Jane Holzer

Jane Holzer (née Brukenfeld; born October 23, 1940), also known as Baby Jane, is an American model, actress, art collector, and real estate investor. She rose to prominence during the 1960s as Pop artist Andy Warhol's first "Superstar."

Known for her voluminous teased blonde hair, Holzer emerged as an influential figure in the international fashion scene and became emblematic of a new form of media celebrity in the 1960s. A muse to photographer David Bailey, she was described by Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland as "the most contemporary girl I know." She appeared on the cover of British Vogue and Show magazine in 1964. That same year, journalist Tom Wolfe heralded her as the "Girl of the Year," recognizing her as a symbol of the era's emerging youth culture and changing social landscape. Holzer starred in several of Warhol's underground films, including Soap Opera (1964), Couch (1964), Batman Dracula (1964), and Camp (1965). In 1966, Women's Wear Daily named her one of New York's "fashion revolutionaries." She later established a successful career as a real estate investor in Palm Beach.

Early life and education Jane Brukenfeld was born and raised in Palm Beach, Florida, the daughter of real estate and insurance investor Carl Brukenfeld (1906–1962). Her family's wealth derived from extensive real estate holdings throughout Florida, including numerous properties in Palm Beach and more than eight miles of oceanfront land on Merritt Island, now part of Cape Canaveral. Her father and grandfather, Morris Brukenfeld, were active in the development of Worth Avenue, helping to found the Worth Avenue Merchants Association and constructing several commercial buildings along the avenue.

She grew up in a Jewish household and attended Palm Beach High School for a year before transferring to Cherry Lawn School in Darien, Connecticut.

Brukenfeld was admitted to Finch Junior College in Manhattan, but she spent most of her time at dancing at El Morocco, and "flunked out of college on purpose to become a model." She was scheduled to walk in Hubert de Givenchy's Paris couture presentations but left the city shortly before the shows to marry Leonard Holzer. The sobriquet remained associated with her throughout her career. Impressed by Holzer's distinctive appearance, particularly her teased hairstyle, Vreeland described her as "the most contemporary girl I know." She recalled later that year, "She just happened to have the greatest head of hair. And a tiny face like a narcissus. Lovely bones. She just looked great. That's all anyone's supposed to look. She just looked super." Vreeland invited Holzer to model for Vogue, and her first photographs appeared in the magazine's October 1, 1964, issue.

Holzer's hairstyle, which contrasted with the short, sculpted cuts promoted by leading Parisian hairdressers at the time, became a subject of discussion during the couture season.

Andy Warhol and the Factory In June 1964, Holzer first met Warhol when British magazine editor Nicky Haslam arranged a party at Holzer's Park Avenue apartment in Manhattan. The gathering also marked Warhol's first meeting with musician Mick Jagger, who was concluding his first American tour with the Rolling Stones. "Andy calls everything super," said Holzer in 1964. "I'm a super star, he's a super-director, we make super epics—and I mean, it's a completely new and natural way of acting. You can't imagine what really beautiful things can happen!"

The first film they worked on together was Soap Opera (1964). Her appearances in Warhol's films helped establish her as one of the most recognizable personalities in the avant-garde New York scene.

In December 1964, Holzer gained further recognition when journalist Tom Wolfe profiled her in the New York Herald Tribune, naming her the "Girl of the Year" and presenting her as a symbol of the emerging youth culture of the 1960s. The event coincided with Holzer's 24th birthday, and she was presented with a birthday cake.

Holzer's growing prominence was reflected in the December 7, 1964, issue of Newsweek, which described her as a Warhol superstar. The magazine wrote that, with her "mane of blond hair, her hyper-thyroid drive and buckshot hedonism," she epitomized "the pants-wearing young set who feed on the hybrid world of pop, flick, and hip." Bender wrote that Holzer "symbolizes the new society and the new style" and quoted her as saying, "There is no class any more. Everybody is equal." In the same issue, she was profiled in the article "Way-out Baby Jane Is Really In," which described her as one of the first to embrace the avant-garde fashions of André Courrèges and emerging English designers.

In April 1966, Women's Wear Daily published a profile of Holzer by Carol Bjorkman focusing on her fashionable lifestyle and her butler, Johnny, who served as her secretary, valet, cook, and housekeeper.

Following Edie Sedgwick's emergence as Warhol's leading female star in 1965, Holzer returned to Warhol's films in late 1966 and 1967, appearing in Bufferin Commercial (1966), Sally Kirkland (1967), and Reel 39 of **** (Four Stars) (1967).

Mainstream acting and music career In 1965, Holzer began pursuing a mainstream entertainment career beyond Warhol's underground films. She studied acting with Sanford Meisner in New York and appeared as a guide to New York's jet-set lifestyle on the ABC television program The Wild, Wild East. Holzer intended to wear a nearly transparent plastic dress on Hullabaloo but was asked by the show's producer to change before filming. The publicity surrounding the appearance led to two recording contract offers. In 1967, she released the Atco Records single "Rapunzel"/"Nowhere," produced by Al Kasha and arranged by Barry Goldberg.

During a visit to Hollywood inn 1966, Holzer said of her acting ambitions, "I really don't need to work. But I like to perform." That year, she played herself at a New York party in the pilot episode of the short-lived TV series, Coronet Blue.

Later career After leaving the Factory, Holzer remained one of Warhol's close longtime friends. They continued to socialize regularly, and Warhol frequently mentioned her in The Andy Warhol Diaries. In August 1978, she appeared on the cover of his Interview magazine.

During the 1980s, Holzer established herself as a real estate investor and developer in Palm Beach, Florida, assembling a commercial property portfolio on Worth Avenue and elsewhere in the town. By 1984, she owned a building housing tenants including Louis Vuitton, Gemini Galleries, and Mayor's Jewelers. Later that year, she expanded the business with a second location in Los Angeles.

Holzer helped finance the Academy Award-winning 1985 film Kiss of the Spider Woman, after her friend producer David Weisman introduced her to Manuel Puig's novel on which the film was based. Although credited as the associate producer, Holzer later said she had "very little to do with the film."

Holzer has remained active in Palm Beach real estate, continuing to acquire, develop, and sell residential and commercial properties on the island.

In 2024, she partnered with developer Todd Glaser to purchase a neighboring property for redevelopment and the expansion of their adjacent estates.

In 2025, Holzer was interviewed for the documentary Gloss and Grit: The Man Who Made Art Pop, about the life and work of illustrator Richard Bernstein.

Personal life On December 2, 1962, she married New York real estate executive Leonard Holzer in the White and Gold Suite of the Plaza Hotel. He was graduate of Deerfield Academy and Princeton University.

Holzer dated investment banker Bob Dennison in the 1970s.

Holzer is a prominent art collector.

Legacy During the height of her fame, Holzer was viewed as representative of a new form of celebrity based on media exposure rather than a single artistic or professional achievement. In 1966, the Pocono Record columnist Jeff Cox argued that her career demonstrated how "fame begets fame," writing:She modeled a little, got her picture taken with jet set, was seen at the big rock and roll shindigs, got her picture taken some more—and always the cute name, the smooth lanky body and the two little front teeth, bopping and swinging out in a tornado of the new, chic life. She became famous simply because her picture appeared in a lot of magazines and newspapers. She became the symbol of camp, pop art, the English rock and roll sound, all the wild new things. In 2014, the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach presented To Jane, Love Andy, an exhibition exploring Holzer's friendship with Warhol through artworks, photographs, films, and archival material.

In December 2024, Holzer was honored at the Historical Society of Palm Beach County's 22nd Annual Archival Evening.

In pop culture In November 1964, Saks Fifth Avenue unveiled window displays featuring mannequins in Holzer's likeness, based on sketches by portrait artist Piero Aversa and executed by mannequin designer Mary Brosnan.

Tom Wolfe's 1964 profile of Holzer, which named her the "Girl of the Year," was republished in his 1965 essay collection The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby.

Holzer was included in Marilyn bender's 1967 book Beautiful People, describing her as part of a new generation of fashion and social figures.

Holzer is referenced as Baby Jane in the 1972 Roxy Music single "Virginia Plain."

Her 1975 portraits by Warhol were included in his retrospective Andy Warhol: A Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1979.