Holly Woodlawn

Bio:
Holly Woodlawn (born Haroldo Santiago Franceschi Rodriguez Danhaki on October 26, 1946 in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico) was a Puerto Rican actress and Warhol Superstar in the 1970. Holly was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in Miami Beach where she came out at a young age. She took the name Holly from the heroine of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, portrayed by Audrey Hepburn in the movie. Woodlawn comes from a sign she saw on I Love Lucy. When Holly was 15 years old, she hocked some jewelry to escape Florida. After making it to Georgia before hitchhiking the rest of the way New York. She lived as a teenage prostitute on New York City and met Andy Warhol in 1968 at a screening of Flesh. Her natural charisma led to be cast in underground movies as Heaven Grand In Amber Orbit and in Paul Morissey’s Trash. In 1972, she was cast in Women In Revolt. In 1977, she relocated to San Francisco to pursue acting. Though she returned to Miami to work as busser, she experienced a modest comeback in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, Holly began performing sold-out cabaret shows in New York and Los Angeles. She appeared on the award-winning show, Transparent, in 2015. In June 2015, she was hospitalized in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with lesions on her liver and brain, later revealed to be cancer. She passed away from the disease on Dec. 6, 2015.

Best Known For:
Holly Woodlawn was best known as an actress in Warhol’s New York City scene in the 1970s.

Personal Life:
Holly published a memoir where she detailed her trials and tribulations as a transgender woman, A Low Life In High Heels. Holly’s journey was detailed and celebrated in the opening verse of “Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed, former front man of the Velvet Underground and peer of Andy Warhol.