life and career
Robert Colaciello was born to John and Libby Colaciello in Bensonhurst, New York on May 8, 1947. [3] He and his two sisters, Barbara and Suzanne, were raised in Plainview, Long Island. [4] He graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1969, and also has an MFA degree in film criticism from Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts. [5]
Colacello began his writing career around 1969, when he began publishing film reviews in the Village Voice weekly. [6] As a graduate student in the Film department at Columbia University in New York, his first publications doubled as his class essays and homework assignments. [7]
In 1970, Colacello wrote a review of Andy Warhol's film Trash, which he hailed as a "great Roman Catholic masterpiece". This review garnered the attention of Warhol, and Paul Morrissey, the director of many of Warhol's films, who approached Colacello to write for Interview magazine , a new film review magazine Warhol had recently begun to publish. [8] Colacello was made editor of Interview within six months and, for the next 12 years, remained directly involved in all aspects of life and business at The Factory— Warhol's studio—as he developed the magazine into one of the best-known lifestyle magazines of the time. [7] Early on, he still wrote his name as Robert Colaciello. [9] Colacello recalled that Warhol suggested he change his name to Bob Cola, in order to sound more "pop." [10]
In 1972, Interview underwent a revamp and became a reflection of Warhol's social life. In 1974, Colacello began writing his "Out" column: "Andy said, just write about everywhere you go, every lunch, every dinner, every art opening, every movie premiere, every person you see there, whether they're famous or not. And then everyone mentioned will have to go out and buy the magazine and tell ten friends—'I'm in Interview, you have to buy it.' That was the idea for my column. It was very tongue-in-cheek." [4]
In addition to writing for Interview, Colacello traveled with Warhol, attending parties and events with the task of asking celebrities, socialites, heads of state, and princesses if they wanted their portraits commissioned by Warhol. [9] They also collaborated on the books The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (1975) and Exposures (1979).
For a time Colacello lived with a boyfriend, Kevin Farley, who worked at Iolas Gallery in New York. [11]
In 1983, Colacello left Interview due to tensions with Warhol. He cited not receiving credit for books he ghostwrote, and Warhol's jealousy over the attention Colacello received from Nancy Reagan among the reasons for his departure. [12] According to Warhol: The Biography by Victor Bockris, Colacello and Warhol's relationship deteriorated partly because Colacello had been "trying to stake a claim to an inordinate share of control over Andy Warhol Enterprises." [13]
In 1984, Colacello began writing for Vanity Fair magazine, [14] and has been a regular contributor since, writing extended profiles on a wide range of public personalities, including Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, [15] Balthus, [16] Rudolf Nureyev, [14] Liza Minnelli, [17] Estée Lauder, [18] Doris Duke, [19] and Naomi Campbell. [20]
Colacello is also a biographer. He is the author of Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House, 1911-1980, about the social and political rise of Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan. [21] His memoir of working with Andy Warhol, titled Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up (1990), [22] was called the "best-written and the most killingly observed" book on the subject by The New York Times . [23]
In 2007, a book of Colacello's photographs titled Bob Colacello's Out was published in 2007. [24]
In 2022, Colacello appeared in the Netflix documentary series The Andy Warhol Diaries . [25]
Andy Warhol was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol is considered one of the most important American artists of the second half of the 20th century. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture that flourished by the 1960s, and span a variety of media, including painting, silkscreening, photography, film, and sculpture. Some of his best-known works include the silkscreen paintings Campbell's Soup Cans (1962) and Marilyn Diptych (1962), the experimental films Empire (1964) and Chelsea Girls (1966), and the multimedia events known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966–67).
Gene Moore was an American designer and window dresser. Moore joined Tiffany & Company in 1955, as its Artistic Director and Vice President. He was also the Art Director of Bonwit Teller and gave Andy Warhol some of his first work as a window dresser.
Exposures, also known as Andy Warhol's Exposures, is a 1979 book by the American artist Andy Warhol and his collaborator Bob Colacello. The first edition of the book was published by Andy Warhol Books, an imprint of Grosset & Dunlap.
The Factory was Andy Warhol's studio in Manhattan, New York City, which had four locations between 1963 and 1987. The Factory became famed for its parties in the 1960s. It was the hip hangout spot for artists, musicians, celebrities, and Warhol's superstars. The original Factory was often referred to as the Silver Factory. In the studio, Warhol's workers would make silkscreens and lithographs under his direction.
Interview is an American magazine founded in 1969 by artist Andy Warhol and British journalist John Wilcock. The magazine, nicknamed "The Crystal Ball of Pop", features interviews of and by celebrities.
Candy Darling was an American transgender actress, best known as a Warhol superstar. She starred in Andy Warhol's films Flesh (1968) and Women in Revolt (1971), and was a muse of the Velvet Underground.
Bad, also known as Andy Warhol's Bad, is a 1977 comedy film directed by Jed Johnson and starring Carroll Baker, Perry King, and Susan Tyrrell. It was written by Pat Hackett and George Abagnalo, and was the last film produced by Andy Warhol before his death in 1987.
Blue Movie is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, and is regarded as a seminal film in the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984), which, before the legalization of pornography in Denmark on July 1, 1969, started on June 12, 1969 with the release of Blue Movie at the Elgin Theater, and later, the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre, in New York City. Blue Movie helped inaugurate the "porno chic" phenomenon, in which porn was publicly discussed by celebrities and taken seriously by film critics, in modern American culture, and shortly thereafter, in many other countries throughout the world. According to Warhol, Blue Movie was a major influence in the making of Last Tango in Paris, an internationally controversial erotic drama film starring Marlon Brando and released a few years after Blue Movie was made. Viva and Louis Waldon, playing themselves, starred in Blue Movie.
Victor Bockris is an English-born, U.S.-based author, primarily of biographies of artists, writers, and musicians.
Paul Johnson, better known as Paul America, was an American actor who was a member of Andy Warhol's Superstars. He starred in one Warhol-directed film, My Hustler (1965), and also appeared in Edie Sedgwick's final film Ciao! Manhattan (1972).
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol is a 1975 book by the American artist Andy Warhol. It was first published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
POPism: The Warhol '60s is a 1980 memoir by the American artist Andy Warhol. It was first published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. The book was co-authored by Warhol's frequent collaborator and friend, Pat Hackett.
The Andy Warhol Diaries is the dictated memoir of the American artist Andy Warhol and edited by his longtime friend and collaborator Pat Hackett. The book was published posthumously by Warner Books with an introduction by Hackett.
Susan Blond is an American publicist. She is the owner of entertainment and lifestyle publicity agency Susan Blond, Inc.
Regine's was a nightclub at 69 East 59th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was operated by Régine Zylberberg from 1976 to 1991. She also opened a bistro alongside the nightclub called Cafe Reginette.
Quo Vadis was a fashionable restaurant in New York City located at 26 East 63rd Street near the corner with Madison Avenue. It operated from 1946 until 1984. W magazine referred to it in 1972, as one of "Les Six, the last bastions of grand luxe dining in New York." The other five named were La Grenouille, La Caravelle, La Côte Basque, Lafayette, and Lutèce.
Victor Hugo, born Victor Rojas, (1948–1994) was a Venezuelan-born American artist, window dresser, and partner of the designer Halston.
Marc Balet is an American creative and art director, architect, and the former art director of Interview Magazine.
Jon Jewell Gould was an American film executive for Paramount Pictures. He had a secret romance with artist Andy Warhol in the 1980s. Following Gould's death from AIDS, his collection of Warhol's works was shown at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Vermont.
Pat Hackett is an American author, screenwriter, and journalist. Hackett was a close friend and collaborator of pop artist Andy Warhol. They co-authored the books POPism: The Warhol Sixties (1980) and Andy Warhol's Party Book (1988). She also edited TheAndy Warhol Diaries (1989). Hackett was an editor for Interview magazine and she co-wrote the screenplay for the film Bad (1977).
