Pioneering Transgender Actress Holly Woodlawn Dies At 69

Holly Woodlawn, the pioneering transgender actress, died yesterday at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 69, it’s been confirmed.

According to the Associated Press, she had been battling cancer.

She had frequently appeared in projects by pop art legend Andy Warhol, and was also the inspiration for Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side.

Born Haroldo Danhakl in Puerto Rico, she starred in the underground movies ‘Trash’ and 'Women In Revolt’, becoming Woodlawn after she met Warhol and became one of his 'superstars’, his entourage who often accompanied him at social events.

She took the first name from Holly Golightly, Audrey Hepburn’s character in 'Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and the surname from a sign she saw on the series 'I Love Lucy’.

More recently, she starred in two episodes of the acclaimed drama 'Transparent’.

About Woodlawn, Velvet Underground star Lou Reed wrote the lyrics for 'Walk On The Wild Side’: Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.; Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.; Plucked her eyebrows on the way; Shaved her legs and then he was a she. She says, ‘Hey, babe,
Take a walk on the wild side.’ Said, ‘Hey, honey, Take a walk on the wild side’.”

She also had small roles in the movies 'Milwaukee, Minnesota’, 'Twin Falls Idaho’, and 'Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss’.

Penny Arcade, a frequent collaborator said of Woodlawn earlier this year: “With all of the attention that Caitlyn Jenner has gotten by stepping into the public arena for five minutes, people like Holly, who are the true pioneers, have been out and visible for almost 50 years.“

She had fallen ill in June this year, and was hospitalised with lesions on her liver and brain, lesions which were later diagnosed as cancer.

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