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Candy Darling

Candy Darling
Darling by Andy Warhol in 1971
Born(1944-11-24)November 24, 1944[1]
Queens, New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 21, 1974(1974-03-21) (aged 29)
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Resting placeCherry Valley Cemetery, Cherry Valley, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress

Candy Darling (November 24, 1944 – March 21, 1974) was an American actress. Best known as a Warhol superstar, she was a pioneer for transgender visibility.

Darling rose to fame in New York City's underground film scene for her performances in the Andy Warhol-produced films Flesh (1968) and Women in Revolt (1971). She was photographed by Cecil Beaton and Richard Avedon, and starred in Tennessee Williams' plays, Small Craft Warnings (1972). Darling was celebrated for her glamorous, Old Hollywood-inspired persona and candid wit, and became a muse to rock and roll musicians of the era, including the Rolling Stones and Lou Reed, who referenced her in his songs. She died from lymphoma at the age of 29 in 1974.

Early life and education

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Candy Darling was born in Forest Hills, Queens, as the child of Theresa (née Phelan) Slattery, a bookkeeper at Manhattan's Jockey Club,[2] and John F. Slattery, a racetrack worker[3] whom she described as a violent alcoholic.[4]

She had one half-brother, Warren, from her mother’s previous marriage. When contacted for Cynthia Carr's 2023 biography of Darling, he agreed to answer questions on the condition that his full name not be published, stating that he did not want friends to know he was related to her.[5]

Darling's early years were spent in Massapequa Park, Long Island, where she and her mother moved after her parents' divorce. She spent much of her childhood watching television and old Hollywood movies, from which she learned to impersonate her favorite actresses such as Joan Bennett and Kim Novak. Darling took a strong interest in the Million Dollar Movie broadcast on television, which she would often watch several times a day. Inspired in part by Novak, Darling began to model her life around "Hollywood glamour-queen prettiness."[6]

In 1961, at age 16, she signed up for a course at the DeVern School of Cosmetology in Baldwin, Long Island.[7] Darling later said that she "learned about the mysteries of sex from a salesman in a local children's shoe store". When her mother confronted her about local rumors that she was "dressing as a girl" and frequenting a local gay bar called The Hayloft, Darling left the room and returned in feminine clothing. Darling's mother would later say, "I knew then... that I couldn't stop [her]. Candy was just too beautiful and talented."[8]

After coming out publicly, Darling would take a short cab ride to the Long Island Rail Road station, avoiding the attention of neighbors she would receive by walking to the train. From there, she would take the train to Manhattan, often sitting across from Long Island starlet Joey Heatherton.[9] In Manhattan, she would refer to her family home at 79 First Avenue in Massapequa Park as her "country house". She spent time in Greenwich Village, meeting people through Seymour Levy on Bleecker Street.[10]

Career

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Darling first took the name Hope Slattery. According to Bob Colacello, Darling took this name in 1963/1964 after she started going to gay bars in Manhattan and visiting a doctor on Fifth Avenue for hormone injections.[11]

Jackie Curtis said that Darling adopted the name from a well-known Off Broadway actress named Hope Stansbury, with whom she lived for a few months in an apartment behind the Caffe Cino. Holly Woodlawn remembers that Darling's name evolved from Hope Dahl to Candy Dahl, then to Candy Cane. Jeremiah Newton said she took the name "Candy" out of a love for sweets. In her autobiography, Woodlawn recalled that Darling had adopted the name because her friend Taffy Tits Sarcastic called her "darling" so often that it stuck.[12]

Darling met Jeremiah Newton in the summer of 1966, when Newton was on his first trip to Greenwich Village from his home in Flushing, Queens. The two became friends and roommates, living together in Manhattan and Brooklyn until the time of Darling's death in 1974.[7]

Before they met, in 1967, Darling saw Andy Warhol at The Tenth of Always, an after-hours club. Darling was with Jackie Curtis, who invited Warhol to a play that she had written and directed; entitled Glamour, Glory and Gold, the play starred Darling as "Nona Noonan." Curtis often claimed that she and Darling starred alongside a young Robert De Niro, who played all the male roles; however, De Niro appeared in a later version of the play that Curtis and Darling only participated in early rehearsals of.[13]

Darling worked for a short time as a barmaid at Slugger Ann's, the bar owned by Jackie Curtis's grandmother.[14][15]

Warhol was enamored by Darling's beauty and cast her in a short comedic scene in Flesh (1968) with Curtis and Joe Dallesandro. The March 1, 1970, issue of Vogue magazine featured a photograph of Darling alongside Warhol and fellow superstar Jay Johnson, photographed by Cecil Beaton.[16] Reflecting on Darling in his memoir Popism (1980), Warhol said:

Candy didn't want to be a perfect woman—that would be too simple, and besides it would give her away. What she wanted was to be a woman with all the little problems that a woman has to deal with—runs in her stocking, runny mascara, men that left her. She would even ask to borrow Tampaxes, explaining that she had a terrible emergency. It was as if the more real she could make the little problems, the less real the big one—her cock—would be.[14]

Darling was cast in a central role in Women in Revolt (1971), a satire on the Women's Liberation Movement. The film was first shown at the Los Angeles Filmex as Sex in November 1971.[17] It was later shown as Andy Warhol's Women in December 1971.[18] The day after the celebrity preview in February 1972, a group of women carrying protest signs demonstrated outside the cinema against the film, which they thought was anti-women's liberation. When Darling heard about this, she said, "Who do these dykes think they are anyway? Well, I just hope they all read Vincent Canby's review in today's Times. He said I look like a cross between Kim Novak and Pat Nixon. It's true – I do have Pat Nixon's nose."[19] For Vogue magazine's June 1972 issue, Darling was photographed by Richard Avedon alongside her co-stars Jackie Curtis and Holly Woodlawn.[20]

Candy Darling, as seen in the film Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)

Darling's attempt at breaking into mainstream movies by campaigning for the leading role in Myra Breckinridge (1970) led to rejection and bitterness.[21] She had roles in other independent films, including Wynn Chamberlain's Brand X (1970),[22] Some of My Best Friends Are... (1971),[23] and Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972).[24] She also appeared in mainstream films such as Klute (1970) with Jane Fonda and Lady Liberty (1971) with Sophia Loren.[25] In 1971, she went to Vienna to make two films with director Werner Schroeter: feature The Death of Maria Malibran[26] and short film Johanna's Dream.[27]

Darling appeared in Vain Victory: The Vicissitudes of the Damned (1971) directed by Curtis at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in May/June 1971. The production featured many other performers from Warhol's Factory, including Curtis, Ondine, Tally Brown, Mario Montez, Samuel Adams Green, Mary Woronov, Francesco Scavullo, Jay Johnson, Holly Woodlawn, Steina and Woody Vasulka, Eric Emerson, and Warhol himself.[28]

Darling appeared in the original 1972 production of Tennessee Williams' play Small Craft Warnings, cast at Williams' request. She starred in the 1973 revival of The White Whore and the Bit Player, a 1964 play by Tom Eyen, at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. The production was bilingual and was directed by Manuel Martin Jr. Darling's character, a Hollywood actress known only as "the Whore", was based on Marilyn Monroe. She performed in the English version of the play opposite Hortensia Colorado; in the Spanish version of the play, "the Whore" was portrayed by Magaly Alabau and Graciela Mas.[29] As a review of the play stated, "With her teased platinum hair and practiced pouts, Miss Darling looks like her character and resolutely keeps her acting little-girl-lost. The role-playing aspect works to her advantage. She could, after all, be a male lunatic pretending to be the White Whore."[30]

Illness and death

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Darling died of lymphoma on March 21, 1974, aged 29, at the Columbus Hospital division of the Cabrini Health Care Center.[7][31][32] In a letter written on her deathbed and intended for her friends at the Factory, including Warhol, Darling wrote, "Unfortunately before my death I had no desire left for life ... I am just so bored by everything. You might say bored to death. Did you know I couldn't last. I always knew it. I wish I could meet you all again."[33]

Her funeral, held at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, was attended by many admirers.[34] Warhol did not attend, but he paid for the funeral service.[35][36] R. Couri Hay and Julie Newmar read the eulogies.[37] Darling's birth name was never spoken by the minister or any of the eulogizers, but her family still thought of her as "Jimmy."[34][38] Faith Dane played a piano piece, and Gloria Swanson saluted Darling's coffin.[39]

Darling was cremated, and her ashes were kept by her close friend Jeremiah Newton.[40] New later buried her ashes in the Cherry Valley Cemetery in Cherry Valley, New York, a village at the foot of the Catskill Mountains.[41]

Legacy

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Greer Lankton made a bust of Darling that was displayed at the 1995 Whitney Biennial.[42]

In 2009, C☆NDY, which calls itself "the first transversal style magazine", debuted. It is named after Darling.[43]

Byredo created a candle scent named after Darling.[44]

In 2017, Kay Gabriel published a book of sonnet-based poetry, Elegy Department Spring, about Darling.[45]

In 2024, Cynthia Carr released Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar, a biographical portrait of Darling.[46]

In pop culture

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Portrayals

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Candy Darling has been portrayed in a range of stage and screen works over time. She was portrayed by Stephen Dorff in I Shot Andy Warhol (1996).[47] In 2006, she was depicted by actor Vince Gatton in the Off-Broadway production of Candy and Dorothy, a play by **David Johnston*, for which Gatton received a Drama Desk award nomination.[48] This was followed by Pop!, a by Mark Brokaw at Yale Repertory Theatre in 2009, in which Darling was portrayed by Brian Charles Rooney.[49]

In 2010, the feature-length documentary Beautiful Darling premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.[50] Directed by James Rasin and produced by Jeremiah Newton and Elisabeth Bentley, the film draws on archival footage, photographs, personal papers, and audio interviews with figures including Tennessee Williams, Valerie Solanas, Jackie Curtis, and Darling’s mother, alongside contemporary interviews with Holly Woodlawn, Ruby Lynn Reyner, Fran Lebowitz, John Waters, Julie Newmar, Peter Beard, and Taylor Mead. Chloë Sevigny narrates the film, voicing Darling’s private diary entries and personal letters.

In 2011, Darling was portrayed by Willam Belli in the 2011 HBO film Cinema Verite.[51]

In January 2019, a biopic about Candy was announced. It will be written by Stephanie Kornick and executive produced by Zackary Drucker. The film is being produced by Christian D. Bruun, Katrina Wolfe, and Louis Spiegler.[52] Hari Nef has been cast in the role of Darling.[53]

Music

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Works

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Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1968 Flesh Candy
1970 Brand X Marlene D-Train
1970 The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart
1971 La Mortadella Transvestite Alternative title: Lady Liberty
1971 Klute Discothèque Patron Uncredited
1971 Some of My Best Friends Are... Karen / Harry
1971 Women in Revolt Candy
1972 The Death of Maria Malibran [fr] Directed by Werner Schroeter
1972 Silent Night, Bloody Night Guest (final film role)
1973 An American Family Herself

Episode 2, footage of Vain Victory

1975 Johannas Traum[60] Directed by Werner Schroeter
2002 The Cockettes Herself Archive footage
2004 Superstar in a Housedress Herself Archive footage
2006 Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film Herself Archive footage
2010 Beautiful Darling Herself Archive footage
2020 Disclosure: Trans lives on Screen Herself Archive footage

References

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Citations

  1. ^ Watson, Steven (2003). Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties. Pantheon Books. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-679-42372-0.
  2. ^ "Theresa Catherine P. McLean". Glens Falls Post-Star. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  3. ^ "John F. Slattery". Glens Falls Post-Star. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  4. ^ Darling, Candy (1992). Newton, Jeremiah (ed.). My Face for the World to See: the Diaries, letters and drawings. Hardy Marks Publications. ISBN 0-945367-21-X.
  5. ^ Als, Hilton (April 8, 2024). "The Warhol "Superstar" Candy Darling and the Fight to Be Seen". New Yorker. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
  6. ^ Anderson, Melissa (January 1, 2002). "Candied Glam: The Cultural Cachet of Candy Darling". Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 19 (1): 59–69. doi:10.1080/10509200214826. ISSN 1050-9208. S2CID 191455116.
  7. ^ a b c Moynihan, Colin (February 24, 2009). "From the Archives, a Portrait of a Pop-Art Muse". The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  8. ^ Newton, Jeremiah (2015). Introduction. Candy Darling – Memoirs of an Andy Warhol Superstar. By Darling, Candy. Open Road Media. ISBN 9781480407756.
  9. ^ Darling, Candy (2015). Candy Darling: Memoirs of an Andy Warhol Superstar. New York City: Open Road Media. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-4804-0775-6.
  10. ^ Carr, Cynthia (2024). "Two – The Double Life". Candy Darling – Dreamer, Icon, Superstar (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9781250066367.
  11. ^ Colacello, Bob (1990). "Women In Revolt". Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up. Harper Collins. p. 79. ISBN 9780804169875.
  12. ^ Holly Woodlawn (1991). A Low Life In High Heels. St. Martin's Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-312-06429-7.
  13. ^ Carr, Cynthia (2024). Candy Darling; Dreamer, Icon, Superstar (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 118.
  14. ^ a b Warhol 1981, p. 285.
  15. ^ Palladini, Giulia (May 26, 2011). "Queer Kinship in the New York Underground: On the 'Life and Legend' of Jackie Curtis". Contemporary Theatre Review. 21 (2). Routledge: 126–153. doi:10.1080/10486801.2011.561841. S2CID 194047860. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
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  19. ^ Colacello 2000, p. 116.
  20. ^ "People Are Talking About … Warhol's Women Who Are Men". Vogue. 159 (10): 134–135. June 1972.
  21. ^ Warhol 1981, p. 370.
  22. ^ Corona, Victor (April 27, 2011). "Piece of Candy". The New Inquiry. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  23. ^ Canby, Vincent (October 28, 1971). "Screen: One Night in a Gay Bar". The New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  24. ^ Albright, Brian (2012). Regional Horror Films, 1958-1990. McFarland, Incorporated. p. 267. ISBN 9780786472277.
  25. ^ Byron, Grace (May 7, 2024). "The sincere glamor of Candy Darling". Document Journal. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  26. ^ Hudson, David (April 22, 2024). "Cynthia Carr's Candy Darling". Criterion Collection. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  27. ^ Schroeter, Werner; Lenssen, Claudia (2017). Days of Twilight, Nights of Frenzy – A Memoir. University of Chicago Press. p. 248. ISBN 9780226019253.
  28. ^ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Vain Victory, The Vicissitudes of the Damned (1971)". Accessed April 4, 2018.
  29. ^ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: The White Whore and the Bit Player/La Estrella y La Monja (1973a)". Accessed April 4, 2018.
  30. ^ Gussow, Mel (February 6, 1973). "Eyen's 'The White Whore and Bit Player' Arrives". The New York Times.
  31. ^ "Candy Darling Dies; Warhol 'Superstar'". The New York Times. March 22, 1974. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  32. ^ Turvey, Lisa (2015). Miller, Dana (ed.). Whitney Museum of American Art: Handbook of the Collection. Whitney Museum of American Art; Yale University Press (New Haven, London). p. 186. ISBN 9780300211832.
  33. ^ Wiegand, David (July 28, 1997). "Candy's Fairy-Tale 'Face'; Diaries Reveal Longing For Identity". SFGate.com. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  34. ^ a b "The Glittery Life of Candy Darling". Next Avenue. March 19, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  35. ^ Highberger, Craig B. (2005). Superstar in a Housedress: The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis. New York: Chamberlain Bros. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-59609-079-8.
  36. ^ Kiedrowski, Thomas (2011). Andy Warhol's New York City: Four Walks Uptown to Downtown. New York: The Little Bookroom. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-892145-93-2.
  37. ^ Norby, Mark William (April 16, 2024). "Cynthia Carr's 'Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar'". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
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  39. ^ Donovan, Janet (May 23, 2011). ""Beautiful Darling" Candy, Born as James". NBCWashington.com. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  40. ^ Taubin, Amy (April 20, 2011). "I, Candy". Artforum. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  41. ^ Norby, Mark William. "Cynthia Carr's 'Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar'". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  42. ^ Morton, Julia (January 26, 2007). "Greer Lankton, A Memoir". artnet. Artnet Worldwide Corporation. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
  43. ^ Blanks, Tim. "Exclusive: The World's Biggest Transgender Stars Cover C☆NDY". style.com.
  44. ^ "Zac Posen – 15 favourite things". Vogue UK. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  45. ^ Crandall, Maxe (June 24, 2017). "'Elegy Department Spring' by Kay Gabriel". Lambda Literary. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  46. ^ Noble, Barnes &. "Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar|Hardcover". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  47. ^ Anderson, Melissa (Spring 2024). "Sugar Rush – The life of Warhol Superstar Candy Darling". Bookforum. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  48. ^ Simonson, Robert (April 27, 2006). "The Drowsy Chaperone Leads 2006 Drama Desk Nominations". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  49. ^ Bacalzo, Dan (October 15, 2009). "Doug Kreeger, Randy Harrison, Leslie Kritzer, Brian Charles Rooney, et al. Set for Yale Rep's Pop!". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  50. ^ Press, Stephen Farber,The Associated (October 14, 2010). "Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar — Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 17, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  51. ^ LaCroix, Ethan (April 14, 2015). "Willam talks about losing Drag Race and winning the Internet". Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  52. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (January 29, 2019). "'Transparent's Stephanie Kornick And Zackary Drucker Board Candy Darling Biopic". Deadline Hollywood.
  53. ^ "Hari Nef cast as Warhol superstar Candy Darling in new biopic". The A.V. Club. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  54. ^ Paytress, Mark (2009). Rolling Stones: Off the Record. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-113-4.
  55. ^ DeCurtis 2017[page needed]
  56. ^ DeCurtis 2017, p. 123
  57. ^ Barker, Emily (August 3, 2015). "The Smiths - The Stories Behind All 27 Of Their Provocative Album And Single Sleeves". NME. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  58. ^ Kamp, David (October 20, 2025). "St. Vincent Gets the Carlyle Treatment". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
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  60. ^ Johannas Dream, retrieved December 29, 2020

Works cited

Further reading

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