Andrea Feldman was not the first of Andy Warhol’s Superstars to meet a tragic end and she wouldn’t be the last.

Andrea “Whips” Feldman was born on April 1, 1948. Born and raised into a wealthy New York family. She attended Quintano school for young professionals, which was a high school for the performing arts.

Andrea met Andy Warhol in 1967 at max’s Kansas City. She was with her friends, Geraldine Smith, and Patty D’arbanville. Both Geraldine and Patty would appear in Andy Warhol‘s film “Flesh.“

Anton Spivach, a Photographer/Presenter has released an interview and some additional footage from 1970 of Andrea Feldman online. She talks about how she met Andy Warhol, “Happened just like this. I walked into max’s Kansas City and Andy Warhol fell in love with me and asked me to be in one of his fabulous movies. So there I was looking just like Brian Jones and there he was looking absolutely fantastic so I said well, maybe. But, I didn’t really want to be in one of his films, but then I decided well why not. Took me a year to be in one of his films, so there I am again Three of his films and I’m Really getting up there.”

Feldman would strike a working relationship with Andy Warhol and would become one of his superstars with roles in imitation of Christ, Trash and heat.

Andy Warhol filmed his movie “Imitation of Christ” in January of 1967. This was the first Warhol film in which Andrea Feldman would appear. She starred alongside Taylor Meade, Nico and Bridged Berlin. Feldman played the role of the “son’s girlfriend” The film would later be reworked and re-released by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey, 2 years later in 1969.

The second Warhol film that Feldman starred in was “Trash” It was produced by Andy WarhoI and directed by Paul Morrissey. Warholstars.org describes Trash thusly “Trash is bascially the story of a junkie (Joe) who can’t get it up, despite numerous attempts by his co-stars – including Geri Miller (the stripper), Holly (who he lives with), Andrea Feldman (an acid-freak) and Jane Forth (a wealthy woman whose apartment he breaks into).”

Bob Colacello for the Village Voice “At one point he [Joe] is picked up by a phony rich acid freak [Andrea Felman] who, licking her own breasts, screams, “I’d like to be a cock, one big cock!” – a gross, grotesque, but nonethess genuine plea for release from the respressive rigidity of sexual roles, from the corrosive power struggles of human relationships. In a highly unreal, yet utter realistic manner, Trash, thus becomes a social document.”

“Trash” was filmed over several weekends in October of 1969. It costard Joe Delasandro, Holly Woodlawn, Jain Fourth and Michael Sklar. “Trash” was the second film that Andrea Feldman had worked on, with director Paul Morrissey. Andrea played the role of “the rich girl”.

Liz Deringer, a music journalist and regular at Andy Warhol‘s factory from 1968 to 1987 mentioned Andrea Feldman in a quote to the New York Times in 2018. “it really wasn’t a party until you ran into Andy. Andrea Feldman brought me up to the original factory one night she said “we’re going with Andy to the opening of a new nightclub“ it was called salvation. It was on Sheridan Square, they picked us up in a limo and I was so impressed to be sitting with Andy Warhol“

Andrea Feldman, as a regular in the back room at Max’s Kansas City, she appeared in a documentary called “Groupies” in 1970. It was in this documentary that she referred to herself by a nickname that was given to her by the Warhol crowd. Andrea “whips” Feldman. She also referred to herself as Andrea Warhol, or was known to her friends as crazy, as reported by Wikipedia.

Here is what Warhol Star, Penny Arcade had to say about Andrea Feldman “a lot of people in the Warhol scene pretended to be crazy, but Andrea really was. She had endless money for everything but mental health when she had nervous breakdowns her parents would send her to state hospitals before he came out and she knew she was about to be a star. She had a nervous breakdown and her physician told her parents that what she needed was a job. I remember her saying “what am I supposed to do be a waitress?“”

“Heat” was the last Andy Warhol film that Andrea Feldman would appear in. It co-starred Joe Delasandro, Sylvia, Miles and Pat Ast. Andrea Feldman played the role of “Jessica, Sally’s daughter”.

During the filming of Heat, Andy Warhol would make late night calls to the three lead actresses. Warhol stars.org quotes Bob Colacello the “three actresses were meant to hate each other. They were all in a typical Paul Morrissey schema after Joe and after Andy‘s calls, they did he made Sylvia jealous of Pat Halston muumuus. He made Pat jealous of Sylvia‘s star billing and… It didn’t take much to drive poor Andrea crazy“

“Heat” would prove to be a commercial success making $2 million in the United States and receiving praise from the mainstream critics. But not all the reviews were good Peter SCHJELDAHL said “miss Feldman with her twisted little face and frightening laugh was clearly in a bad way, and the Pitt list exposure of her suicidal mood makes heat a repellent document. “

New York magazine critic Judith Crist wrote “the most striking performance in large part non-performance comes from the late Andrea Feldman as a flat voiced freaked out daughter, a mass of psychotic confusion, infantile, and heartbreaking.“

Andrea‘s last interview was on July 29, 1972 by Greg Ford for interview magazine she said of being a Warhol star “they just throw you in front of a camera they don’t care what you look like and they just use you and abuse you and step on you and they don’t pay you anything. I am very depressed about the whole thing because I know I’m a damn good actress, and I’ve been brought down by Warhol and I’ve been mistreated by them and Paul Morrissey told me I was the best actress he ever had”

Before Andy Warhol‘s movie heat was released on August 8, 1972. Andrea Feldman just days after returning from Europe committed suicide. it was the anniversary of the death of Marilyn Monroe. Bob Collcello believed that she may have believed that it was Andy Warhol‘s birthday.

After summoning several boyfriends to the apartment building that she lived in with her parents at fifth Avenue and 12th St. on the 14th floor, she had a can of Coke in one hand and a rosary in the other according to Bob Colacello, when she jumped all of the men she had invited, were waiting for her on the street below. One of those men was poet Jim Carroll.

Lee Black Childers said “ Andrea and I were engaged at the time and we were going to get married. It was sort of a ploy at first, but it started to get serious. Her parents would commit her to Bellevue now and then to keep her under their thumb. Things seemed a little strange between us when I got back from doing “pork” a play we were performing in England. It was real wild for a while there and Andrea was acting very strange toward me like she didn’t trust me all of a sudden in the middle of all the mayhem Andrea stood up on a chair and held a picture of Marilyn Monroe over her head and she just stood there and a couple of people at other tables said“oh it’s showtime” after a long time of just standing there, she said “Marilyn died. Love me while you can!” The next day she jumped from the 14th floor window of her uncles apartment“

She left a note that said “I’m headed for the big time. I’m on my way up there with James Dean and Marilyn Monroe” Andrea Feldman‘s friend Geraldine Smith, who starred in Andy Warhol‘s “Flesh” wrote Andrea‘s obituary for the village voice “Andrea Feldman of Andy Warhol‘s Superstars jumped to her death on August 8 at 4:30 PM from a 14th floor window at 51 5th Ave. taking with her a crucifix and a Bible she found in a church a few days before… Andrea left a note addressed to everyone she knew saying she loved us all But “I’m going for the big time. I hit the jackpot!”

But very quickly after rumours began to swirl around that the actual note left behind by Andrea Feldman was not as kind as her friend had made it out to be. Bob Colacello said “in the back room of max’s. The old superstars were saying that Geraldine had been kind and print. The note wasn’t to everyone and it wasn’t about love. It was to Andy and it was very, very nasty“

Andy Warhol did not attend her funeral.

Because of Andreas suicide, Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey made the decision that the October Premier of Heat, would be a subdued event.

In 1976 there was a documented discussion between biographer, Jeffrey Morgan and Lou Reed

Lou Reed read says “it’s like when Andrea Feldman committed suicide. She jumped out the window and she said she was trying for the big time and she… Like the only thing anybody in New York ever had to mention about her was that she landed so hard in the sidewalk that she left footprints was gonna say prints I don’t know why, but it must’ve been because it was a tragedy for a cow or a horse Andrea Feldman that’s not romantic. She changed it to Andrea Warhol“

Morgan says “wasn’t it “whips““

Read says “yeah, as a matter-of-fact Andrea “whips“ Feldman.”