Angie Bowie

Lore & Background

Angie Bowie was born in Ayios Dhometios, British Cyprus, to a Canadian mother and American father. She was raised Roman Catholic and educated in Cyprus, Switzerland, and England, later attending Connecticut College until she was expelled after an affair with a fellow female student. She met David Bowie in London in 1969 through record executive Calvin Mark Lee, and they married in 1970. She has stated the marriage was one of convenience, not love, and that they had an open marriage. She assisted Bowie by sewing costumes for him and his band, including the Ziggy Stardust costumes.

After their divorce in 1980, she received £500,000 and a 10-year gagging clause; David Bowie gained custody of their son. She later said she was blackballed from the entertainment industry and considered suicide. She has had credited acting roles in several films, including Eat the Rich (1987) and Deadrockstar (2002), and appeared on Celebrity Big Brother 17 in 2016, during which she was informed of David Bowie's death. She has written two autobiographies, Free Spirit (1981) and Backstage Passes (1993), as well as books on bisexuality, sex, cats, and poetry.

Angie Bowie has a daughter, Stacia Larranna Celeste Lipka, born in July 1980 from a relationship with punk musician Drew Blood. She later lived in Tucson, Arizona, and as of 2016 lived in Acworth, Georgia with Michael Gassett. She is estranged from her son Duncan Jones, stating she has not seen him since he was 13 and that he cut off contact with her and her daughter.

Reader's Guide

Angie Bowie's significance lies primarily in her role as a muse and collaborator during the early years of David Bowie's career, particularly her hands-on contribution to the iconic Ziggy Stardust costumes. Her candid autobiographies and interviews have provided a controversial, insider perspective on the glam rock era and her open marriage to one of music's most influential figures. Though her own acting and music career never achieved major success, her appearances on reality television and her continued writing have kept her in the public eye. Her legacy is also marked by her advocacy for bisexual visibility, as seen in her 2002 book Bisexuality, and her work as a roving reporter for a transgender magazine. The dispute over whether she inspired the Rolling Stones song 'Angie' remains unresolved, adding a layer of pop-culture mystery to her story.

Did You Know?

• Angie Bowie assisted in sewing the Ziggy Stardust costumes for David Bowie and his band.
• She auditioned unsuccessfully for the title role in the 1974 television movie Wonder Woman.
• She bought the television rights to the Marvel characters Black Widow and Daredevil in 1975, hoping to star as Black Widow, but the series was never produced.
• She has long claimed to have inspired the Rolling Stones song 'Angie', but Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have consistently denied this.