Nico biography
Nico (born Christa Päffgen, 16 October 1938 - 18 July 1988) was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s. She is known for both her vocal collaboration on The Velvet Underground's debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), and her work as a solo artist from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. She also had roles in several films, including a cameo in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966), as herself. Nico died in July 1988, as a result of injuries sustained in a bicycling accident while vacationing in Ibiza with her son.
Early life
Nico was born Christa Päffgen in Cologne, five years after the Nazis came to power in Germany. When she was two years old, she moved with her mother and grandfather to the Spreewald forest outside of Berlin. Her father was enlisted as a soldier during the war, and sustained head injuries that caused severe brain damage; he was later used in experiments by Nazi doctors in a concentration camp where he eventually died.
In 1946, Nico and her mother relocated to downtown Berlin, where Nico worked as a seamstress. She attended school up until the age 13, and then began selling lingerie and eventually getting modeling jobs in Berlin. Standing at five feet, ten inches tall and with chiseled features and porcelain skin, Nico rose to prominence as a fashion model as a teenager.
Her adopted name, 'Nico', which she used for most of her life, was given to her by photographer Herbert Tobias, who was photographing her on a modeling job. He named her this after his ex-boyfriend, filmmaker Nikos Papatakis. She soon moved to Paris and began working for Vogue, Tempo, Vie Nuove, Mascotte Spettacolo, Camera, Elle, and other fashion magazines. At age 17, she was contracted by Coco Chanel to promote their products, but she fled to New York City and abandoned the job. Through her travels, she learned to speak English, Spanish, and French.
Career
Acting and modeling
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After appearing in several television advertisements, Nico got a small role in Alberto Lattuada's film
La Tempesta (1958). She also appeared in Rudolph Maté's
For the First Time, with Mario Lanza, later that year.
In 1959 she was invited to the set of Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, where she attracted the attention of the acclaimed director, who gave her a minor role in the film as herself. By this time, she was living in New York and taking acting classes with Lee Strasberg.
She appears as the cover model on jazz pianist Bill Evans' 1962 album, Moon Beams. After splitting her time between New York and Paris, she got the lead role in Jacques Poitrenaud's Strip-Tease (1963). She recorded the title track, which was written by Serge Gainsbourg but not released until 2001, when it was included in the compilation Le Cinéma de Serge Gainsbourg.
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