Pat Ast

Known primarily for her roles in such cult films as Andy Warhol's Heat (1972) and Reform School Girls (1986), rotund actress Pat Ast was also a model for fashion designer Roy Halston despite the fact that she weighed over 200 pounds. A New York native whose father was a popular comic in the Catskills, Ast attended Erasmus High School in Brooklyn, NY, (graduating the same year as classmate Barbra Streisand) and later found work as a receptionist in a box factory. Appearing in Warhol's Heat after making friends with the eccentric artist, Ast later met Halston and worked in his Madison Ave. store in addition to her modeling stint. Moving to Los Angeles in the mid-'70s, Ast would turn up in such features as Foul Play (1978), The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), and Homer and Eddie (1989). On October 2, 2001, Ast died of natural causes in her West Hollywood home. She was 59.

~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide