Cult filmmaker Paul Morrissey has died aged 86 after battling pneumonia.
The star's archivist Michael Chaiken confirmed the sad news to The New York Times that he died of pneumonia in a New York hospital. Paul frequently collaborated with Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground and was known for his cult films Flesh, Trash and Women in Revolt.
Trash, released in 1970, was about a down-and-out heroin addict and his girlfriend. It featured Andy Warhol superstars Joe Dallesandro and Holly Woodlawn. Flesh, released in 1968, starred Joe as a hustler who worked on the streets on New York while Women in Revolt (1971) was a satirical take on the women's liberation movement.
Avant-garde filmmaker Paul was born in Manhattan in 1938 to Irish Catholic parents. He was the second youngest of five children and attended Fordham University before he enlisted in the US Army, going through basic training at Fort Benning and Fort Dix. He achieved the rank of First Lieutenant. When he was on reserves from active duty, he moved to the East Village opening a Exit Gallery where he programmed a mix of underground films and documentaries.
While there, he began making his own short, silent comedies including Mary Martin Does It and Taylor Mead Dances. He was introduced to Andy Warhol in 1965 by poet Gerard Malanga. The artist was taken by Paul's resourcefulness and experties and invited him to assist him with his next project, Space.
The duo worked on many more collaborations, including My Hustler (1965), The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound (1966), More Milk, Yvette (1966), Chelsea Girls (1966), Imitation of Christ (1967), Tub Girls (1967), Bike Boy (1967), I, a Man (1967), San Diego Surf (1968), and Lonesome Cowboys (1968).
The films were rarely scripted and featured Warhol superstars, who were a clique of New York personalities promoted by the artist. From 1966 to 1967, Paul managed the Velvet Underground and Nico. The duo soon parted ways in 1974, with Paul previously saying he resented the artist for taking too much credit for their work.
He angrily said to Bright Lights Film Journal in 2012: "Why are they Warhol films, you stupid son of a b***h?! Why are they HIS films! Why do you call them Warhol films?! Don’t say ‘Warhol films’ when you talk about my films! Are you so stupid, you talk to people like that? I have to live through this for fifty years.
"Everything I did, it’s Warhol this, or he did them with me. Forget it. He was incompetent, anorexic, illiterate, autistic, Asperger’s—he never did a thing in his entire life. He sort of walked through it as a zombie and that paid off in the long run.”
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English (US) ·