Edie & the Eggs
EDITH MASSEY (May 28, 1918 - October 24, 1984) was an American actress and … Read Full Bio ↴EDITH MASSEY (May 28, 1918 - October 24, 1984) was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters. Born in New York, Edith Massey (nee Dornfield) was raised in an orphanage in Denver, Colorado. According to John Waters' book, "Shock Value", she lived in this orphanage "until she was sent out to be a maid at the age of fifteen. Edie finally got fed up and ran away, but was captured by the police and put in a reformatory." She moved to Los Angeles, California in an attempt to start a career in show business. To make ends meet while waiting for her big break, she sold pencils and combs on the sidewalk.
She made her acting debut as an extra in the 1940 film "Arise, My Love". In 1946, she married a soldier (supposedly a Mr. Massey) in Reno, Nevada. In "Shock Value", Edie recalls that the wedding was the happiest day of her life, despite the fact that "he went to the movies by himself right after the ceremony and I [Edie] went to the gambling casino alone." They separated in 1951 after Mr. Massey "got restless." Never really making it as a Hollywood commodity, Edith began dancing in bars, clubs and "honky-tonks" as a b-girl (asking men to buy her drinks). She traveled like a hobo on freight trains and hitchhiking around the country; Texas, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Las Vegas. Eventually she got a bar of her own in Oklahoma and once worked as a madam in an Illinois brothel. While in Tampa, another girl told her the "pickings were good" in Baltimore. She spent 15 years on "the block" (a notorious section of the city) before opening her own thrift shop and working at Pete's Hotel. John Waters met Massey while she was working at Pete's Hotel and offered her a role as herself in the film "Multiple Maniacs". In the early '70s, she quit her job at Pete's and opened a thrift store called Edith's Shopping Bag.
Massey gained a cult following from her appearances in five John Waters films: Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974), Desperate Living (1977), and Polyester (1981).
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Massey capitalized on the infamy of Waters' films by touring as the lead singer of a punk band, EDIE AND THE EGGS. She also posed for a series of greeting cards. Later, when the Baltimore winters became too much for her to endure, she moved to Venice, California, where she opened another thrift store with the money she earned from acting in Waters' films. In 1984, Edith starred in the film "Mutants in Paradise". Massey died later that year of cancer-related illness and complications from diabetes and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Director Robert Maier made a documentary short about her in 1975 entitled "Love Letter to Edie". She also appeared in John Cougar Mellencamp's music video "This Time", as Mellencamp's true love after a string of beautiful floozies. EDIE AND THE EGGS were a punk/celebrity-exploitation band. The band's name referred to Massey's character in "Pink Flamingos" who had an obsession with eating eggs and romanced an egg delivery man. Massey sometimes wore her bizarre leather costume from "Female Trouble" during gigs. The group included future THE GO-GO'S drummer Gina Schock. Edie and The Eggs recorded one single in 1982: "Big Girls Don't Cry" backed with "Punks, Get off the Grass".
She made her acting debut as an extra in the 1940 film "Arise, My Love". In 1946, she married a soldier (supposedly a Mr. Massey) in Reno, Nevada. In "Shock Value", Edie recalls that the wedding was the happiest day of her life, despite the fact that "he went to the movies by himself right after the ceremony and I [Edie] went to the gambling casino alone." They separated in 1951 after Mr. Massey "got restless." Never really making it as a Hollywood commodity, Edith began dancing in bars, clubs and "honky-tonks" as a b-girl (asking men to buy her drinks). She traveled like a hobo on freight trains and hitchhiking around the country; Texas, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Las Vegas. Eventually she got a bar of her own in Oklahoma and once worked as a madam in an Illinois brothel. While in Tampa, another girl told her the "pickings were good" in Baltimore. She spent 15 years on "the block" (a notorious section of the city) before opening her own thrift shop and working at Pete's Hotel. John Waters met Massey while she was working at Pete's Hotel and offered her a role as herself in the film "Multiple Maniacs". In the early '70s, she quit her job at Pete's and opened a thrift store called Edith's Shopping Bag.
Massey gained a cult following from her appearances in five John Waters films: Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974), Desperate Living (1977), and Polyester (1981).
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Massey capitalized on the infamy of Waters' films by touring as the lead singer of a punk band, EDIE AND THE EGGS. She also posed for a series of greeting cards. Later, when the Baltimore winters became too much for her to endure, she moved to Venice, California, where she opened another thrift store with the money she earned from acting in Waters' films. In 1984, Edith starred in the film "Mutants in Paradise". Massey died later that year of cancer-related illness and complications from diabetes and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Director Robert Maier made a documentary short about her in 1975 entitled "Love Letter to Edie". She also appeared in John Cougar Mellencamp's music video "This Time", as Mellencamp's true love after a string of beautiful floozies. EDIE AND THE EGGS were a punk/celebrity-exploitation band. The band's name referred to Massey's character in "Pink Flamingos" who had an obsession with eating eggs and romanced an egg delivery man. Massey sometimes wore her bizarre leather costume from "Female Trouble" during gigs. The group included future THE GO-GO'S drummer Gina Schock. Edie and The Eggs recorded one single in 1982: "Big Girls Don't Cry" backed with "Punks, Get off the Grass".
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We have lyrics for these tracks by Edie:
Cor de Mel Eu tava de bobeira no jet Quando você disse ""oi pretin"" In…
Crave I'm always on passage Even though I'm grounded I don't take …
Edie I've got rhythm in my heart I've got rhythm in my…
Front Row Got his posters on my wall He's the reason I can't Think…
Let Me Be Oh, I'm putting some new strings on my old guitar I…
Through Sometimes it gets cold and lonely, It is only necessary befo…
Wake Up Who you gonna take to the dance Who you gonna take…
Waterloo My my At Waterloo Napoleon did surrender Oh yeah And I have …
We have lyrics for these tracks by the Eggs:
Walk Away I'm slain Feeling strange Get on And get it wrong I fe…
Walking away I'm slain Feeling strange Get on And get it wrong I feel On…