Susan Bottomly

Susan Dunn Whittier Bottomly (born October 1, 1948), also known as International Velvet, is a former American model and actress.

Bottomly began her career as a fashion model in 1965, appearing on the cover of ''Mademoiselle''. The following year, she moved to New York and joined Andy Warhol's Factory as a Warhol superstar. She was renamed International Velvet and went on to star in several films, including ''Chelsea Girls'' (1966), ''Paraphernalia'' (1966)'','' '' Since'' (1966), ''Superboy'' (1966), and '' **** (Four Stars)'' (1967).

Life and career

Early life and education

Susan Bottomly came from an old New England family. Her father John S. Bottomly was a former assistant attorney general of Massachusetts who prosecuted the Boston Strangler.

Bottomly was a willful child who went to boarding schools. She was thrown out of school four times. She attended Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts.

At the age of sixteen, Bottomly began modeling with Ford Modeling Agency. She appeared on the cover ''Mademoiselle'' magazine in December 1965, shot by British fashion photographer David McCabe.

In 1966, Bottomly graduated from Hannah More Academy boarding school in Reisterstown, Maryland. As a debutante, Bottomly represented Wellesley at the Bachelor's Ball held at the Statler Hilton in Boston in June 1966.

Andy Warhol and the Factory

In 1966, Bottomly met poet and filmmaker Gerard Malanga at a party for poet Rene Ricard in Boston. Malanga was instantly smitten and made ''Prelude to'' ''International Velvet Debutante'', a home-made short film. "I was conscious of making the first film of Susan Bottomly, and in a sense I was making my own superstar discovery ... So that when I returned to New York, I could say, 'She's already appeared in one movie. And it's my movie," said Malanga. Bottomly returned to New York with Malanga and they resided in a room paid for by her parents at the Chelsea Hotel.

Malanga had been pop artist Andy Warhol's studio assistant and eagerly introduced him to Bottomly. Warhol invited her to join his Factory as a Warhol superstar, "I had so much affection for Andy. He wasn’t a big talker, but he had a certain, extraordinary charisma that gave you a kind of permission and license to be freer than I’d even been able to be," said Bottomly.

Bottomly was, in Warhol's words, "very beautiful". A tall, long-necked brunette with graceful physicality, she impressed the artist deeply. She worked diligently on her personal cosmetics regimen, a process which Warhol observed with fascination: "Watching someone like Susan Bottomly, who had such perfect, full, fine features, doing all this on her face was like watching a beautiful statue painting itself."

Bottomly quickly became the group's breakthrough star, and despite being the Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick's successor, there was no animosity between them. "Edie was very gracious and sweet, very friendly to me. She was the queen bee when I arrived at the Factory," said Bottomly.

She went on to star in the Factory film, ''Paraphernalia'' (1966), and followed up with the silent short film ''Superboy'' (1966). Her time as a Factory star illuminated her beauty, and seemed to draw people to her with a kind of ethereal grace and allure. Warhol admitted, "There were other girls who were just as beautiful as Susan Bottomly was, but her way of moving made her extra beautiful. People constantly wanted to know, 'Who is she?'"
Bottomly starred in ''Chelsea Girls'' (1966), which was filmed during the summer of 1966. She appeared in three segments of the three-hour split screen film. One of the segments, titled ''Hanoi Hannah'' after Mary Woronov's character, showed Bottomly, Woronov, and Ingrid Superstar conversing in Bottomly's room at the Chelsea Hotel. The scene shows Bottomly playing a passive character in juxtaposition to Woronov's curt and aggressive character, Hanoi Hannah. Prior to filming, Bottomly informed Warhol and Woronov that she was expecting a phone call from a major modeling agency and would have to answer it during filming if it rang. When the phone call arrived, Woronov pulled it out of Bottomly's hands and prevented her from taking it back. She scaldingly, told Bottomly, "You don't have a call. You have a fat ass." Bottomly ran from the set in tears, although did later return to finish the scene.

This scene led to much speculation on the relationship between Bottomly and Woronov. In her book, Woronov recalled that "Velvet was a slob; a girl slob, messy but sexy like underwear and perfume ... was a society girl from Boston hoping to follow in Edie Sedgwick's footsteps, footsteps that seemed to lead straight to the rubber room so far as I could see, but that was her problem; I was more than willing to be the first step in putting her there. She was mine, my victim, according to the script which was a very S&M setup, with me in the S part."

During this time, Warhol was the manager of the Velvet Underground, an avante garde rock band. Bottomly appeared in the film ''The Velvet Underground: Tarot Cards'' , a 60-minute sound film depicting member of the Velvet Underground having their tarot cards read. Bottomly became involved with Velvet Underground members Lou Reed and John Cale, causing more conflict in the group, which was already disintegrating.

By the fall of 1966, Bottomly was dating David Croland. Croland designed her large statement earrings, which she became known for. Bottomly and Croland accompanied Warhol to parties and gallery openings, bringing attention to their bold style. Bottomly was chosen as one of New York's three fashion trendsetters by ''Women's Wear Daily''.

Bottomly was represented by the Paul Wagner modeling agency. She appeared in '' Vogue'', ''Newsweek'', and '' Town & Country''. She was featured on the February 1967 cover of ''Esquire'' magazine, seated in a trash can. In 1967, Bottomly did a screen test at Paramount for the lead role in the American remake of the British film '' Darling''.
Bottomly was intended to star in '' Ciao! Manhattan'', which started shooting in 1967. Ultimately, she didn't sign on to the production and Edie Sedgewick played the lead character, Susan.
Bottomly attended the 1967 Cannes Film Festival with Warhol to screen ''Chelsea Girls'', but the film was not shown. "The festival authorities explained that the film was too long, there were technical problems, there was no time." Bottomly and Croland had initially planned to stay France for two weeks but they ended up living in Paris for a year.

After Bottomly met French matinee star Christian Marquand, she and Croland split up in 1968. She was cast in a minor role in the film ''Candy'' (1968). In the film, she runs down a street shouting "Candy! Your forgot the shoe!" After filming, she was flown to Italy by Marquand to work with the Living Theatre, where she stayed for three months.

When she returned to New York, Bottomly appeared alongside other Factory members in John Schlesinger's '' Midnight Cowboy'' (1969), which was filmed after the attempted assassination of Warhol in 1968. Late that year, Bottomly left the Factory as Warhol superstar Viva was gaining popularity. "I remember having a few twangs about the fact that Viva was becoming more important than I was. On the other hand I knew it was time for me to move on, so it wasn’t a big deal to me," she recalled.

Later career

In 1969, Bottomly married Frederick Terry Krementz at her parents home in Wellesley, Massachusetts. As a fashion photographer Krementz went by the name Tony Kent. The couple moved to Paris and Bottomly changed her name to Susan Kent. She continued modeling in the 1970s, appearing most often in European magazines such as Vogue Paris, Vogue Italia, and Elle France. She appeared on the cover of '' Cosmopolitan'' magazine in August 1975 and October 1976.

After her divorce, she operated Uno modeling agency in Salt Lake City, Utah in the 1980s.

References

External links

*

Susan Bottomly at
warholstars.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottomly, Susan
Actresses from Massachusetts
Female models from Massachusetts
American film actresses
Living people
People associated with The Factory
People from Wellesley, Massachusetts
1948 births
People from Salt Lake County, Utah