Mary Woronov

Mary Woronov was born on December 8, 1943, at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida (some sources cite New York as her birthplace). She was raised by her mother, Carol (Eschholz), and her stepfather, Victor D. Woronov, a surgeon, who adopted her. She grew up in Brooklyn Heights and attended Cornell University as a sculpting major. After a class trip to Andy Warhol 's Silver Factory, she joined Warhol's entourage and starred in a number of his underground films and appeared as a go-go dancer in the Velvet Underground's Exploding Plastic Inevitable shows.

She left the Factory in the late 1960s and, after recovering from a heavy methamphetamine addiction, spent two years in Europe with a friend; during this time, Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanas, and with the altered Factory dynamic, "there was nothing to go back to. " She supported herself with work in off-Broadway and off-off- Broadway theater, then "got scared and got married" to director/producer Theodore Gershuny.

Attended and graduated from Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, New York in 1962.

She remained at the Factory while her classmates went back to Cornell University without her. When she returned to Cornell, she began taking the Greyhound bus to New York as often as possible. She eventually left Cornell permanently when Andy Warhol invited her on a trip to California with other Factory regulars in 1966.

She appeared in three of his films, Kemek (1970), Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972), and Sugar Cookies (1973).

After the marriage broke up, Woronov moved to Los Angeles at the invitation of friend Paul Bartel, where she appeared on the daytime soap Somerset (1970) and had a memorable role in Bartel's Death Race 2000 (1975).

Has appeared with Dick Miller in eight films: Cannonball! (1976), Hollywood Boulevard (1976), The Lady in Red (1979), Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), Get Crazy (1983), Chopping Mall (1986) Motorama (1991) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003).

Best known by the public for her role as Mary Bland in the black comedy Eating Raoul (1982).

Has appeared with Paul Bartel in ten films: Death Race 2000 (1975), Cannonball! (1976), Hollywood Boulevard (1976), Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), Eating Raoul (1982), Get Crazy (1983), Chopping Mall (1986), Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989), The Living End (1992) and Acting on Impulse (1993).

Currently lives in Los Angeles, California acting, writing and painting (2002). She is also a graduate writing instructor at Otis College of Art and Design. Her independent film, The New Women (2001) (directed by Todd Hughes) opened in Canada on March 15, 2002.