Candy and Daddy by Anton Perich (1972)

Starring: Candy Darling, Taylor Mead and Craig Vandenburgh

After living as a poet and a painter in Paris, France in the mid-1960s, Croatian-born artist Anton Perich moved to New York City where he found part-time work as a busboy at the notorious hangout spot Max’s Kansas City. There, he met and hung out with several of Andy Warhol’s “Superstars,” such as Andrea Feldman, Jackie Curtis, Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling.

Documenting the scene at Max’s, Perich took photographs and Super 8mm films, but he would become most well-known in the early ’70s as a pioneering underground videomaker.

In the book Your Fifteen Minutes Are Up by Catherine O’Sullivan Shorr, Perich notes that he didn’t speak English upon arriving in NYC, but he formed a bond with actor Taylor Mead, with whom he could speak French.

According to a title card appearing on the video — not on the original video, but on the version uploaded to Perich’s YouTube account — Candy and Daddy was created in NYC in 1972. A note appearing in the book I Love Taylor Mead by John Edward Heys indicates that the video was made in the apartment of Sam Green, an art curator who promoted the early work of Andy Warhol, several of whose paintings can be seen hanging on the walls in the video.

For what purpose Candy and Daddy was made, who all worked on the production and where the video might have screened in 1972 is unknown as of this writing. However, Perich would cause an uproar in 1973 after he broadcast risque videos on New York City’s Public Access Channel “C.”

Perich’s first video on Channel “C” was broadcast on February 4, 1973, and had to be shut down twice during the airing. The first time came when poet Hy Manhattan fondled the breasts of a woman only known as Rachel. Then, during a segment called “Mr. Fixit,” actor Danny F. attempted to insert a Vaseline-covered cylindrical light bulb into the rectum of another actor Sami Melange and the program shut down for five minutes.

Despite the controversy of this initial program, Perich continued to broadcast scandalous videos on Sunday nights. Many of these shows starred Taylor Mead, who frequently exposed himself on camera.

Again, it is not known if Candy and Daddy aired on Perich’s public access broadcasts.

Sadly, all of the actors in this video have passed away:

Candy Darling, RIP, March 21, 1974
Craig Vandenburgh, RIP, November 2, 2006
Taylor Mead, RIP, May 8, 2013

Perich is still working as an artist. Later in the 1970s, he invented an “electric painting machine” that is recognized as an early precursor to the inkjet printer. You can learn more about his art and career at the website for the Postmasters Gallery in NYC, currently located in Tribeca.