Olivia de Havilland died. While she wasn’t one of my favorite actresses, she served as a bridge. She was one of the last living actresses from a period of Hollywood filmmaking that continues to intrigue me. I wrote her a letter a few years ago. She was over a 100 years old at the time and I was deep into my Leslie Howard fixation. My letter was gooey and fawning and contained questions about working with Howard and Montgomery Clift. Because I have a vivid imagination, I imagined we might become pen pals, but she never responded.

Brigid Berlin became famous as a socialite surrogate for Andy Warhol, a position held before her by blue blood glamour girls like Baby Jane Holzer and Edie Sedgwick. But while Brigid attended the best schools and vacationed at the best chateaus, the togs she charged at the best boutiques and the portions she consumed at the best restaurants were larger than the earlier socialites she replaced on Warhol’s arm. Brigid didn’t stifle her appetite nor her attitude. She was obnoxious. She was often nude. She was addicted to both speed and key lime pie. She wielded her mouth and the implied imposition of her size as a weapon. Nowadays, badly behaved heiresses are a dime a dozen, but in the 1960s to openly disdain and go out of your way to embarrass your Hearst magnate father took courage, gall, and a healthy dose of recklessness. Brigid left the sterile pre-packaged existence of the uptown socialite to “slum” with the downtown demimonde. Butch and in your face, John Waters felt fearful seeing her walk down St. Mark’s Place, while Warhol felt protected by the toughness she emanated (as well as envious of the stock she came from and rejected). Warhol constantly poached ideas from his circle, and he swiped his incessant polaroiding and tape recording from Brigid. Though she refused the “artist” label, Brigid Berlin was an artist and a revelation. In a 2000 documentary about her life, Brigid said that in death, she hoped to enjoy her beloved key lime pie “in the sky.“ She died yesterday at 80 years old. I hope she’s enjoying it now.

Roxane Gay

This is amazing! Penny Arcade as Blanche DuBois and Steve Earle as Stanley Kowalski. Sunday, May 31.