CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/18/2016

RIP Brigid Berlin

We will miss Brigid Berlin, who died on July 17 at the age of 80. Pictured here with Dennis Hopper, she was born into NYC high society, but rejected it in favor of Andy Warhol’s downtown Factory scene of the 1960s and 70s. (As one of Warhol's Superstars, she played a leading role in his seminal 1966 film, Andy Warhol's The Chelsea Girls, among many other collaborations.) Warhol was, in fact, her best friend, according to John Waters's Introduction to Brigid Berlin: Polaroids, published by Reel Art Press in 2016. "Together they called themselves Mr. and Mrs. Pork. When Andy sometimes claimed he was 'married to his tape recorder' Brigid must have felt like his mistress. Halston referred to Andy as a 'coal miner’s daughter' and Warhol could never escape his blue-collar roots just as Brigid could never relinquish her rich girl pedigree. In many ways Andy wanted to be Brigid; old money combined with danger. He trusted her. She didn’t want his money, she had her family’s. And God knows, Brigid was loyal to Andy even after his death. The only Warhol star to never posthumously dish him in the press, attempt to claim credit for his work, or show any regret over being labeled a 'superstar.' Brigid is to Andy what Squeaky Fromme is to Manson—the last loyal and ferocious member, yet a survivor."