Edie Sedgwick

Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post (April 20, 1943 – November 16, 1971) was an American actress, model, and socialite. Best known as a Warhol superstar, Vogue named her a "Youthquaker" in 1965, recognizing her influence on youth culture and style. Her maternal grandfather Henry Wheeler de Forest was the president and chairman of the board of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Her maternal great-grandfather, Reverend Endicott Peabody, founded the Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts. She was named after her father's aunt, Edith Minturn Stokes. She was of English and French Huguenot ancestry.

Despite the family's wealth and social prominence, Sedgwick's childhood was marked by isolation and strict parental control. Raised primarily on her father's California ranches, she and her siblings were homeschooled, cared for by nannies, and sheltered from the outside world. Her sister Alice "Saucie" Sedgwick later recalled, "We really lived in two worlds—indoors and outdoors. Outdoors, that vast physical world of the ranch, was just pure freedom and elation, especially if you were out riding alone. Indoors meant inside the main house with the family. That was the world of form—very strict rules of conduct, all repressive, all belonging to that other world in the East that my parents were from." The family's fortunes increased in the early 1950s after oil was discovered on Rancho Corral de Quati, generating substantial income and enabling the purchase of the larger nearby Rancho La Laguna in 1952.

Several of Sedgwick's siblings had conflicted relationships with their father, whom they called "Fuzzy" because he "didn't want to be called Daddy." As an adult, Sedgwick told friends that he had attempted to molest her several times, beginning when she was aged 7. According to her sister Alice, she was soon withdrawn from the school because of anorexia and she returned to an abusive home life. Sedgwick told her friend Gillian Walker that "her father would come after her and lock her up and force her to stay in bed—a helpless, isolated prisoner, a drugged princess." Her brother, Jonathan Sedgwick, recalled that after she discovered their father having sex with a mistress, he slapped her and dismissed her account as delusional, then had her sedated by a doctor. "Mummy wouldn't believe her—she just had a blockage against things like that. Nobody'd believe her, so she was really a prisoner," he said.

In 1958, Sedgwick's parents enrolled her at St. Timothy's School in Maryland. She was eventually taken out of the school due to her continuing eating disorder. In the autumn of 1962, at her father's insistence, Sedgwick was committed to the private Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut. Since the regime was very lax, she easily manipulated her situation and her weight kept dropping. She was later sent to Bloomingdale, the Westchester Division of New York Hospital, where her anorexia improved. After her release from Bloomingdale, she had an affair with a Harvard student and underwent an abortion.

Cambridge period and move to New York (1963–1965) Sedgwick moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she had family, and made her debut as a debutante in June 1963. In the autumn, she began taking private sculpting lessons from her cousin, artist Lily Saarinen. During this period, she partied with members of an elite bohemian fringe of the Cambridge social scene and was drawn to the local gay community. Sedgwick became a regular at the Casablanca bar, where she met Harvard graduate Chuck Wein, who became her companion.

On her twenty-first birthday in April 1964, Sedgwick received an $80,000 ($861,811 in 2026) trust fund from her maternal grandmother. Soon after, Sedgwick and Wein left Cambridge for New York City, where she intended to pursue modeling. That summer, she moved in with her grandmother, who lived at East 71st Street and Park Avenue. She quickly immersed herself in the city's social scene and developed a reputation for extravagant spending on clothes and the Bermuda Limousine Service.

Her friend Tom Goodwin recalled that she embraced New York's nightlife, frequenting the discotheque Ondine and expensive restaurants such as L'Avventura, often treating friends to lavish meals and hiring Goodwin as her chauffeur for $100 a week. Danny Fields similarly remembered her treating large groups of acquaintances to dinner while ignoring mounting bills. According to Goodwin, Sedgwick exhausted her trust fund in about six months and reacted with disbelief when informed that the money was gone, insisting that, given her family's wealth, she should have unlimited access to funds. Sedgwick explained the concept on The Merv Griffin Show, reflecting its novelty to mainstream audiences at the time.

Sedgwick starred in a series of films originally conceived as a 24-hour portrait of her life, titled The Poor Little Rich Girl Saga. Warhol financed these films with money he made from his paintings. Most were screened only at small cinemas or private viewings held at the Factory, and they generated little profit. She popularized the miniskirt by wearing altered children's skirts and cropped her naturally brown hair short and dyed it blonde. Discussing her style in a 1965 interview with Women's Wear Daily, Sedgwick said: "I wear dance shirts and T shirts and tights because I'm spoiled. I always had fitted clothes, now that I've broken with my parents and they've cut off my money, I'd rather wear costumes than cheap clothes. I don't like Mod fashion … a bunch of vacant people dragging around in someone else's idea of what they should like. I don't keep up with fashion, I invent my own. I'd rather be original."

In its August 1, 1965 issue, Vogue magazine anointed Sedgwick a "Youthquaker," featuring a photograph by Enzo Sellerio that depicted her balancing atop a leather rhinoceros. Sedgwick's mother disapproved of her modeling career and hoped she would return to sculpting, which she had pursued before becoming a model. She also dismissed reports of Sedgwick's lavish fur collection as "utter nonsense," despite a New York Times account claiming she owned multiple mink coats and exotic furs.

Sedgwick's influence on fashion continued to grow in 1966, when she appeared in the March 15, 1966 edition of Vogue, modeling undergarments, and the next month, Women's Wear Daily named her one of New York's "fashion revolutionaries."

Final appearances and departure from the Factory By 1966, Sedgwick had become disillusioned with her role at the Factory. She was reportedly frustrated by the lack of payment for her film work and resented the growing attention devoted to the Velvet Underground and Nico, newly managed by Warhol. Sedgwick had informed him that she signed a contract with Albert Grossman, who advised her to distance herself from Warhol due to bad publicity. According to Warhol, "Her Society lady attitude toward pills had changed to an addict attitude. Some of her good friends tried to help her, but she wouldn't listen to them. She said she wanted a 'career' and that she'd get one since Grossman was managing her. But how can you have a career when you don't have the discipline to work at anything?" Sedgwick originally had a small role in Chelsea Girls, but she asked Warhol to remove her segment from the film. In May 1966, Warhol told the Los Angeles Times that "Edie was the best, the greatest. She never understood what I was doing to her. I don't know what's going to happen to her now."

In October 1966, Sedgwick survived a fire in her apartment after she reportedly overdosed and dropped a lit cigarette. In a 1985 interview with Spin, he stated:"I never had that much to do with Edie Sedgwick. I've seen where I have had, and read that I have had, but I don't remember Edie that well. I remember she was around, but I know other people who, as far as I know, might have been involved with Edie. ... I did know her, but I don't recall any type of relationship. If I did have one, I think I'd remember." As a result of the accident, doctors consigned her to a mental hospital, where she was treated for drug addiction. He said, "Staff found she was pregnant but, fearing the baby had been damaged by her drug use and anorexia, forced her to have the abortion."

Later career and personal struggles (1966–1971)

Mental health decline and career attempts In 1966, Sedgwick became involved with folk singer Bob Neuwirth, who was Dylan's road manager. Neuwirth was the first filmmaker to work with Sedgwick after her break with Warhol. On Easter Sunday, he filmed a satirical short featuring Sedgwick parading up Fifth Avenue in a leopard-skin coat while leading her roller-skate-mounted rhinoceros-shaped footstool. The police jokingly gave the four-wheeled rhinoceros a parking ticket after she tied it to a fire hydrant. Throughout the year, Sedgwick became increasingly dependent on barbiturates. When she returned to California for the Christmas holidays, her parents put her in a psychiatric ward. Mailer said, "She was very good in a sort of tortured and wholly sensitive way … She used so much of herself with every line that we knew she'd be immolated after three performances."

As British model Twiggy rose to international fame for her slim figure, short haircut, and dramatic eye makeup, Sedgwick attended a party in her honor in New York in March 1967. Women's Wear Daily quoted Sedgwick as saying, "Twiggy copied me two years ago," adding that she was "America's own original Paper Girl." Filming began in April 1967 with only a loosely developed script, and the project gradually evolved into a semi-autobiographical portrait of Sedgwick's life. While filming Ciao! Manhattan, Sedgwick was taking a lot of speed, and she survived a second fire after a cigarette ignited her mattress in her room at the Hotel Chelsea, though her cat was killed in the blaze. Around this time, she returned to the Factory to make one final film with Ondine. Ondine later recalled, "I'd never seen Warhol walk away from his camera in a fit of just absolute, abject disgust but during that filming, a little movie of his called Edie and Ondine he just said, 'Stop, I won't film anymore.'" Instead, his death appeared to deepen her emotional struggles, and she continued to move in and out of hospitals in the following years.

According to Sedgwick, after running away from Gracie Square Hospital, she entered a destructive period of heavy drug use that culminated in an overdose of Placidyl and a coma. Authorities treated the incident as a suicide attempt and committed her to the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital before transferring her to Manhattan State Hospital on Wards Island. Although she and Warhol had become estranged, Sedgwick sent him a get-well card while he was recovering from a near-fatal shooting in June 1968. Later that year, her mother secured her release and brought her back to California. Shortly after her return, she was arrested on narcotics charges and sentenced to five years' probation. In August 1969, Sedgwick was admitted to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, where she met fellow patient Michael Post, whom she later married.

While hospitalized in 1970, Sedgwick was contacted by Weisman about completing Ciao! Manhattan. With the approval of her psychiatrist, Dr. Mercer, she moved into an apartment near the hospital and resumed filming under the supervision of nurses, film producer John Palmer and his wife, Janet. During production, Sedgwick had her breasts enlarged through silicone injections, a change that the filmmakers addressed in the film's dialogue without explicitly acknowledging the procedure. Production progressed slowly but was eventually completed in early 1971 and released the following year.

Following the wedding, Sedgwick hoped to have a baby and underwent medical testing, but learned that she wasn't pregnant. She temporarily stopped drinking and using pills, and the couple spent much of August 1971 together in Santa Barbara, frequenting the beach and local nightclubs. In October, Sedgwick developed a severe ear infection and suffered an allergic reaction to the antibiotics prescribed to treat it, resulting in serum sickness and chronic pain; Post said this led to the return of her dependence on prescription drugs. As her health deteriorated, she spent increasing amounts of time bedridden while Post cared for her.

Death On the night of November 15, 1971, Sedgwick attended a fashion show at the Santa Barbara Museum that was filmed for the television series An American Family. After the show, she went to a party where she drank alcohol and then called her husband to pick her up. On the way home, Sedgwick told him she had met a man from New York and was uncertain about the future of their marriage. "I guess I knew she was going to leave me one day. I honestly felt that she was in love with me, but that I was beneath her," Post said. Once they got home, Post gave her medication, and she quickly fell asleep. Her breathing was "bad – it sounded like there was a big hole in her lungs," but he attributed it to her heavy smoking habit and went to sleep.

When Post awoke the following morning at 7:30 am, he found her unconscious in bed. Sedgwick was pronounced dead at 9:20 am on November 16, 1971; she was 28. Post arranged a small funeral and chose to have her buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Ballard, California. Her mother, Alice Sedgwick, was later buried next to her after she died in 1988.

In pop culture Books In 1982, Edie Sedgwick: An American Biography written by Jean Stein was published by Alfred A Knopf.

Film and theater Sedgwick's life has been the subject of numerous projects. In the 1980s, Warren Beatty acquired the rights to her life story and explored a film adaptation starring Molly Ringwald, but the project was never realized. Sedgwick has since appeared as a character or inspiration in several works. Jennifer Rubin portrayed her in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991), while Amanda Peet's character in Igby Goes Down (2002) is described as an Edie Sedgwick-like. The 2004 Off-Broadway play Andy & Edie produced by Peter Braunstein dramatized her relationship with Warhol.

In George Hickenlooper's film Factory Girl (2006), a fictionalized account of her life, Sedgwick was played by Sienna Miller alongside Guy Pearce as Warhol. Michael Post, Sedgwick's widower, appears as a taxi driver in one of the last scenes of the film. Michelle Williams portrayed a Sedgwick-inspired character in I'm Not There (2007).

Later tributes include the short film Edie: Girl on Fire (2010) by Melissa Painter and David Weisman, and the animated short Too Late (2021) by Polish artist Kinga Syrek, released to mark the 50th anniversary of her death.

Music Sedgwick has been widely cited as an influence and subject in popular music across multiple decades. Critics have long speculated that Bob Dylan drew inspiration from Sedgwick in several songs, most notably his 1965 single "Like a Rolling Stone," as well as "Just Like a Woman," and "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" from his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Although Dylan never publicly confirmed these associations, the speculation has persisted due to Sedgwick's proximity to Dylan during this period and the thematic parallels noted by commentators. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Sedgwick's image and legacy continued to resonate in alternative and rock music. She appears on the cover of Dramarama's 1985 debut album Cinéma Vérité, while the band's video for "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)" incorporates footage from Ciao! Manhattan. That same year, The Dream Academy released the single "The Love Parade" with the B-side "Girl in a Million (For Edie Sedgwick)." Sedgwick was referenced or memorialized in songs by Primal Scream ("Velocity Girl," 1986), Edie Brickell & New Bohemians ("Little Miss S.," 1988), James Ray and The Performance ("Edie Sedgwick," 1989), The Cult ("Edie (Ciao Baby)," 1989), and Deadbolt's "Edie" (1992).

Admiration for Sedgwick extended into the 21st century with additional tributes, including Tal Cohen-Shalev's "Factory Girl (Song for Edie Sedgwick)" (2009). Alizée's album Une enfant du siècle (2010) was inspired by her life, and Dean & Britta's 13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests (2010) includes a song written to accompany Warhol's screen test of Sedgwick. The Pretty Reckless' "Factory Girl" (2010) is also based on her, with lead singer Taylor Momsen citing Sedgwick's style and boundary-pushing persona as an inspiration. Visual references to Sedgwick appear in Lady Gaga's music videos for "Applause" and "Marry the Night," while G-Eazy's 2014 song "Downtown Love" draws on her life story. Beach House cited Sedgwick's iconography as an influence on their 2018 album 7, particularly the track "Girl of the Year."

Filmography +Film Year Title Role Notes 1965 Horse Non-speaking role; first appearance in a Warhol film 1965 Vinyl Non-speaking role 1965 Beauty No. 2 1965 Space 1965 Restaurant Short 1965 Prison alternative title: Girls in Prison 1965 Kitchen 1965 Afternoon 1965 Outer and Inner Space Short 1965 Bitch 1965 Screen Test No. 1 Herself 1965 Screen Test No. 2 Herself 1965 Poor Little Rich Girl Poor Little Rich Girl Credited as Mazda Isphahan 1965 Factory Diaries 1966 Lupe Lupe Vélez 1966 Face 1966 The Andy Warhol Story 1967 Four Stars**** alternative title: The Four Star Movie; uses footage of Sedgwick from previous Warhol films 1969 Walden Herself alternative title: Diaries, Notes and Sketches 1972 Ciao! Manhattan Susan Superstar posthumously released