Suze Rotolo
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Susan Elizabeth Rotolo (born November 20, 1943), nicknamed Suze Rotolo, is the blond woman walking with Bob Dylan on the cover of the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. She was Dylan's girlfriend in New York in the early 1960s.
Her political views are widely regarded as having triggered Dylan's topical songwriting. More important, but much less often noted, the influence of Brecht on Dylan's songwriting and performing has been acknowledged by Dylan has stemming from her participation in Brechtian theater during their relationship.
She was born in New York City. Her parents were Joachim Rotolo and Mary Pezzati Rotolo and were friends of the Soviet spy Charles Flato. Her older sister is Carla Rotolo who also knew Dylan in the 1960s. Her uncle was the American portrait painter Pietro Pezzati.
She married Italian Enzo Bartoccioli in the 1970s and they have one son who is a guitarist.
In November 2004, she made an unannounced appearance at the Experience Music Project, on a panel discussing Dylan's early days in Greenwich Village.
Sources
- Hoot! A 25-Year History of the Greenwich Village Music Scene, Robbie Woliver, New York, NY, 1986.