Wendy O Williams

Wendy Orlean Williams (May 28, 1949 – April 6, 1998) was an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the punk rock band Plasmatics. She was noted for her onstage theatrics, which included partial nudity, exploding equipment, firing a shotgun, and chainsawing guitars. Performing her own stunts in videos, she often sported a mohawk hairstyle. In 1985, during the height of her popularity as a solo artist, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Williams left home at 16 and hitchhiked to Colorado, earning money by crocheting string bikinis. She traveled to Florida and Europe landing various jobs such as lifeguard, stripper, macrobiotic cook, and server at Dunkin' Donuts. After arriving in New York City in 1976, she began performing in live sex shows and in 1979 appeared in the pornographic film called Candy Goes to Hollywood. That same year, manager Rod Swenson recruited her to be a member of the Plasmatics. The two became romantically involved. The band quickly became known on the local underground scene, performing at music venues such as CBGBs.

After three albums with the Plasmatics, Williams embarked on a solo career and released her debut album, WOW, in 1984. Albums Kommander of Kaos (1986) and Deffest! and Baddest! (1988) followed, before her retirement from the music industry. Williams made her non-adult film screen debut in Tom DeSimone's film Reform School Girls (1986), for which she recorded the title song. She also appeared in the 1989 comedy Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog and the television series The New Adventures of Beans Baxter and MacGyver.

On April 6, 1998, Williams fatally shot herself near her home in Storrs, Connecticut. She had attempted suicide twice in the years leading up to her death. Allegedly, she had also been struggling with deep depression.

Williams was born to Robert F. Williams, a chemist at Eastman Kodak, and Audrey Stauber Williams (1921–2008) on May 28, 1949, in Webster, New York. She studied clarinet at the Community Music School program of the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, and later was a clarinetist in her high school's concert band. At the age of six, she appeared tap-dancing on the Howdy Doody show as a member of the "Peanut Gallery".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.