Suze Rotolo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Susan Elizabeth Rotolo (born November 20, 1943[1]), nicknamed Suze Rotolo, is an artist who specializes in artist's books and who teaches at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.[2]
Rotolo is also the woman walking with Bob Dylan on the cover of the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.[3] She was Dylan's girlfriend in New York in the early 1960s.[4]
She was born and raised in Queens, New York. Her parents were Joachim Rotolo and Mary Pezzati Rotolo who were friends of the Soviet spy Charles Flato.[5] Her older sister is Carla Rotolo who also knew Dylan in the 1960s. Her uncle was the American portrait painter Pietro Pezzati.[6]
Her political views are widely regarded as having triggered Dylan's topical songwriting. She worked for a time for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).[7]
The influence of Bertolt Brecht on Dylan's songwriting and performing has been acknowledged by Dylan as stemming from her participation in Brechtian theater during their relationship. Dylan's interest in painting can also be traced back to his relationship with Rotolo. According to her sister Carla, Suze became pregnant in 1963 by Dylan and decided to have an abortion.[8]
She travelled to Cuba in June of 1964, with a group, at a time when it was unlawful for Americans to do so, according to a July 1, 1964 article in the New York Times. In an August 19, article in the same publication she is quoted as saying, in regards to opponents of Fidel Castro that, "These gusanos are not suppressed. There can be open criticism of the regime. As long as they keep it to talk they are tolerated, as long as there is no sabotage." 'Gusanos' means worms.[9]
She married Italian Enzo Bartoccioli, a film editor who works for the United Nations, in 1972.[10] They have one son who is a guitarist in New York.
In July 2004 a documentary produced by New York PBS Channel 13 and The New York Daily News was released in which Suze was interviewed. Then in November 2004, she made an unannounced appearance at the Experience Music Project, on a panel discussing Dylan's early days in Greenwich Village. She and her husband also were involved in putting on a memorial event for Dave van Ronk after the singer's death in 2002.
Rotolo appears in Martin Scorsese's film No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, a documentary focusing on Dylan's early career from 1961 to 1966. It played on the American Masters series on U. S. public television in September 2005.[11]
[edit] References
- Hoot! A 25-Year History of the Greenwich Village Music Scene, Robbie Woliver, New York, NY, 1986.
- Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades, A Biography, Clifton Heylin, Summit Books, New York, 1991.
- The New York Times, July 1, 1964 and August 19, 1964 issues.
- Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan, Howard Sounes, Grove Press, 2002, page 153.
- ^ The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, Suze Rotolo article, Michael Gray, Continuum International Publishing Group
- ^ Suze Rotolo Biography at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Suze Rotolo Trivia at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Suze Rotolo Trivia at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, Suze Rotolo article, Michael Gray, Continuum International Publishing Group
- ^ The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, Suze Rotolo article, Michael Gray, Continuum International Publishing Group
- ^ Suze Rotolo Trivia at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan, Howard Sounes, Grove Press, 2002
- ^ The New York Times, July 1, 1964 and August 19, 1964 issues.
- ^ Suze Rotolo Spouse at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Internet Movie Database
