Valerie Solanas - New York City and The Factory

New York City and The Factory

In the mid 1960s Solanas moved to New York City where she supported herself through begging and prostitution. In 1965 she wrote two works: an autobiographical short story called "A Young Girl's Primer on How to Attain the Leisure Class", and a play titled Up Your Ass about a young prostitute. The short story was published in Cavalier magazine in July 1966. Up Your Ass remains unpublished.

In 1967, Solanas encountered Andy Warhol outside his studio, The Factory, and asked him to produce her play. He accepted the script for review and told Solanas that it was "well typed" and promised to read it. According to Factory lore, Warhol, whose films were often shut down by the police for obscenity, thought the script was so pornographic that it must have been a police trap. Solanas contacted Warhol about the script, and was told that he had lost it. He also jokingly offered her a job at the Factory as a typist. Insulted, Solanas demanded money for the lost manuscript. Instead, Warhol paid her $25 to appear in his film, I, A Man.

In her role in I, A Man, she leaves the film's title character (played by Tom Baker) to fend for himself, explaining "I gotta go beat my meat" as she exits the scene. Solanas was satisfied with her experience working with Warhol and her performance in the film, and brought Maurice Girodias to see the film. Girodias described her as being "very relaxed and friendly with Warhol." Solanas also had a nonspeaking role in Warhol's film Bikeboy, in 1967.