Paul Morrissey – filmmaker, Warhol collaborator and Velvet Underground manager – has died aged 86

Paul Morrissey, the cult filmmaker, Andy Warhol collaborator and Velvet Underground manager, has died aged 86, reports The New York Times.

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Born in 1938 in Manhattan, Morrissey met Warhol in 1965, via the poet and filmmaker, Gerard Malanga. Morrissey began working at the Factory, collaborating first with Warhol on My Hustler in 1965.

Morrissey’s low-budget explorations of New York subculture – including Chelsea Girls (1966), Lonesome Cowboys, Flesh (both 1968), Trash (1970) and Women In Revolt (1972) – proved influential on the next generation of independent filmmakers like Henry Jaglom, Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley. Morrissey was also an early champion of Brian De Palma.

Between 1966 and ’67, Morrissey also managed The Velvet Underground and Nico. Morrisey also helped conceive and titled the Exploding Plastic Inevitable happenings, which included appearances by the band.

After parting ways with Warhol in 1974, Morrissey continued to make films – most notably his 1978 adaptation of The Hound Of The Baskervilles starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.

Morrissey’s final film News From Nowhere was released in 2010.