Before Paris Hilton, There was Edie Sedgwick

In the mid to late 1960s, Edie Sedgwick was the toast of New York City's pop art culture and a media darling. Like Paris Hilton, she was a beautiful, photogenic, magnetic, and self-destructive heiress. Also like Paris, she was mostly famous for being famous.

In many ways, Edie Sedgwick was artist Andy Warhol's creation. When he coined the term "superstar", he was thinking of her. Edie was the American version of royalty, the lineage on both sides of her family going back to the 17th century colonies of Massachusetts Bay and New Amsterdam. One of her ancestors was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives under George Washington. Warhol, a first generation American, loved to mingle with anyone passing for royalty and Edie fit the bill. Shortly after he first met her in 1965, he declared that he would make her "the queen of The Factory", his Manhattan studio and party spot.

Edie was also destined for another term that Warhol coined: "15 minutes of fame." He began casting her in several of his short films that were equal parts documentary, fiction, and cinema verite. After she had a falling out with Warhol, he edited her out of films like "Chelsea Girls."

Leaving Warhol, however, didn't slow down her personal life or the media attention. She moved to the Chelsea Hotel and inside Bob Dylan's social circle. Her drug abuse, particularly barbiturates, also accelerated. The primary evidence of her physical decline could be seen in the semi-documentary film "Ciao! Manhattan." The film was shot from 1967 to her death in 1971 from a barbituate overdose at age 28.

In 2006, "Factory Girl", a biographical film about Sedgwick, was released to mixed reviews along with condemnation from those who knew her.

To this day, rumors circulate about her. In 2007, her brother Jonathan claimed that she had an affair with Bob Dylan, which led to her pregnancy and subsequent abortion. Dylan, however, has claimed that he never had a relationship with her. Others, including Warhol Factory regular Paul Morrissey, have claimed that they did have a relationship that ended after Edie found out that Dylan had secretly married Sara Lownds.