I'm not a boy, not a girl, not a
faggot, not a transsexual- I'm just me, Jackie.
-Jackie Curtis
Jackie's friendship and
professional
association with Andy Warhol
began in the mid-1960s. He appeared in Director Paul Morrissey's 'Women
in Revolt' with Candy Darling and Holly Woodlawn
and 'Flesh' with Joe
Dallesandro and Candy
Darling, presented by Andy
Warhol. For these unique films director gave the
actors information about their character, the scene and suggested
lines. The camera rolled and everyone improvised much of the content in
a single take.
Jackie was perhaps happiest on stage. His wild creative energies were
unleashed on appreciative audiences at venues including Playhouse of
the Ridiculous, La Mama E.T.C., the Poetry Project at St. Marks Church,
Bastianos Theater, Pyramid, and many other Manhattan theatres. His
talent transcended gender and he reveled in melodramatic female roles.
In 1970, Jackie Curtis auditioned in drag for Busby Berkeley's revival
of the 1920s musical "No, No, Nanette" - too bad Busby Berkeley and
Broadway weren't ready
for Curtis in the chorus line! Jackie's cabaret performances were
stunning. In 1973 he appeared at the New York Cultural Center in
"Cabaret in the Sky - an Evening with Holly
Woodlawn and 'Jackie Curtis' ", an event attended by gay New
York and "cafe society" alike.
Fortunately, Jackie's singing talents were documented on video in the
1970s and also on recently rediscovered studio recordings of songs from
"Vain Victory" - which are to be released on CD in the near future!
Jackie Curtis began writing plays in the late 1960s in which he usually
appeared as the female lead. "Amerika Cleopatra" ran during the summer
of 1968. Jackie's co-stars included Alexis del Lago and Harvey
Fierstein, who played "Cleo's Jewish Mother".
Amerika Cleopatra
'Robert de Niro' made his first
appearance on the stage opposite Candy Darling during the first run of
"Glamour, Glory, and Gold" in 1967. Jackie's musical "Lucky Wonderful",
with music composed by Paul Serrato, was produced in 1968 at the
Bastianos Theater. "Heaven Grand in Amber Orbit" was performed by John
Vaccaro's Playhouse of the Ridiculous in 1969 and toured
internationally for two years. Jackie Curtis' "Vain Victory" was
produced at La Mama in 1971. It was an immediate smash hit and ran all
summer long to packed houses.
Jackie was a prolific writer and a published poet. Jackie's poetry
focuses on his fascination with stardom, glamourous divas, and broken
dreams. He was proudest of his inclusion in "The Poets' Encyclopedia"
published by the editors of the literary journal "Unmuzzled OX" in
1979. The poem "B-Girls" is the longest work in the 310 page volume (8
pages). It is based upon Jackie's observations of the barroom denizens
of "Slugger Ann's", his grandmother's bar. (Jackie lived above the bar
with his grandmother for much of his life.)
Curtis
with Slugger Ann
Jackie died of an accidental
heroin overdose
on May 15, 1985. He was just 38 years old. At his wake, friends filled
his casket with photographs and mementos of his career, packs of Kool
cigarettes, a magic wand, a cocktail shaker full of martinis, and
sprinkled his face and body with glitter.
Later, after the funeral, friends covered his burial mound with so much
red glitter that it was visible in the distance from the highway.
Jackie's unique talents and his wonderful friendship and spirit will
always be sorely missed by those who had the good fortune to know him.