the list of 9 for august 6, 1999:
NINE LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT ANDY WARHOL
Happy birthday, Andy! The late artist would have been 71 today. One of history's best-known artists, he is ironically most famous for his quote about being famous (for 15 minutes). But still, there are many simple facts about the man's life that the ordinary person may not know. I thought I'd share some.

  1. HE WAS GAY. Not to "out" Mr. Warhol, but obviously this was a major part of his life, well-documented in his posthumously published diaries.

  2. HE WAS BALD. Even I didn't know for years that his funky silver-white hair was, in fact, a wig. Warhol was bald since his early twenties.

  3. HE WAS A VIRGIN. Though homosexual, Warhol claimed never to have engaged in any sexual intercourse, and died a virgin.

  4. HE LIVED WITH HIS MOTHER UNTIL HER DEATH. Even during the wildest days of Warhol's notorious '60s parties, he would go home to his mother, who moved out to New York to live with him after his father passed away.

  5. HE WENT TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY. It's even harder to believe, but after a hectic Saturday night of carousing with all his "fabulous" friends, he would be up for church (usually with his mother) the next morning. Often he went straight from party to church.

  6. HIS REAL LAST NAME WAS WARHOLA. Warhol was the son of Czech immigrants. He dropped the "a" at the end of his surname early in his career.

  7. HE DIDN'T DO (MANY) DRUGS. Though one equates Warhol's constant partying during the '60s and '70s with the heavy drug use of the era, the truth is that he mostly stayed away from drugs during the '60s, stopped drinking in the late '70s, and finally became a clean-living vegetarian in the '80s.

  8. HE LOVED HIS BLUE JEANS. As hip as Warhol was, his trousers of choice, no matter what party or event, were nearly always blue jeans.

  9. HE COULD DRAW! It's important to note that, before he became famous for his silk screen prints of Marilyn Monroe and Campbell's soup cans - which some might say shows no painterly skill - Warhol worked in New York for years as an artist for fashion catalogues and magazines such as Vanity Fair. When he had his first art exhibit, he was already an in-demand illustrator.

Copyright © Mark Tapio Kines 2011