Genevieve Waite

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Genevieve Waite
Waite in 1969
Born
Genevieve Joyce Weight

(1948-02-13)13 February 1948
Cape Town, South Africa
Died18 May 2019(2019-05-18) (aged 71)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
  • model
Spouse(s)Matthew Reich
(m. 1968; div. 19??)
​
​
(m. 1972; div. 1985)​

Norman Buntaine
(separated)
Children
[2]

Geneviève Joyce Waïte (born Genevieve Joyce Weight,[3] 13 February 1948 – 18 May 2019) was a South African actress, singer, and model.[3][4] Her best-known acting role was the title character in the 1968 film Joanna.[5] In 1974, she released her only solo album, Romance Is on the Rise, which was produced by her husband, John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas. Her singing voice has been described as "Betty Boop crossed with Billie Holiday".[3] In 1975, she starred in the short-lived Broadway musical, Man on the Moon, which she co-wrote with Phillips.[3]

Early life

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Geneviève Weight was born on February 13, 1948, in Cape Town, South Africa. her family moved to Johannesburg when she was a baby.[5]

As a teenager, she had appeared in a few South African films before relocating to England in 1966 to pursue a career as a fashion model.[5]

Career

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Weight changed her surname to Waite. She portrayed the title character in the fil. Joanna (1968), which tells the story of a young art student in London in the swinging 1960s who gets involved with a black nightclub owner (played by Calvin Lockhart).[5] Because it showed an interracial relationship at a time when it was still illegal in some places, like Waite's home country of South Africa, which at the time still under apartheid, the movie caused controversy.[6][5]

She appears in the films Myra Breckinridge and Move, both released in 1970.[5]

Waite was photographed by Richard Avedon for Vogue magazine in 1971.[5][3]

In 1974, Waite recorded her only album as a singer, which was produced and co-written by her husband, John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas.[3][5] The album, Romance Is on the Rise, was released on Phillips' label Paramour, and featured a cover image of Waite as a Vargas girl shot by Richard Avedon. A 2011 release of the album on CD includes her cover version of the Velvet Underground song "Femme Fatale" as a bonus track.[7]

In 1975, Waite starred in a short-lived Broadway musical, Man on the Moon, which she co-wrote with John Phillips.[3] The set was produced by pop artist Andy Warhol.[8]

Her last movie role was in Short Distance (1989).[3]

Personal life

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Waite married Matthew Reich, who appeared in Andy Warhol’s film ‘Bad’ and was known latterly by the nickname ‘Crazy Matty’ in The Andy Warhol Diaries, on 10 December 1968;[9] They later divorced.

Waite then married John Phillips, on 31 January 1972, at a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles' Chinatown by a one-legged Buddhist priest.[3] They had two children: Tamerlane Phillips (b. 1971) and actress Bijou Phillips (b. 1980).[3][5] Their marriage was marred by drug abuse. Waite, John Phillips, and his daughter Mackenzie Philips went for treatment at a New Jersey facility in 1980.[5] In 1981, Philips told People magazine: "I had an insatiable cocaine habit. Genevieve and I were doing a quarter ounce or half ounce a day. We were also taking 60 Dilaudids [a depressant] a day, 160 milligrams of morphine, heroin and everything else. The only other person I ever heard about who took as many drugs as we did was Elvis."[10] The couple divorced in 1985.

Wait then married Norman Buntaine; they later separated.[9][11]

Death

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On 18 May 2019, Waite died in her sleep in Los Angeles, California.[1] Her daughter, Bijou, announced her mother's death several days later.[1] She is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, near Palm Springs, along with her ex-husband John Phillips.

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Barnes, Mike (21 May 2019). "Geneviève Waïte, Singer, Songwriter and 'Joanna' Actress, Dies at 71". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019.
  2. ^ Fernandez, Alexia (20 May 2019). "Actress Geneviève Waïte, Former Wife of Musician John Phillips, Dead at 71". People. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Campion, Chris (24 May 2019). "Genevieve Waite, who made the '60s scene with John Phillips and Mick Jagger, dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Geneviève Waïte". allmovie.com. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sandomir, Richard (24 May 2019). "Geneviève Waïte, 71, Star of the Swinging-'60s Film 'Joanna,' Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  6. ^ Crosby, Joan (9 February 1969). "Color Blindness Irks Genevieve Waite". Goldsboro News-Argus. pp. 9B. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Genevieve Waite". Amazon Music. Amazon (company). Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  8. ^ Parker, Jerry (26 January 1975). "Sky-High Hopes For A Lunar Musical". Newsday. Nassau Edition. pp. Part II / 5. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Geneviève Waïte". MyHeritage. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  10. ^ Vespa, Mary (2 March 1981). "The Drug Ordeal". People.com. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  11. ^ "American Female Singer / Song Writers". Air Structures. August 2004. Archived from the original (Genevieve Waite: Romance Is on the Rise (Released in 1974, Rating 3+) on 4 October 2009.
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