Pat Ast

Known for ActingBorn 1941-10-21Died 2001-10-03Brooklyn, New York, USA

Pat Ast was an American actress and model. She was best known for starring in Andy Warhol films and being a Halston model and muse in the 1970s. Ast enjoyed partying in her twenties on Fire Island, and her boisterous personality allowed her to meet and befriend influential people. She had aspirations to become an actress, singer and model despite her day job as a receptionist at a box factory. She made her screen debut after meeting director John Schlesinger on Fire Island, who cast her as a party guest in his film Midnight Cowboy (1969). Around that time, she caught the attention of fashion designer Halston, who gave her a job at his boutique and made her one of his models, despite her weighing 210 pounds, in a time when most models were extremely thin. In the early 1970s, with Pat Cleveland, Connie Cook, Alva Chinn, Anjelica Huston, Karen Bjornson, among others, Ast became one of Halston's favored troupe of models, nicknamed the Halstonettes. She also appeared in runway shows for Halston and Yves St. Laurent, closing the 1972 Coty Awards runway show for Halston by popping out of a giant cake. She later became associated with Andy Warhol, who gave her the role of landlady Lydia in his film Heat (1972) alongside Joe Dallesandro. In 1975, Ast moved to Hollywood to pursue her acting career. She has appeared in films such as The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976), Foul Play (1978), The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), and Reform School Girls (1986). She became resentful of Los Angeles as her film career stalled. She went to New York to do Nine, a Broadway musical based on Federico Fellini’s movie 8 1/2, but was dismissed after three months.Read more

Movies & web series

The Donna Summer Special

Beauville

The Princess and the Pea

Faerie Tale Theatre

Quantum Leap

Warhol

Midnight Cowboy

Six Characters in Search of An Author

Foul Play

The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox

Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill

Heat

Reform School Girls

Homer and Eddie

The World's Greatest Lover

The Possession of Joel Delaney

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper

The Fabulous Allan Carr

Pandemonium

Ted & Venus

Club Life

The Users

Women Behind Bars

The Most Glamorous Women