Edie Sedgwick a Troubled Beauty - 3977 Words

Edie Sedgwick was a short-lived socialite and actress that rose to fame in the 1960s. Beloved but misunderstood by all she met, her actions puzzled many throughout her life and have continued to fascinate since her untimely death in 1971 at a mere 28 years old. She was troubled throughout her life, constantly being placed under the care of various therapists and psychiatric hospitals, though doctors were never able to diagnose her erratic behavior. Due to her strict and sheltered upbringing, she did not make an independent social debut until she was 20 years old, but given the opportunity, her fame and influence skyrocketed. Despite her instability, she became an icon of her time and continues to inspire books and movies based on her short†¦show more content†¦109). Fuzzy forced Edie to go to Silver Hill mental hospital in Connecticut in 1962 due to her worsening anorexia, the first of many stays in psychiatric institutions for Edie (Painter Weisman, 2006). Silver Hill was an open facility, so Edie was able to maintain her eating habits and often went shopping with friends, charging hundreds of dollars of merchandise at almost each store she visited (Stein, 1982). When Edie’s weight dropped down to 90 pounds, Fuzzy had her transferred to Bloomingdale, a closed facility, in New York the fall of the same year (Stein, 1982). Because Edie was unable to manipulate her situation, she was able to become healthy during her time at Bloomingdale (Stein, 1982). However, when she neared her â€Å"graduation† from Bloomingdale when she was 20 years old and was granted a day pass to see if she could â€Å"handle [her]self outside,† she made love for the first time and became pregnant (Stein, 1982, p. 118). She was immediately given an abortion when she notified her doctors but was still permitted to leave Bloomingdale later that year (1963) and shortly thereafter decided to begin her newly independent life in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Stein, 19 82). Although she continued to see a psychiatrist three to five times a week, Edie decided