Edie Sedgwick

Who Was Edie Sedgwick?

Edie Sedgwick, born on April 20, 1943, in Santa Barbara, California, was an iconic figure of the 1960s, best known for her connection with artist Andy Warhol and her role as a muse in the Pop Art movement. Raised in a wealthy, aristocratic family, her life was marked by turmoil, personal struggles, and a complex relationship with both her family and society. Sedgwick’s fame grew through her appearances in Warhol’s experimental films, though her life was tragically short-lived, ending in 1971 at the age of 28.

Early Life

Edie Sedgwick was the seventh child of Alice Delano de Forest and Francis Minturn “Duke” Sedgwick, both of whom hailed from prominent families. While her early years were cushioned by wealth and privilege, they were also fraught with emotional and physical challenges. Her father, Francis, faced numerous health issues, including asthma and a nearly fatal bone infection, which led to recurring hospitalizations throughout his youth. He was diagnosed with manic-depressive psychosis, and his fragile mental and physical health led to an early end to his professional ambitions. Instead, Francis pursued a career as a sculptor, though his emotional instability continued to affect the family dynamics.

Alice, Edie’s mother, was described as shy and deeply devoted to her husband. Despite medical advice against having children due to Francis’ health, the Sedgwicks had eight children over a span of 15 years. Alice’s struggles during childbirth were profound, yet her determination to expand the family remained, influenced partly by Francis’ desire to have more children, particularly sons. The Sedgwick children were largely raised by nannies and governesses, as their parents were increasingly detached from the practicalities of parenting.

The Sedgwick family’s lifestyle became increasingly strained after the family relocated to a 3,000-acre ranch in California, Corral de Quati, following Francis’ rejection from the military due to his health. While the family lived in isolation on the ranch, tensions within the household grew. Francis became emotionally distant, and Alice became increasingly reserved. The children, left largely to their own devices, grew up in a highly isolated environment, which shaped Edie’s early emotional and psychological development.

Edie’s formative years were marked by personal struggles, and as a young girl, she began to exhibit signs of deep emotional distress. Her isolation, coupled with family dysfunction, led to a growing sense of internal conflict. Her sibling, Suky, later recalled Edie’s early signs of distress, noting how she would become consumed by seemingly trivial details, a behavior that indicated deeper emotional turmoil. Edie herself would later admit to experiencing intense pressure from her father, including sexual abuse, starting at a disturbingly young age. These formative experiences profoundly impacted her mental health, leading to lifelong struggles with anorexia and bulimia.

Legacy

Edie Sedgwick’s life, while brief, left an indelible mark on the art world and popular culture. She became a symbol of the 1960s counterculture—an enigmatic figure whose beauty, style, and tragic story captivated the public. Despite her turbulent personal life, her collaborations with Warhol and her presence in the avant-garde art scene cemented her as a muse for the ages.

Struggles with Bulimia

By the age of 13, Sedgwick was already grappling with the emotional turmoil of a demanding father and a passive mother, seeking refuge in anorexia and bulimia as coping mechanisms. After being sent to the prestigious Katharine Branson School, she was soon called back home when teachers discovered her eating disorder. Her return marked the beginning of a destructive period in her life. Her father, an authoritarian figure, locked her in her room, kept her heavily medicated, and confined to bed rest. Meanwhile, her mother began to excessively pamper her, indulging her every need. Several of her siblings observed a troubling regression, as Sedgwick began to speak in baby talk and engage in child-like behavior.

While recovering at home, Sedgwick tragically walked in on her father in the midst of an affair. In an attempt to silence her, her father assaulted her, only to deny the event altogether. To further suppress her, he arranged for a doctor to sedate her, ensuring she could not speak out. Her brother, Jonathan, later reflected on the deep emotional wound this caused, noting that Sedgwick’s loss of trust and disillusionment with her family were devastating: “She lost all her feelings because everything around her was an act now.”

In 1958, Sedgwick was enrolled at St. Timothy’s School in Maryland. Her stay, however, was brief as her physical and mental health continued to deteriorate. In 1962, under her father’s insistence, she was admitted to Silver Hill, a mental health facility that resembled a country club rather than a hospital. As her condition worsened, she was transferred to the more restrictive Bloomingdale Psychiatric Center in New York. Reflecting on this dark period, Sedgwick later admitted to feelings of intense despair and suicidal tendencies, saying, “I didn’t want to turn out like my family showed me… I didn’t want to live.”

Family Losses

Sedgwick’s mental health challenges were compounded by a series of devastating family tragedies. While still at Bloomingdale, she discovered that she was pregnant from an affair with a Harvard student. Choosing to have an abortion due to her fragile psychological state, she left the hospital shortly after and moved to Cambridge to study art in 1963.

During this time, her older brother, Minty, struggled with his own mental health issues, which resulted in several stays in psychiatric wards. In 1964, just a day before his 26th birthday, Minty tragically took his own life. It was later revealed that he had come out to their father, who attempted to force him to live a heterosexual lifestyle. The loss of Minty devastated Sedgwick, and the family’s grief deepened just months later when her brother Bobby, who had also struggled with mental health, died after a tragic accident. Bobby, aged 31, died on January 12, 1965, after slamming his bike into a New York City bus on New Year’s Eve.

New York and Warhol

In 1964, Sedgwick moved to New York with an $80,000 trust fund from her maternal grandmother. Living with her grandmother initially, she pursued a career in modeling, taking dance classes and attending high society events. By the fall, she had moved into her own apartment on East 64th Street, furnished by her parents, and immersed herself in New York’s social scene, partying with friends from Harvard.

In March 1965, Sedgwick met Andy Warhol, who introduced her to the world of avant-garde art at his famed studio, The Factory. Warhol became her mentor, and together they collaborated on 18 films, including a project with Bob Dylan. During this time, Sedgwick developed a romantic relationship with Bob Neuwirth, who she later described as the love of her life. She also briefly flirted with Dylan, who penned several songs inspired by her, including “Just Like a Woman” and “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat.”

However, by 1965, the relationship between Sedgwick and Warhol began to sour. She grew disillusioned with the lack of financial compensation for her work and requested that Warhol stop showcasing her films. Sedgwick sought to launch a legitimate film career and nearly signed with Dylan’s manager before vanishing from the public eye.

Final Years and Death

Sedgwick’s final years were marked by escalating drug use, with reports suggesting a combination of prescription drugs, heroin, and speed. Her behavior became increasingly erratic, culminating in a self-destructive incident in 1966, when she burned down her apartment. Though her parents attempted to admit her to a psychiatric ward once again, she was quickly released. In 1967, her relationship with Neuwirth ended, largely due to her worsening drug dependency.

Tragedy struck in 1967 when Sedgwick’s father passed away from pancreatic cancer. The following year, in April 1968, she nearly died from a drug overdose. After surviving the incident, she returned to California to stay with her mother, undergoing shock therapy later that year.

By 1971, Sedgwick had begun to consider a domestic life and, on June 24, married Michael Post, a fellow patient at Cottage Hospital. The couple wed on the Sedgwick family ranch in Laguna. Four months later, on November 16, 1971, Sedgwick died at the age of 28. She was found face down in her pillow, having suffocated in her sleep. Friends later revealed that she had suspected she was pregnant and had planned to leave Post the night she died. Despite her struggles, she had been planning a return to stardom, a dream that would never be realized.