Queer Academy

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Few shone as brightly in the 1960/70’s, as the transgender pioneer Candy Darling. Andy Warhol discovered her and cast her in his films; Lou Reed wrote two songs ("Candy Says" & "Walk On The Wildside") about her and Tennessee Williams wrote her a starring role in one of his plays ("Small Craft Warnings"). Interwoven with Candy’s story is the story of Candy’s dear friend Jeremiah Newton, who kept her belongings and her cremated remains in his New York City apartment for over thirty years, unable to say goodbye. BEAUTIFUL DARLING follows Jeremiah as he travels to finally bury Candy …

Transsexual performer Candy Darling was special – even among the iridescent figures of New York’s subculture of the sixties and seventies. Lou Reed, Tennessee Williams, Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton and Robert Mappelthorpe were all inspired by her, and Andy Warhol created a monument to her in FLESH. But just how did this Brooklyn boy become such a glamorous phenomenon, an underground icon of a decade still revered today in films, photographs, songs and short stories? Assisted by Candy’s long-standing partner Jeremiah Newton, filmmaker James Rasin sets off in search of the story behind the dazzling spectacle that is Candy Darling. A plethora of photos, finds and films from the estate of the late star who died of leukaemia in 1974, as well as unique archive material tell the story of a wild, bohemian existence of the kind that was only possible in New York in the sixties and seventies. They also tell the story of a life lived between legendary night clubs such as “Max’s Kansas City”, appearances in off-off-Broadway shows, and working at Andy Warhol’s Factory.
Lou Reed: “Candy came from out on the Island / In the backroom she was everybody’s darlin’ / But she never lost her head / Even when she was giving head / She says, Hey babe / Take a walk on the wild side / I Said, Hey baby / Take a walk on the wild side / And the coloured girls go / Doo do doo do doo do do doo …”

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