Simon Wells - Shes a rainbow : the extraordinary life of Anita Pallenberg

Dearest Anita,

As I do each and every morning, but not this morning,

I will not write across your obit

in the NYTimes.

I will not commit to print all those times uniquely ours.

And yet I will not turn the page,

for there is nothing

that would hold my interest

beyond what Im reading

of your expected yet unexpected death 3000 miles away.

Ive gone over in my head what I could remember,

but thats something wed be chatting up

over morning latte at the Caf Flore.

Theres so much more

wed leave for another date and soon forget and simply start all over.

Wed go on the way weve gone on.

All the more.

And your engaging smile and laugh brightens our day.

Its warming hands around the mug and then across the table.

Its the love that overwhelms.

Its the love that speaks through quietudes and distances.

Gerard Malanga

My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. Nor am I the captain of my soul; I am only its noisiest passenger.

Adonis and the Alphabet, Aldous Huxley

Fate, I respect a lot. I never regret anything.

Anita Pallenberg

A ccording to Google Maps, it takes around twenty minutes to travel by car from Chelsea to Chiswick in west London, although given traffic these days, a bicycle is often the fastest option. While Chiswick is fairly leafy, for those denied their own garden space theres a thriving allotment community. With a waiting list of several thousand potential green-fingered good lifers, these sites are hotly coveted pieces of turf.

Until quite recently, amid the familiar patches of hanging beans, hardy root crops and raised beds, one plot revealed something rather unusual. Sporting a range of exotic vegetables and fruits, the sheer outlandish nature of these strains would make even the most liberal of Notting Hill greengrocers blush. The lady who tended to her 25-square-metre allotment was as unconventional as her alien harvest. Usually arriving via a twelve-speed black and silver Renault bicycle with a wicker basket on the front, the spritely female in her early seventies would cut an unusual dash within Chiswicks otherwise staid allotment community. Often with a friend in tow, she and her companion would lose themselves in their mini-arboretum, with just a stray guffaw, chuckle or cloud of smoke denoting their presence. Raising eyebrows further, during the summer months, Anita and a fellow allotmenteer would occasionally hop over the wall that separated the allotment from the Thames and enjoy a spot of sunbathing au naturel against the embankment.

Theres nothing tangible here to indicate that this more-than-lively plot was once in the ownership of Anita Pallenberg; and even if there were, its unlikely that anyone in Chiswicks allotment community would be able to assess the enormity of her remarkable life. While applying the word career does her scant justice, similarly, it is impossible to sum up the gamut of Anita Pallenbergs achievements in one cute sound bite. Actress; model; designer; mother; muse; inspiration; sexual, chemical and feminist pioneer the list of her achievements and, moreover, her influence on popular culture, is incalculable.

Its an intriguing paradox that a woman who helped shape the cultural direction of so many spheres would enjoy seeing out her days tending to young shoots in a quiet London suburb. But there again, Anita Pallenberg was nothing less than an enigma to all who came across her. Emerging into an era still dominated by a heavy post-war chauvinism, Anita tore into the 1960s with an abandon rarely witnessed in modern times.

Possessed of a rare independence of mind, Anita Pallenberg was an unrepentant feminist who straddled numerous eras with a brazen honesty and audacity that was utterly unique for the period. Equally, despite what many would claim since, Anita didnt seek fame, nor was she the rock chick or groupie the media would crudely tag her as for years to come. She didnt need any limelight, a friend of hers would tell me recently. She was the limelight!

From her earliest days in war-torn Italy, it was obvious that Anita would dominate every situation she occupied. Her broad European lineage peppered with painters, dreamers and radicals, conventionality was never going to be something shed embrace easily. Her DNA seared with the unusual, the exotic and the driven, her life was destined to be different from the moment she took her very first steps.

Anitas intoxicating duality and puckish beauty were underpinned by a real sense of danger, mischievous humour and limitless possibilities. Furthermore, the company she kept was impeccable. From hanging out with Fellini and co. during Romes Dolce Vita moment in 1959 to hobnobbing with left-field luminaries such as Warhol, Ginsberg, Corso and Ferlinghetti in New York in 1963, Anita had already sussed the twists and turns of celebrity culture well before she was thrown into the spotlight.

While never designed as such, Anitas enchanting profile and slender physique would see her courted by many of the worlds influential photographers. Flying high as the flower of the Sixties began to unfold, Pallenbergs mobility around Europe collided with the movements of the similarly untamed Rolling Stones. The bands most enigmatic figure, Brian Jones, was a receptive mirror image to Anitas mysterious allure. Together, she and this complex Adonis forged their own gated cul-de-sac within the Stones tightly knit community. In an era where wide-eyed dolly birds were seemingly willing to acquiesce to their male consorts, Anita brought a rare sense of fierce and unashamed femininity to a world otherwise notorious for its chauvinism.

While Joness ferocious private life had previously little time for fellow voyagers, in Pallenberg he detected something of himself, and together the pair would become Swinging Londons first alpha couple. While Jones was every bit the strutting peacock, Anitas startling brand of neo-European androgyny was an eye-opener.

Nonetheless, while Jones would receive the majority of the plaudits for his renaissance style, few would credit that Anita was leading her partners new look. Bending the gender dial, Anitas revolutionary influence would ultimately extend itself to rocks highest tiers and by extension to the wider community.

Like many, Anita had a keen interest in exploring chemical properties. With LSD hitting the streets of London in 1966, she would easily become subsumed by the substances earth-shattering effects. London awash with the drug, the colours, imagery and vibrations that acid provoked would soon be reflected in Anitas fashion sense. A free-spirited gipsy look, peppered with traces of North Africa, the style would revolutionise bohemian dress sensibilities for years to come.

Much has been said and written about Anitas transference from Brian Joness to Keith Richards corner and yet little has been documented about how she led both relationships. In reality, Anita had little time for any assignation as a partner regardless of however star-studded the coupling might have appeared to the world outside. Already a successful model, by 1968 she had built up a strong film portfolio, having featured in four major motion pictures before her role in 1970s Performance came along.

Dark, exotic, convoluted, detached, Performance proved itself to be an assault on the sensibilities of everyone who came across it. While Anitas screen assignation was as an acolyte to a fading rock star,