackie’s 1974 performance in
Cabaret in the Sky
. Serrato’s recent work includes the highly reviewed jazz CD
More Than Red
.

Eddie Snyder – Friend and Companion

Eddie Snyder was one of Jackie’s closest friends and the last person to live with Curtis. He works for the V.A. and lives in Manhattan.

Ellen Stewart – Founder, La Mama (1919–2011)

Ellen Stewart was Founder and Director of the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, which began in October 1961. Its resident theatre troupes have performed throughout the world. Jackie Curtis premiered many of his plays at La Mama, including
Heaven Grand in Amber Orbit
,
Vain Victory
and his final work,
Champagne
(1985).

Lily Tomlin – Tony & Mark Twain Award-Winning Comedienne

Hailed as “New Queen of Comedy” in 1977 on the cover of Time Magazine, Lily Tomlin is the 2003 winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. One of America’s foremost comedic entertainers, Tomlin has enjoyed an extraordinary career spanning all facets of the entertainment industry including feature films, television and theatre. She made her film debut as Linnea, a gospel singer and mother of two 2 deaf children in Robert Altman’s
Nashville
and was nominated for an Academy Award and voted Best Supporting Actress by both the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics. Lily was a great friend and admirer of Jackie Curtis, and is both the narrator and an interviewee for
Superstar in a Housedress
.

John Vaccaro – Founder, Play-House of the Ridiculous

John Vaccaro founded the groundbreaking avante garde theater company “Play-House of the Ridiculous” in 1965. Jackie Curtis performed in many works directed by Vaccaro including
Cockstrong
and
The Life of Lady Godiva
. Vaccaro’s experimental theater troupe performed several of Jackie Curtis’s plays including
Heaven Grand in Amber Orbit
which played at La Mama in 1970 and toured internationally for two years.

Steven Watson – Author

Author Steven Watson’s newest work is
Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties
(to be published in 2003) which chronicles the lives of Warhol Superstars (including Jackie Curtis) and hangers-on. He first met Jackie and began to interview him in the late 1960s. Watson’s other works include
Harlem Renaissance
(1996) and
The Birth of the Beat Generation
(1998) which explores the life and times of Beat writers William Burroughs, Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, and others.

Holly Woodlawn – Superstar

Actress Holly Woodlawn achieved instant stardom for her performance as a drug addict in
Trash
(1970) presented by Andy Warhol and directed by Paul Morrissey. Holly lived with Jackie Curtis and appeared in the film
Women in Revolt
(1972) and the revue
Cabaret in the Sky
(1974). She has appeared in more than twenty films and television programs. Holly’s autobiography,
A Lowlife in High Heels
, was published in 1998. It was published in Italy in 2004.

About the Author

Craig B. Highberger is a writer and filmmaker who has spent more than thirty years working in broadcast and independent television and film production. He is the director of the documentary
Superstar in a Housedress
, a profile of Jackie Curtis, the avant-garde performance artist and frequent collaborator of Andy Warhol. Highberger is also the author of a biography of Curtis of the same name, which was based on the film. Highberger met Curtis in the fall of 1972 when he was a freshman at New York Uuniversity’s film school. The two became close friends, and Highberger spent thirteen years documenting Curtis’s work on film. He also directed
Jack Mitchell: My Life Is Black and White
, a profile of the photographer known for his portraits of artists and entertainers. Highberger is the executive director of the Jack Mitchell Archives and currently lives in Alabama.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Copyright © 2015 by Craig B. Highberger

Cover design by Mauricio Díaz

Cover photographs of Jackie Curtis © 2015 Jack Mitchell

978-1-5040-2508-9

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

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