Maelcum Soul

Patricia Ann Soul (September 22, 1940 – April 5, 1968), known professionally as Maelcum Soul, was an American bartender, artist's model, and actress. In the 1960s, she portrayed leading characters in two of filmmaker John Waters' earliest works, Roman Candles and Eat Your Makeup.

Maelcum Soul
Born
Patricia Ann Soul

September 22, 1940
DiedApril 5, 1968(1968-04-05) (aged 27)
Baltimore, Maryland
Cause of deathDrug overdose
Occupation
  • Bartender
  • Artist model
  • Actress
Years active1966–1968
Spouse(s)Dudley Gray

Early life and education

Patricia Ann Soul was born September 22, 1940. She studied painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art and worked at the Fat Black Pussycat Cafe on Minetta Lane in New York City.

Career

Soul later worked as a barmaid at Martick's (later Martick's Restaurant Francais), a bistro run by Morris Martick on Mulberry Street in Baltimore. Here, she also worked as an artist's model. Her role in Baltimore was compared with Paris' Kiki de Montparnasse.[1] Starting November 4, 1966, Martick's hosted "The Maelcum Show" with 25 art works of her nude, created by different artists, including her husband Dudley Grant[1] with various styles and mediums.[2][3][4] Some pieces were made of stained glass and cardboard cutouts.[1] During her life, most "young-Turk" artists of Baltimore used Soul as a model. Earl Hofmann painted her as a surrealistic giant towering over Baltimore.[2] In response to the exhibit, Soul reported "It’s very funny to see 25 of yous staring at you. It's a happy things, a fun thing, I feel like it’s my birthday."[1]

John Waters called Maelcum Soul “my first star”, adding "she was ahead of her time". She was known for her wild looks, with burnt red hair, white chalk makeup, and very long eyelashes. Waters said she scared everyone, including him, but he loved her. She starred in his first Dreamland-produced movie, Roman Candles, as the Smoking Nun. For Waters' next movie, Eat Your Makeup, she played as the Governess. The third movie she was in was Dorothy, the Kansas City Pothead. She was to play the Wicked Witch, but very little was shot and the project was abandoned.[5][6] Waters said that she was a "big influence" on him, Divine, and his makeup artist, Van Smith.[7][8]

Artistry

The name, Maelcum Soul, is of Czechoslovakian origin. She is described as bohemian "in both the old-baltimore and art-world sense of the word." Soul was reportedly considered the "Alice Prin" of Baltimore. She was known for dyeing her hair an "iron-ore red" and wearing heavy eyeliner and "hip haberdashery" drawing from the style of the Berlin cabarets of Weimar Republic.[2]

Personal life

Soul married Maryland Art Institute student Dudley Gray.[1] She lived in Baltimore and New York City. Soul was described by John Waters as a bohemian.[9] In 1968, she died from a drug overdose.[10] She is buried in Bohemian National Cemetery in Baltimore.[11]

Soul's grave at the Bohemian National Cemetery.

Legacy

Posthumously, The Evening Sun reported that despite a short and "busy" life, Soul achieved "a certain fame." She became "...semilegendary among younger admirers of the beat generation. A dozen artists painted her."[12] Soul has been described as a "fabled starlet."[13]

Filmography

See also

References
  1. Briley, Tom (November 7, 1965). "Slick Chick Clicks In 25 Nude Moods". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Mr. Peep's Diary". The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland). November 10, 1965. p. 41.
  3. "Hagerstown Daily Mail Archives, Nov 5, 1965, p. 3". NewspaperArchive.com. November 5, 1965. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  4. "The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California on November 6, 1965 · Page 32". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  5. Stillman, Nick (February 1, 2004). "John Waters". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  6. Waters, John (2005). Pink Flamingos, and Other Filth: Three Screenplays. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 9781560257011.
  7. Scarupa, Henry (March 27, 1977). "He Cultivates 'Sleaze' Like a Rare Orchid". The Baltimore Sun. p. 25. Retrieved May 22, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Levy, Emanuel (August 25, 2015). Gay Directors, Gay Films?: Pedro Almodóvar, Terence Davies, Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant, John Waters. Columbia University Press. p. 274. ISBN 9780231526531.
  9. Phillips, Tony (February 9, 2004). "Indie Film's Bad Boy John Waters Talks About His Foray". IndieWire. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  10. Dana, Heller (2011). Hairspray. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781444395617. OCLC 742333236.
  11. Waters, John (2010). Role Models. New York City: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-25147-5.
  12. Fear not; Charlie hasn't gone uptown
  13. Alvarez, Rafael (June 5, 2013). "The Grand Dame of East 34th Street". The Baltimore Sun. p. E12. Retrieved May 21, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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