Editing Courtney Love (section)

===1983–1987: Early music projects and film===
At age 19, through her then-boyfriend's mother, film costume designer Bernadene Mann, Love took a job at [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount Studios]] cleaning out the wardrobe department of vintage pieces that had suffered [[dry rot]] or other damage.<ref name=wilson>{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|last=Wilson|first=Eric|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/fashion/07LOVE.html|title=Courtney Love: 'I'd Like to be Trusted Again'|date=November 7, 2010|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411162820/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/fashion/07LOVE.html|archive-date=April 11, 2021|access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref> During this time, Love became interested in vintage fashion.<ref name=wilson/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/courtney-love|work=[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]|title=Courtney Love Has Created Her First Collection and I Want It All!|date=October 25, 2012|last=Wicks|first=Amy|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411162822/https://www.glamour.com/story/courtney-love|archive-date=April 11, 2021|access-date=April 11, 2021}}</ref> She subsequently returned to Portland, where she formed short-lived musical projects with her friends Ursula Wehr and Robin Barbur (namely Sugar Babylon, later known as [[Sugar Babydoll]]).{{efn|There are several different versions in circulation of how Sugar Babydoll (and later, Pagan Babies) formed. The version told in the ''E! True Hollywood Story'' as told by Kat Bjelland fails to mention the alternate names of the group, though Love's 1998 biography by Poppy Z. Brite notes the shift in name from Sugar Babylon to Sugar Babydoll.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=79}}}}{{Sfn|Marks|1995|pages=47–48}} Love  briefly fronted [[Faith no More]] for their first TV appearance in 1984: she sang with a [[Siouxsie Sioux]]-style vocal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/ten-90s-rock-stars-in-earlier-bands|work=Loudersound.com/|title=Watch ten rock stars from the 90s in their earlier bands|date=December 18, 2023|author=Doherty, Niall|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218012949/https://www.loudersound.com/features/ten-90s-rock-stars-in-earlier-bands |archive-date=December 18, 2023}}</ref> After meeting [[Kat Bjelland]] at the [[Satyricon (nightclub)|Satyricon]] nightclub in 1984, the two formed the group the [[Pagan Babies (band)|Pagan Babies]].{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 17:03}} Love asked Bjelland to start the band with her as a guitarist, and the two moved to San Francisco in June 1985, where they recruited bassist [[Jennifer Finch]] and drummer [[Janis Tanaka]].<ref name=garis>{{cite web|url=http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/g9069/the-evolution-of-courtney-love/|work=[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]|title=The Evolution of Courtney Love|date=July 9, 2014|author=Garis, Mary Grace|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910014441/http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/g9069/the-evolution-of-courtney-love/|archive-date=September 10, 2016}}</ref> According to Bjelland, "[Courtney] didn't play an instrument at the time" aside from keyboards, so Bjelland would transcribe Love's musical ideas on guitar for her.<ref name="etrue" /> The group played several house shows and recorded one 4-track [[demo (music)|demo]] before disbanding in late 1985.<ref name=garis/>{{Sfn|Evans|1994|p=60}}

Love has stated that she underwent a rhinoplasty at the age of 20, and that the procedure helped her career.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/courtney-love-doesnt-regret-nose-job-lost-movie-gig-to-julie-roberts-20141911/|title=Courtney Love Doesn't Regret Nose Job, Lost Movie Gig to Julia Roberts|first=Madeline|last=Boardman|date=November 19, 2014|website=Us Weekly}}</ref>

After Pagan Babies, Love moved to Minneapolis, where Bjelland had formed the group [[Babes in Toyland (band)|Babes in Toyland]], and briefly worked as a concert promoter before returning to California.<ref name="etrue" /> Drummer [[Lori Barbero]] recalled Love's time in Minneapolis: {{blockquote|She lived in my house for a little while. And then we did a concert at the Orpheum. It was in 1988. It was called O-88 with [[Butthole Surfers]], Cows & Bastards, Run Westy Run, and Babes in Toyland. And I guess [[Maureen Herman|Maureen [Herman]]] took Courtney to the airport after she stole all the money. She stayed and stayed, and then the next day she wanted me to take her to the airport. And so I drove her to the airport. She had just had some weird fight with the guy at the desk, and then she left. She said, "I'm going to go to L.A. and I'm going to get my face done and I'm going to be famous." And then she did.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.thecurrent.org/2015/03/a-california-desert-interview-with-babes-in-toyland/|title=A California desert interview with Babes in Toyland|last=Swensson|first=Andrea|date=March 11, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200530082556/https://blog.thecurrent.org/2015/03/a-california-desert-interview-with-babes-in-toyland/|archive-date=May 30, 2020|work=The Current|access-date=May 2, 2019}}</ref>}}

[[File:Courtney Love 1986 publicity headshot.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|right|Love in a publicity headshot for ''[[Straight to Hell (film)|Straight to Hell]]'', 1986|alt=A woman posed for a photo staring into the camera]]
Deciding to shift her focus to acting, Love enrolled at the [[San Francisco Art Institute]]<ref name="Auto9L-26">{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2012/05/inside-courtney-loves-and-shes-not-even-pretty-art-exhibit/|work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|title=Inside Courtney Love's 'And She's Not Even Pretty' Art Exhibit|date=May 7, 2012|author=Grow, Kory|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004145429/https://www.spin.com/2012/05/inside-courtney-loves-and-shes-not-even-pretty-art-exhibit/|archive-date=October 4, 2015}}</ref> and studied film under experimental director [[George Kuchar]],<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003830/https://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/culture-feed/prolific-profane-and-profound-george/|archive-date=December 3, 2013|url=https://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/culture-feed/prolific-profane-and-profound-george/|work=[[The Bay Citizen]]|title=Prolific, Profane and Profound: George Kuchar (1942–2011)|date=September 7, 2011|author=Korn, Jon}}</ref><ref name="kuchar2">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/hfacollections/2011/09/07/rest-in-peace-george-kuchar/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122092026/http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/hfacollections/2011/09/07/rest-in-peace-george-kuchar/|archive-date=November 22, 2011|work=[[Harvard Film Archive|Harvard Film Archive Collections]]|publisher=[[Harvard University]]|title=Rest in peace, George Kuchar|date=September 7, 2011}}</ref> featuring in one of his short films, ''Club Vatican''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mubi.com/en/us/films/club-vatican|work=[[Mubi (streaming service)|Mubi]]|title=Club Vatican (1984)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250205063347/https://mubi.com/en/us/films/club-vatican|archive-date=February 5, 2025}}</ref><ref name="kuchar1">{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/corruption-of-the-damned-a-conversation-with-georg,39685/|quote=Courtney Love and [[Devendra Banhart]] appeared in Kuchar's class pictures before they were famous.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105174700/http://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/corruption-of-the-damned-a-conversation-with-georg%2C39685/|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|title=Corruption of the damned: A conversation with George Kuchar|date=April 8, 2010|first=Angelina|last=Krahn|archive-date=November 5, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="kuchar3">{{cite web|url=http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=film&article=743|work=[[Bay Area Reporter]]|title=Beyond the Planet of the Kuchars|date=April 15, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629054512/http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=film&article=743|archive-date=June 29, 2012|author=Lamble, David}}</ref> She also took experimental theater courses in [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] taught by [[Whoopi Goldberg]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/whoopi-goldberg-icons|title=Whoopi Goldberg Really, Really Doesn't Care|last=Fitzsimons|first=Amanda|work=[[Glamour (magazine)|Glamour]]|date=September 21, 2018|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924092020/https://www.glamour.com/story/whoopi-goldberg-icons|archive-date=September 24, 2020|access-date=May 30, 2020}}</ref> In 1985, Love submitted an audition tape for the role of [[Nancy Spungen]] in the [[Sid Vicious]] biopic ''[[Sid and Nancy]]'' (1986) and was given a minor supporting role by director [[Alex Cox]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Courtney Love: Force of Nature|work=BBC News Worldwide|date=February 4, 2003|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2725377.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306040614/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2725377.stm|archive-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/events/it-came-from-kuchar,155451|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104024331/http://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/events/it-came-from-kuchar%2C155451|work=The A.V. Club|title=It Came From Kuchar|date=June 15, 2010|archive-date=November 4, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> After filming ''Sid and Nancy'' in New York City, she worked at a [[peep show]] in [[Times Square]] and [[squatting|squatted]] at the [[ABC No Rio]] social center and [[Pyramid Club (New York)|Pyramid Club]] in the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]].<ref name="scordelis">{{cite news|url=http://www.papermag.com/2014/08/courtney_love.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008140750/http://www.papermag.com/2014/08/courtney_love.php|archive-date=October 8, 2015|work=[[Paper (magazine)|Paper]]|title=Courtney Love Brings Anarchy to Hollywood|author=Scordelis, Alex|date=September 1, 2014}}</ref>{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=93}} That year, Cox cast her in a leading role in his film ''[[Straight to Hell (film)|Straight to Hell]]'' (1987),{{sfn|Davies|2003|p=187}} a [[Spaghetti Western]] starring [[Joe Strummer]], [[Dennis Hopper]], and [[Grace Jones]], shot in Spain in 1986.{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=89}}<ref>{{cite news|work=[[San Francisco Examiner]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53634115/|date=June 28, 1987|title=Actress Love's Story Takes Happy Turn|page=233|via=Newspapers.com|last=Snyder|first=Michael}}</ref> The film was poorly reviewed by critics,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2011/03/why-alex-cox-returned-to-straight-to-hell-243434/|work=[[IndieWire]]|title=Why Alex Cox Returned 'Straight to Hell'|author=''IndieWire'' Staff|date=March 4, 2011|archive-date=August 27, 2022|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827085848/https://www.indiewire.com/2011/03/why-alex-cox-returned-to-straight-to-hell-243434/|access-date=August 27, 2022}}</ref> but it caught the attention of [[Andy Warhol]], who featured Love in an episode of ''[[Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/22/arts/warhol-where-and-when.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240408002056/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/22/arts/warhol-where-and-when.html|archive-date=April 8, 2024|url-status=live|title=Warhol: Where and When|date=February 22, 1991|page=9|author=''The New York Times'' Staff}}</ref> She also had a part in the 1988 [[Ramones]] music video for "[[I Wanna Be Sedated]]", appearing as a bride among dozens of party guests.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com.ar/1508499-rescate-emotivo-i-wanna-be-sedated-de-ramones|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324013234/http://www.rollingstone.com.ar/1508499-rescate-emotivo-i-wanna-be-sedated-de-ramones|archive-date=March 24, 2016|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] Argentina|title=Rescate emotivo: "I Wanna Be Sedated" de Ramones|url-status=dead|date=September 14, 2012}}</ref>{{sfn|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|p=409}}<ref name=oxford>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/hole/49737|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623214658/http://www.nme.com/news/hole/49737|archive-date=June 23, 2016|title=Courtney Love blasts UK music scene and slags off 'America's Sweetheart' during Oxford Union speech|date=February 13, 2010|work=[[NME]]}}</ref>

Displeased by the "[[celebutante]]" fame she had attained, Love abandoned her acting career in 1988 and resumed work as a stripper in Oregon, where she was recognized by customers at a bar in the small town of [[McMinnville, Oregon|McMinnville]].{{sfn|Behind the Music|2010|loc=event occurs at 22:15}} This prompted Love to go into isolation and relocate to [[Anchorage, Alaska]], where she lived for three months to "gather her thoughts", supporting herself by working at a strip club frequented by local fishermen.{{sfn|Yarm|2011|p=216}} "I decided to move to Alaska because I needed to get my shit together and learn how to work", she said in retrospect. "So I went on this sort of [[vision quest]]. I got rid of all my earthly possessions. I had my bad little strip clothes and some big sweaters, and I moved into a trailer with a bunch of other strippers."{{sfn|Brite|1998|p=94}}