Elizabeth Debbie "Liz" Eden (August 19, 1946 – September 29, 1987) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 transsexual woman whose boyfriend John Wojtowicz

John Wojtowicz

John Stanley Wojtowicz was an American bank robber whose story inspired the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.-Background:...

 attempted to rob a bank to pay for her sex reassignment surgery

Sex reassignment surgery

Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...

. The incident was made into the 1975

1975 in film

The year 1975 in film involved some significant events, with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws topping the box office.-Events:*March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London....

 film Dog Day Afternoon

Dog Day Afternoon

Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Frank Pierson, and produced by Martin Bregman. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, Penny Allen, James Broderick, and Carol Kane. The title refers to the "dog days of summer".The film was...

. The character Leon Shermer (played by Chris Sarandon

Chris Sarandon

Chris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...

) is loosely based on her.

Eden, then known as Ernest Aron, and Wojtowicz were married on December 4, 1971 in Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

. At the time of Wojtowicz's attempted robbery of a Chase Manhattan bank branch in Brooklyn, New York, on August 22, 1972, she was in a psychiatric institution, following a series of suicide attempts. Eden was not previously aware of his plans.

After the failed heist, Wojtowicz was sentenced to 20 years, although he was released in April 1987; while imprisoned, he sold the movie rights to the story for $7,500 and subsequently was able to help finance Eden's sex reassignment surgery.

Eden, born in Ozone Park, Queens

Ozone Park, Queens

Ozone Park is a working class neighborhood located in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens bordering Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, and City Line, Brooklyn....

, died of pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 resulting from AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 in Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

. Her personal papers and photographs were donated posthumously to the National Archive of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender History at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community Center on June 14, 1990.

External links

• Liz Eden (Ernest Aron) Papers via LGBT Community Center New York