Jean Stein, Author of Noted Edie Sedgwick Biography, Jumps to Her Death

Wow, had heard about this horrifying suicide on the Upper East Side over the weekend. But didn't realize it was the author of one of my favorite books as a higher schooler, one that further fueled my fascination with the New York City scene. The building where writer Jean Stein died was apparently once home to heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, who lived in the penthouse. Vanderbilt's son, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper — the brother of CNN anchor Anderson Cooper — inexplicably jumped to his death from the apartment's terrace in 1988. A friend mentioned that in Stein's most recent book, "West of Eden," she wrote about the daughter of David O. Selznick and Jennifer Jones who leaped to her death from the roof of a skyscraper. Now she's done it herself. RIP.

The New York Post reports that an elderly woman who jumped to her death from a ritzy Upper East Side apartment building over the weekend was an acclaimed author whose life read like one of her books, police sources said Monday. Jean Stein, 83, lived her life among and wrote books about New York and Hollywood’s elite. She jumped to her death from her 15th-floor bedroom balcony and landed on an eighth-floor terrace at 10 Gracie Square around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, police sources said. Stein suffered from depression and had attempted to kill herself in the past, sources said. Her first marriage was in 1958 to William Vanden Heuvel, a lawyer who worked in the Justice Department under Robert F. Kennedy. They had two daughters. In 1985, she married Torsten Wiesel, who was a co-recipient with David Hubel of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1981. They were married until 2007.

The book was renamed "Edie: American Girl" when it was reissued in 1994.

Stein is best known for writing “Edie: An American Biography” in 1982, a book about Edie Sedgwick, artist Andy Warhol’s muse. In 2016, she published “West of Eden: An American Place,” a tale of Hollywood told through the eyes of insiders, including Lauren Bacall, Arthur Miller, Dennis Hopper, Frank Gehry, Ring Lardner and Joan Didion.

Born in Los Angeles in 1934, Stein came to the Big Apple to attend Miss Hewitt’s Classes, a private school on the Upper East Side that would later become the Hewitt School. Stein then attended Wellesley College in Boston for two years before switching to the Sorbonne in Paris. At age 19, she met author William Faulkner, then 56, during a vacation in St. Moritz in 1953. Years later, she told People Magazine that she had a relationship with the married author. “He had a great influence on my life,” she told the magazine in 1982. “He gave me a sense of values.” She interviewed Faulkner in 1956 for The Paris Review. In 1970, Stein published “American Journey, The Times of Robert Kennedy.” In “West of Eden,” Stein wrote of growing up in her family’s Beverly Hills mansion, known as Misty Mountain: “I had the sense that my world was make-believe.”

Pop Goes the Barbie!

Everyone always told Edie Sedgwick she was the "female Andy," yet this Barbie doesn't look much like the fallen heiress at all!

Yuck! She's Too Much

The Nars Andy Warhol Collection arrives and the Debbie Harry eye and cheek palette is already on the shelves at Sephora, yet I don't see any red eye shadow or green mascara. The Edie Sedgwick collection looks fun, too!

The Art of Television

The time a speechless Andy Warhol and an elegant Edie Sedgwick appeared on "The Merv Griffin Show" is kind of hard to believe -- kind of like the notion that Andy didn't know how much one of his Campbell's Soup or Brillo Box paintings were selling for.

 

Edie Sedgwick: Girl on Fire

The Museum of the Moving Image has an Edie Sedgwick film festival of sorts going on right now, featuring "Poor Little Rich Girl," "Restaurant," "Vinyl," "Space," "Outer and Inner Space," "Kitchen," "Afternoon," "Beauty No.2," "Horse" and what would be her final work, "Ciao! Manhattan" (finished posthumously). As Andy Warhol's muse and New York's "It girl" of 1965, Sedgwick appeared in nearly all of Warhol’s films that year. "Edie was incredible on camera -- just the way she moved," said Warhol. "She was all energy. She didn't know what to do with it when it came to living her life, but it was wonderful to film."

The venue being in Queens coupled with all of the screenings being held on the weekend (when I work) means it's unlikely I will get to see any of these, although I'd kill to finally see "Beauty No. 2." The Web site calls says: "In her most complex, playful performance, Sedgwick flirts in bed with Gino Piserchio -- and the camera -- while responding to jealous insults from an off-screen Chuck Wein; Gerard Malanga looms by the bed, watching." But my understanding is that Warhol goaded Edie's art-school pal Wein into asking her about the sexual abuse she was subjected to by her father, which elicits a raw response that makes today's "reality" television look like a well-oiled Broadway show. (Official site)

The Poor Little Rich Girl in Leopard Skin Who Was Warhol’s Muse (NYT)

Edie Sedgwick: Getting Inside the 'Factory Girl'

Michael and I caught a late show of "Factory Girl" on Saturday in Union Square. The reviews were tepid so we went into it with low expectations. As a longtime Edie fan, I agree with New York magazine that it did have an "Edie for Dummies" quality to it, but I think the producers did a nice job of capturing the spirit of the Factory (or lack thereof) and of Edie's wild child charms. That said, "Factory Girl" was one of those rare films that was actually too short. While the director did a great job of keeping things moving along -- at an almost music-video-like pace -- it seemed to be done more out of necessity, like he was lacking any substantial insight into the characters, than for style.

Sienna Miller's performance was commendable -- she sure had the look down to a tee! -- but no matter how many skin blotches you put on Guy Pearce, he's still way too good-looking (and comfortable in his own skin!) to be Andy Warhol. Hayden Christensen, who I didn't even recognize, is adorable as Edie's composite love interest, although it's easy to see why Bob Dylan would take offense that they're really portraying him (Christensen practically wore that harmonica around his neck in bed). It's unfortunate because details of Edie's involvement with Dylan are sketchy at best, but her relationship with Bob Neuwirth is well-documented (if not less titillating).

The idea of an Edie Segwick film has been floating around Hollywood for decades, with Warren Beatty evening buying the rights at one point for a version to star Molly Ringwald (as if!). It's probably taken as long as it has to get this project off the ground because everyone involved probably knew deep down that an up-to-date documentary -- not a feature film -- was the real way to go here (think "Nico Icon"). Not surprisingly, the closing credits of "Factory Girl" featuring interviews with one of Edie's brothers, George Plimpton, and various Factory luminaries was by far the most compelling part of the film.

Love Me, Love Me

Besides the big concert tonight, my friend Nina has been spoiling me in myriad of other ways. First off, she showed up on Sunday bearing lots of gifts, including the fabulous new Edie Sedgwick book, "Edie: Girl on Fire" (it's filled so many great, never-seen-before photographs) and a box of Fannie May chocolates from Chicago. Then today she returned from a walk around town with candy and cookies from Jacques Torres and pork with chives and spicy beef bings from The Bing Lady. (When I just went to look that one up Google wanted to know if I meant "the big lady" ... thankfully my gym routine is back in order.)

Later in the afternoon we had a light lunch at my favorite little British cafe Tea & Sympathy in the West Village. "Six Feet Under" star Lauren Ambrose was also eating there with her 12-day-old son, Orson, and husband (a poor man's version of Vincent Gallo) in tow.

We finished off the day with a late showing of "Notes On a Scandal." Although it was every bit as over-the-top as the trailer had indicated, we both enjoyed it quite a bit. The performances were stellar -- and the dialogue was hilariously sharp and tight. Above else, what an unusual film ...