she considered becoming a nun
May. 4th, 2026 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arbekaJanet Susan Mary Hoffmann (born August 23, 1938), known professionally as Viva, is an American actress, writer, and artist. She is best known for being a Warhol superstar in the 1960s.[1] Before joining Andy Warhol's Factory scene, she was a model and painter. She starred in several of Warhol's underground films, including Tub Girls (1967), The Nude Restaurant (1967), and Blue Movie (1969).[1] She also wrote for various publications, including The Village Voice and New York Woman.
Janet Susan Mary Hoffmann was born in Syracuse, New York, the daughter of Mary Alice (née McNicholas) and Wilfred Ernest Hoffmann.[2] She was the eldest of nine children born into a family of strict Roman Catholics. Her father was a prosperous attorney, and her parents were stalwart supporters of the Army–McCarthy hearings held to expose Communist government infiltration. The Hoffmann children were required to watch the televised proceedings. Raised in devout Catholicism, she considered becoming a nun.[3
Hoffmann began her career in entertainment as a model and painter. She retired from both professions, claiming that she believed painting to be a dead medium, and describing her time as a model as "...a period of my life I would rather forget."[4] "When I got a little too Georgia O'Keeffe-y, I decided it was time to give it up. I was an excellent painter. I might even say I was the best painter," she said.[5]
Her acting career began in 1967, when she was cast in the underground film Ciao! Manhattan, which was not completed until 1972.
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With former husband Michel Auder, Viva made and kept film diaries which included the birth of her first daughter, Alexandra (Alex) Auder in 1971. She was briefly engaged to the actor Anthony Herrera.[25][26] They had one child together, actress Gaby Hoffmann, born in 1982.[27][28]
In 1993, Viva was taken to housing court by the Chelsea Hotel, where she lived with her two daughters, for not paying her $920 a month rent for two years.[29] Viva wrote a book about her daughter titled Gaby at the Chelsea, a riff on Eloise at the Plaza, as yet unpublished.[30]
Viva lives in Palm Springs, California, where she paints landscapes
Janet Susan Mary Hoffmann was born in Syracuse, New York, the daughter of Mary Alice (née McNicholas) and Wilfred Ernest Hoffmann.[2] She was the eldest of nine children born into a family of strict Roman Catholics. Her father was a prosperous attorney, and her parents were stalwart supporters of the Army–McCarthy hearings held to expose Communist government infiltration. The Hoffmann children were required to watch the televised proceedings. Raised in devout Catholicism, she considered becoming a nun.[3
Hoffmann began her career in entertainment as a model and painter. She retired from both professions, claiming that she believed painting to be a dead medium, and describing her time as a model as "...a period of my life I would rather forget."[4] "When I got a little too Georgia O'Keeffe-y, I decided it was time to give it up. I was an excellent painter. I might even say I was the best painter," she said.[5]
Her acting career began in 1967, when she was cast in the underground film Ciao! Manhattan, which was not completed until 1972.
........
With former husband Michel Auder, Viva made and kept film diaries which included the birth of her first daughter, Alexandra (Alex) Auder in 1971. She was briefly engaged to the actor Anthony Herrera.[25][26] They had one child together, actress Gaby Hoffmann, born in 1982.[27][28]
In 1993, Viva was taken to housing court by the Chelsea Hotel, where she lived with her two daughters, for not paying her $920 a month rent for two years.[29] Viva wrote a book about her daughter titled Gaby at the Chelsea, a riff on Eloise at the Plaza, as yet unpublished.[30]
Viva lives in Palm Springs, California, where she paints landscapes
