Paul Morrissey

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For other people named Paul Morrissey, see Paul Morrissey (disambiguation).
Paul Morrissey
Morrissey in 2016
Born (1938-02-23) February 23, 1938 (age 86)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationFilmmaker
Known forWarhol superstar

Paul Morrissey (born February 23, 1938) is an American film director, best known for his association with Andy Warhol.[1] He was also director of Trash (1970), the first film in which a transgender actress, Holly Woodlawn, starred as a girlfriend of a main character (played in this film by Joe Dallesandro). [2]

Life and career[edit]

Paul Morrissey in 1967

Of Irish extraction, Morrissey attended Ampleforth College and Fordham University, both Catholic schools, and later served in the United States Army.[citation needed] A political conservative and self-described "right-winger",[3] who has publicly protested against immorality and anti-Catholicism, Morrissey's long-term collaboration with the low-keyed, apparently apolitical Warhol was viewed by many as "a successful mismatch", although both men did share some traits, e.g. both were practicing Catholics from minority ethnic backgrounds (Warhol was of Rusyn descent).[4]

Morrissey's bold, avant-garde direction in film making is often attributed to his relationship with Warhol and The Factory, although Morrissey claimed in his memoir, Factory Days, that this is not the case.[5] Morrissey's early works with Warhol took advantage of 16mm news cameras such as the Auricon, which recorded sound directly on film and had the capacity to film takes up to 33 minutes in length. This permitted a portable, small crew method of filming and was amenable to improvisation.[citation needed]

Morrissey was among the first film directors to cast a transgender woman from Warhol's inner circle in his films Trash (1970) and Women in Revolt (1971).

For an analysis of each of Morrissey's feature films, see Maurice Yacowar, The Films of Paul Morrissey (Cambridge UP).

Filmography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Grimes, William (1995-12-26). "A Warhol Director On What Is Sordid, Then and on MTV (Published 1995)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  2. ^ Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p. 406. ISBN 978-1-84854-195-5.
  3. ^ "Cinema is your symptom blogsite" Archived August 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Paul R. Magocsi, Encyclopedia of Rusyn history and culture, University of Toronto Press, 2002, p. 71
  5. ^ Factory Days: Paul Morrissey Remembers the Sixties (2006), imdb.com; accessed February 23, 2017.
  6. ^ Scott, A. O. (14 December 2007). "A Walk Into the Sea - Movies - Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 April 2019.

External links[edit]

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