GOODNIGHT LADIES...
8:25 p.m.
shitshitshit...two very cool ladies died recently,(both on sept. 7th.,coincidentally) and i'm gonna tell ya about 'em...cuz they were important to me...
katrin cartlidge was an english stage and screen actress. she died of pneumonia at age 41. she starred in one of my favorite movies of all time, career girls. this is a great little film about two former roommates who meet for a weekend in london five years after they lived together. the film goes back and forth between the past, when the girls were punk students, and the present, when they both have "grown up" jobs and careers. over the course of a weekend of reminiscing, they run into several characters from their past. it's a brilliant film...it's so odd, cuz i've been pimping this movie to a d-land friend for a while, but she can't find it anywhere. if i ever get that package together, i'm mailing it to her...that's how strongly i feel about it. you can catch it once in a while on ifc or one of the hbo channels...here's the poster...that's miss cartlidge on the right...
mike leigh directed this, and she was also in his film naked...if you saw that, you certainly remember her! i think i'm gonna go find her filmography...back soon...ok, here's a partial list of her films -
The Cherry Orchard (2002)
The Weight of Water (2002)
From Hell (2001)
No Man's Land (2001)
Claire Dolan (2000)
Tranceformer (2000)
Topsy-Turvy (1999)
Hi Life (1998)
Tranceformer: A Portrait of Lars Von Trier (1998)
Career Girls (1997)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Before the Rain (1995)
Naked (1993)
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gotta go to the store, will finish this later...
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ok, i'm back...
the other woman who died last week was cyrinda foxe...now you may not know that name, but she was a pivotal member of the early 70's new york rock 'n roll scene. (i'm talking pre-cbgb's, pre-ramones here.) she was the girlfriend, and later, wife (for a year) of david johansen, lead singer of the legendary and most fabulous new york dolls. (click on that link to go to a fantastic dolls site, and look under "articles" for a lengthy history of the band written by a teenage morrisey!) here's a picture of the happy couple...
cyrinda was a real glamour girl - part marilyn, part harlow, but a complete original. remember, this was really not that long after the summer of love, and when most young women were dressing down in barely post-hippie style, cyrinda dared to look like a trashy, flashy 30's movie star. (i'm sure madonna has aknowledged her somewhere- madonna has always mentioned debbie harry as an influence, but i think they both owe cyrinda a nod as well.)
as a kid, i devoured magazines like rock scene and hit parader, seeing all these amazing people and dreaming of a life among them. miss foxe was one of the n.y. stars (bear in mind she really hadn't done much at this point, just showing up was enough to guarantee some press) who was snatched up by bowie's mainman organization to work for them...if you've ever read any accounts of THAT whole fiasco, you know most mainman employees were busy either getting their teeth capped or getting furnished apartments, all on mr. ziggy's dime...of course, bowie took plenty from them too, he owes the whole ziggy look to the troupe of misfits that put on warhol's play "pork" in london...but that's another story...can you tell i'm really into this stuff? these are the foundations of my life, honey! here's a couple of pics of cyrinda dancing on the sidewalks of s.f. in the video for bowie's jean genie...
sorry they're such a shitty pictures, it looks like they were taken right off the t.v. screen. actually they weren't even called videos in those days...i think they aired this on the smothers brothers comedy hour or something...it was filmed in october 1972 while bowie was doing two shows at winterland. i was at one of those shows, and it certainly remains one of the key experiences of my life. i'd like to say i was in my mother's womb or something, but no, i was right up front...let's just say i was many, many years shy of legal drinking age and leave it at that...
cyrinda went on to star in andy warhol's bad, playing one of the killers-for-hire working out of carroll baker's home-electrolysis business. (a few great lines from this cinematic epic: "what about the pussy area?" "hazel doesn't do pussies." "people stink...they ALL do...all they do is eat, fuck, and watch t.v.")
after breaking up with david doll, cyrinda married steven tyler and gave birth to his daughter mia. they broke up too, and it was not pretty. a few years ago, cyrinda wrote a book called "dream on" about her life with mr.lips, who was not amused and succeded in halting publication until some nude photos of him were removed. but earlier this year, when she had a stroke and then was diagnosed with brain cancer, they reconciled. mr. tyler paid her hospital bills and, sadly,for her funeral last week. she was 51.
goodnight sweet ladies...there's a candle burning for you tonight...