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Born in New Jersey in 1936, Solanas was, by her own report, regularly sexually abused by her father. Her parents divorced during the 1940s and by the age of 15 she was homeless. In spite of this, she managed to complete high school, and a degree in psychology from the University of Maryland.
Details of her life until 1966 are sketchy, but it is believed she traveled the country as an itinerant, supporting herself by panhandling and prostitution. She arrived in Greenwich Village in 1966 where she wrote a play entitled Up Your Ass about a man-hating prostitute and a panhandler. In 1967 she encountered Andy Warhol outside his studio in Manhattan and asked him to produce her play, and he was fascinated enough by the title of the play to accept the script for review. He was unimpressed by the content however, and did not bother to contact her again.
Warhol left for Europe shortly afterwards, and in the interim Solanas wrote and self-published the work she is best known for - "The S.C.U.M. Manifesto (Society for Cutting Up Men)."
Later in 1967 Solanas began to telephone Warhol demanding he return the script of her play. Warhol admitted he had lost it, at which point she began demanding money as payment. Warhol ignored these demands. However, he did employ her for minor roles in two of his movies of the time.
Solanas began to believe that her difficulties achieving financial success were exclusively due to Warhol, and on June 3, 1968 she caught up with Warhol as he entered the studio and fired three shots. Although the first two rounds missed, her third shot sent a bullet through Warhol's left lung, spleen, stomachIn anatomy, the stomach is an organ in the alimentary canal used to digest food. Generally, the stomach's primary function is not the adsorption of nutrients from digested food; this task is usually performed by the intestine. Latin names for the stomach, liverThe liver is an organ in vertebrates including humans. It plays a major role in metabolism and has a number of functions in the body including detoxification, glycogen storage and plasma protein synthesis. It also produces bile which is important for dige, esophagusThe esophagus oe/oesophagus , or gullet is the muscular tube in vertebrates through which ingested food passes from the mouth area to the stomach. Food is passed through the esophagus by using the process of peristalsis. Specifically, in mammals, it conne and right lung. She then shot art critic Mario Amaya and tried to shoot Warhol's manager Fred Hughes, but her gun jammed just as the elevator arrived. Hughes suggested she take it and Solanas did so. Warhol barely survived, even at one point being pronounced dead, and he never fully recovered.
Solanas reportedly considered Warhol a vampireCount Orlok from Nosferatu A vampire is a mythical or folkloric creature said to subsist on human or animal blood often having magical powers and the ability to transform. Usually the vampire is the corpse of a dead person, reanimated or made undead by on and spray-painted her bullets silver. She tried to wrap them in foil, but it made her gun jam (which it did anyway).
That evening, Solanas turned herself in to the police, and was charged with numerous offences, including attempted murder. After pleading guilty she received a three year sentence, a surprisingly short sentence for such a crime, and possibly influenced by Warhol's refusal to testify against her.
Feminist Robin MorganRobin Morgan (born January 3, 1941) is an American editor, Gender Feminist, defender of Valerie Solanas and editor in chief of "Ms. magazine" from 1989-1993. Morgan had her own radio program as a youngster in the 40s, and played Dagmar in the 1950s TV ser demonstrated for Solanas's release from prison. Robin Morgan later went on to edit Ms. Magazine in the 1990sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s Years: Events and trends Computers, technology Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other techn. Ti-Grace Atkinson , the New York chapter president of National Organization for Women described her as, "the first outstanding champion of women's rights". Another member, Florynce Kennedy represented Solanas at her trial, calling her "one of the most important spokeswomen of the feminist movement."After her release from prison in 1971, she was regarded by some as a martyr, yet she harassed Warhol and others over the phone, prompting the police to arrest her again. Solanas drifted into obscurity (and in and out of mental hospitals) although an interview with her was published in the Village Voice in 1977. During the 1980s it is believed she was living in California, supporting her drug addiction through prostitution. In 1988, at the age of 52, she died of emphysema and pneumonia, in a welfare hotel in San Francisco.
Warhol's friend Lou Reed, for one, never forgave Solanas for the attack and recorded "I Believe" with John Cale, singing "I believe/I would've pulled the switch on her myself." In 1996, the movie I Shot Andy Warhol, based on her life, was released.