Marie Menken
Encyclopedia
Marie Menkevicius was an American experimental filmmaker
and socialite
.
-Lithuanian immigrants, she grew up in Brooklyn
.
, a professor of literature at Wagner College
in Staten Island
. They married in 1937, but it was a rocky and unstable marriage. Menken and Maas lived in a penthouse at 62 Montague Terrace in Brooklyn.
Maas was a verbally abusive husband who was jealous of Menken's popularity and acceptance as an artist, as his own was in decline. Maas has also been identified by Gerard Malanga
to have been the off-camera presence performing fellatio
on DeVeren Bookwalter
in the Andy Warhol
film Blow Job
(1964). A different version (thought by many to be unreliable) appears in the Warhol memoir Popism: The Warhol Sixties
(1980).
The strongest bond that held Maas and Menken together (besides their friends in common) was their "wild parties", and "wild fights", fortified by the consumption of drugs washed down by distilled spirits.
based the characters of Martha and George and their relationship on Menken and Maas in his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(1962).
Menken appeared in Andy Warhol
's films Screen Tests
(1964), The Life of Juanita Castro (1965), Bitch (1965), Prison (1965), and Chelsea Girls
(1966).
She was the basis of the 2006 documentary film
Notes on Marie Menken by Martina Kudlacek. The film featured Kenneth Anger
, Stan Brakhage
, Gerard Malanga
, Jonas Mekas
, and Marie's nephew, Joseph J. Menkevich.
In 2007, Menken's Glimpse of the Garden
(1957) was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
.
Experimental film
Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
and socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
.
Early life
The daughter of CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
-Lithuanian immigrants, she grew up in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
Personal life
In 1931 she met Willard MaasWillard Maas
Willard Maas was an American experimental filmmaker and poet.-Personal life and career:He was the husband of filmmaker Marie Menken...
, a professor of literature at Wagner College
Wagner College
Wagner College is a private, co-educational, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 total students located atop Grymes Hill in New York City's borough of Staten Island...
in Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. They married in 1937, but it was a rocky and unstable marriage. Menken and Maas lived in a penthouse at 62 Montague Terrace in Brooklyn.
Maas was a verbally abusive husband who was jealous of Menken's popularity and acceptance as an artist, as his own was in decline. Maas has also been identified by Gerard Malanga
Gerard Malanga
Gerard Joseph Malanga is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist.-Early life:Born in the Bronx, New York, Malanga graduated from the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan and attended Wagner College on Staten Island...
to have been the off-camera presence performing fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
on DeVeren Bookwalter
DeVeren Bookwalter
DeVeren Bookwalter was a theatre actor and director who became the first person to win three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for his production, direction and performance in Cyrano de Bergerac at the Globe Playhouse in 1975.Bookwalter served as a member of the board of trustees of the...
in the Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
film Blow Job
Blow Job (film)
Blow Job is a silent film, directed by Andy Warhol, that was filmed in January 1964. The 35-minute film is an innovative film, considering the time period. It depicts the face of an uncredited DeVeren Bookwalter as he receives fellatio from an unseen homosexual partner...
(1964). A different version (thought by many to be unreliable) appears in the Warhol memoir Popism: The Warhol Sixties
Popism: The Warhol Sixties
Popism: The Warhol Sixties is a 1980 memoir by the American artist Andy Warhol . It was first published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich....
(1980).
The strongest bond that held Maas and Menken together (besides their friends in common) was their "wild parties", and "wild fights", fortified by the consumption of drugs washed down by distilled spirits.
Filmography and professional career
Friend Edward AlbeeEdward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
based the characters of Martha and George and their relationship on Menken and Maas in his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider...
(1962).
Menken appeared in Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
's films Screen Tests
Screen Tests
Andy Warhol's Screen Tests are a series of silent film portraits consisting of several-minute unbroken shots of Factory regulars, Warhol superstars, celebrities, guests, friends, or anyone he thought had "star potential".-Production background:...
(1964), The Life of Juanita Castro (1965), Bitch (1965), Prison (1965), and Chelsea Girls
Chelsea Girls
Chelsea Girls is a 1966 experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films...
(1966).
She was the basis of the 2006 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Notes on Marie Menken by Martina Kudlacek. The film featured Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
, Stan Brakhage
Stan Brakhage
James Stanley Brakhage , better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American non-narrative filmmaker who is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th century experimental film....
, Gerard Malanga
Gerard Malanga
Gerard Joseph Malanga is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist.-Early life:Born in the Bronx, New York, Malanga graduated from the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan and attended Wagner College on Staten Island...
, Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas is a Lithuanian-born American filmmaker, writer, and curator who has often been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema." His work has been exhibited in museums and festivals across Europe and America.-Biography:...
, and Marie's nephew, Joseph J. Menkevich.
In 2007, Menken's Glimpse of the Garden
Glimpse of the Garden
Glimpse of the Garden is a five-minute short experimental film made by Marie Menken, showing film clips of a garden, with birds chirping for the soundtrack....
(1957) was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.