Death Became Her

The year, 1973. The streets of New York City are even filthier than they are now, smog chokes the skyline, and in a hospital room at the Cabrini Medical Center languishes a beautiful, wan phantom.

Born James Slattery in 1944 and raised on Long Island, the self-created Candy Darling—a model, whispery chanteuse, transgender actress, Andy Warhol superstar (Flesh, Women in Revolt), and underground muse (immortalized by Lou Reed in “Walk on the Wild Side” and the wistful “Candy Says”)—had developed a stomach bump that she half-facetiously claimed was a miracle of birth. God, she joked, had answered her prayers. Initial X-rays indicated otherwise.