Viva Hoffman is one of Andy Warhol's superstars. He gave her the name Viva before the release of her first motion picture. An early pioneer of video art, she appeared in and cocreated many of the famous Warhol films, among them
The Loves of Ondine,
Tub Girls, and
Nude Restaurant. She has also acted in movies including
Cleopatra,
Midnight Cowboy, and
Play It Again, Sam, and her acting career has been honored by the Cinémathèque Française. She was a frequent guest at the Factory and a resident of the Chelsea Hotel. It was Viva with whom Warhol was on the phone when Valerie Solanas shot him.
Viva is the author of two books: Superstar, an insider's look at the Factory, and The Baby, a novel incorporating video art. She also wrote for and edited a variety of publications, including Vanity Fair and the Village Voice. She is the mother of two children and lives in Palm Springs, California, where she paints.
