Question about Edie Beale

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:45pm

I'm a fan of "Grey Gardens" and I LOVE my CD and I own the documentary and have watched it several times......I have yet to see it on broadway......when I go to NYC in May I will!

Anyways, I have a question "Why was Edie Beale bald?......Or was she?"

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:48pm

Rumor has it she burned all her hair off.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:49pm

She was bald...I think she just lost her hair due to the stress in her life and all. I mean the woman had one hell of a downfall and one hell of a strenuous life...

I could be wrong; but I do know she didn't have cancer or anything like that that caused her to lose her hair.

Someone on here surely has a better answer...

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:49pm

Really!?

Did NOT know that.....

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:50pm

There are two stories out there:
1. She climbed a tree and lit her hair on fire, thereby dooming herself to a life of spinsterhood. (freeing herself in her eyes maybe- or rebelling against father)
2. Her hair fell out from stress.
I tend to think it was the latter of the two as her face doesn't appear burned in any way and she keeps saying she has to grow her hair back which would have been impossible if it was the first. I'm not sure if she was completely bald or just had thin hair.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:52pm

Of course it has to be from stress, though the first one makes a damn good story.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:53pm

Haha :)

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:03pm

Could she have had alopecia (however it's spelled)?

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:19pm

It was, in all likelihood, alopecia, which is not caused by stress.

From the National Institutes of Health:

What Is Alopecia Areata?

Alopecia areata is considered an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system, which is designed to protect the body from foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, mistakenly attacks the hair follicles, the tiny cup-shaped structures from which hairs grow. This can lead to hair loss on the scalp and elsewhere.

In most cases, hair falls out in small, round patches about the size of a quarter. In many cases, the disease does not extend beyond a few bare patches. In some people, hair loss is more extensive. Although uncommon, the disease can progress to cause total loss of hair on the head (referred to as alopecia areata totalis) or complete loss of hair on the head, face, and body (alopecia areata universalis).

What Causes It?

In alopecia areata, immune system cells called white blood cells attack the rapidly growing cells in the hair follicles that make the hair. The affected hair follicles become small and drastically slow down hair production. Fortunately, the stem cells that continually supply the follicle with new cells do not seem to be targeted. So the follicle always has the potential to regrow hair.

Scientists do not know exactly why the hair follicles undergo these changes, but they suspect that a combination of genes may predispose some people to the disease. In those who are genetically predisposed, some type of trigger--perhaps a virus or something in the person's environment--brings on the attack against the hair follicles

[MotorTink]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:25pm

i always just assumed it had something to do with the unsanitary living conditions, but these are very valid points!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 10:56pm

There is no way she burned her hair off.

The stress thing is possible, but I really do believe she just had a disease (or bad genes) that made her go bald.

She wasn't TOTALLY bald...she had some hair that, by the time the documentary was made, was white.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:05pm

The Racoons ate her hair.

[Miss.Vanessi]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:40pm

...burned her hair off? Wow.
That's new to me.
I noticed a scar on her neck in one of the docs (it looked like a scar from a possible thyroid operation?). I always wondered if there was something physically wrong with her that caused it.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:11am

I know someone with alopecia. She has hair, but in patches.

Stress can cause us to have many ailments, but in terms of hair loss, it has been shown that stress brought on by a serious event (such as death) can trigger hair loss in people who are predisposed to losing it in the first place. (In most of these case, the hair loss is temporary.)

I am not aware of a traumatic event that occurred in Edie's life just prior to the documentary's being made which would have triggered her hair loss. But it's possible one did happen. Does anyone else know?

I'm leaning toward the alopecia explanation. It makes the most sense.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:14am

Isn't there some tricko-something disease where you PULL your hair out?

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:41am

I thought that she pulled out her hair.

[alterego]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 8:12am

I some shots in the doco you can see red hair under the turban thing, in others it looks blonde or grey. There must have been enough to dye at least.

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 8:21am

I noticed that, too. At times, her hair looks white and at others it looks darker.
I still think it was stress. Stress causes hormones to be released that wouldn't otherwise be released and causes hair to fall out. Alopecia is inherited and from the look of things, both parents had all their hair in old age.
She also could have been malnourished, which causes it. (Edith says she was malnourished.)

[tazber]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 9:41am

Poor lil Edie. You just want to hug her and say "relax".

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 9:52am

I'm glad someone has finally answered this question. I've been trying to find out for a while with no avial. Thanks for the information.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 1:58pm

I'm actually replying to my own message to bump up this thread. Just for everyone's information, I contacted Maureen Moore and she wrote back saying that she believes its a combination of stress related symptoms and herself setting her hair on fire. The stress related experience was what Edie experienced in her 20's which was reported by Edie's family and a report by Edie's cousin that states that he witnessed her setting her hair on fire at Grey Gardens.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 2:06pm

According to the commentary on the GG DVD, the filmmakers themselves were unsure of the reason for Edie's hair loss and to the best of their knowledge of Edie Beale (which was extensive) no one ever asked her or recieved a definite answer. I think all of the above postings just illustrate the mythology of Little Edie Beale. Her mystique and urban legends that surround her keep us fascinated. Also, the filmakers never saw her without a headscarf although they tried.

[broadwaybaby086]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 2:37pm

The disease where a person pulls out one's hair is called Trichotillomania.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 3:20pm

I know a woman who tried to dye her hair when she was younger and it all fell out. Could Edie have used a bad hair product?

[ahmelie]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 3:55pm

I like to think she burned it.