

Her first non-campy comedic role, Some of My Best Friends Are… takes place on Christmas Eve as a group of gay men and lesbians reminisce on their lives and relationships at Greenwich Village’s Blue Jay Bar following the Stonewall riots. How can you not associate Candy with The Velvet Underground? She was the subject of the song “Candy Says” and a major influence for Lou Reed. “Candy Says” by The Velvet Underground (1968) Darling and Warhol met that night for the first time immediately following the show at the club Salvation, then located at Sheridan Square.Ģ. Candy played Nona Noonan, the star and goddess of the show, which also featured a young Robert DeNiro playing six different parts. Jackie Curtis wrote the play at 19 and it premiered at New York’s Bastiano’s Cellar Studio on Waverly Place. In honor of the queen’s birthday, let’s take a look at five iconic moments from Candy Darling’s life. Related | The 15 Greatest Transgender Models Gloria Swanson reportedly saluted Candy at her funeral, where many notables, including Sylvia Miles, Eric Emerson, Jane Holzer and Peter Allen were also present, while Faith Dane played the piano. After being diagnosed with cancer, resulting from the hormone injections of the time, she later died at the young age of 29. She says, hey baby, take a walk on the wild side…Ĭandy Darling, the New York legend and transgender actress, would’ve turned 71 today. In the backroom she was everybody’s darling, Remembering the Warhol muse with her 5 most iconic moments. Along with Jackie Curtis and Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling emerged in the late 60s/early 70s as a bold and outrageous transsexual superstar of the youth-quaking underground, blazing a trail for greater transgender visibility and acceptance in the future.A homage to Candy Darling in honor of her 71st birthday. Despite the brevity of her life, her influence remains undeniable. Darling was immortalized in music, most notably by Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground in the rock classics ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ and ‘Candy Says,’ and in the Rolling Stones’ ‘Citadel.’ She died of lymphoma on Maat the age of 29.

She also appeared on stage in several plays including Tennessee Williams’s ‘Small Craft Warnings’ (1972), at the request of Williams himself. She portrayed a central character in Warhol’s ‘Women in Revolt’ (1971) and appeared in such independent films as ‘Brand X’ (1970) and ‘Some of My Best Friends Are.’ (1971), where she played a victim of trans-bashing. Though she found at best bit-parts in mainstream films, in the vibrant underground world Darling was a superstar. Feeling stardom was destined, Darling was crushed when she was not cast in ‘Myra Breckinridge’ (1970). One night Andy Warhol came to see the production and promptly cast her and Curtis in his film ‘Flesh’ (1968). By 1967, she had assumed the name Candy Darling and was starring alongside Jackie Curtis and a young Robert DeNiro in Curtis’ play ‘Glamour, Glory, and Gold’.

Adopting the name Hope Slattery, she began getting hormone injections and frequenting Manhattan gay bars.

#Candy darling movie skin
With milky white skin and large brown eyes she was indeed a beauty. At 17, she was confronted by her mother over rumors that she wore women’s clothes. It was by impersonating her favorite actresses that she discovered herself– though this behavior made her an outcast. Darling, who was assigned male at birth, spent hours watching and studying old movies on TV. where she lived with her mother after her parents’ divorce. Warhol superstar Candy Darling was born into an alcoholic household in Queens, N.Y.
