The Celebrated Transgender Superstar of 1970s, Holly Woodlawn Is Dead

Holly Woodlawn, the famous Transgender actor and Warhol superstar who climbed the ladder of success and fame in the 1970s, died on Sunday, December 6th in Los Angeles. She was suffering from brain and liver cancer.

Holly Woodlawn is dead at 69. She played Andy Warhol's muse and was the inspiration behind Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side." Holly is well known for her part in the movies "Trash" (1970) and "Women in Revolt" (1972). She recently starred in Amazon's transgender comedy "Transparent."

Woodlawn suffered from substance abuse and alcohol for quite a number of years. She died on Sunday at 3:06 p.m. Her co-star in "Trash," Joe Dallesandro, was with her when she died. "I know Holly knew I was with her today because she always loved the fragrance I wear Chanel Antaeus," wrote Dallesandro on Facebook, after Woodlawn's death, according to Inquirer.net.

Born as Haroldo Santiago Franceschi Rodriguez Danhakl in Puerto Rico and raised in Miami Beach, Woodlawn moved to New York at the age of 16. She took up the name Holly inspired from the name of the heroine of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and took up the surname Woodlawn in 1969 inspired from a sign in an episode of "I Love Lucy." Later, she climbed the ladder of success and became famous as one of the Warhol's superstars.

Holly Woodlawn was excited to become a Warhol superstar. "Little did I realise that not only would there be no money, but that your star would flicker for two seconds and that was it," said Woodlawn about her stardom, as reported by The Guardian.

"But it was worth it, the drugs, the parties, it was fabulous. You live in a hovel, walk up five flights, scraping the rent. And then at night you go to Max's Kansas City where Mick Jagger and Fellini and everyone's there in the back room. And when you walked in that room, you were a STAR!" Holly revealed to the Guardian in 2007.