Patti Astor, Doyenne of New York’s Avant-Garde Scene, Dies at 74

She was a founder of the Fun Gallery, which staged early shows by Keith Haring and other artists who defined the city’s downtown scene in the 1980s. Patti Astor, the downtown Manhattan “It” girl, indie film star and co-founder of Fun Gallery, the scruffy East Village storefront space that in the early 1980s nurtured young graffiti artists like Futura2000, Zephyr, Lee Quinones, Lady Pink and Fab 5 Freddy, as well as showcasing artists like Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, died on April 9 at her home in Hermosa Beach, Calif. She was 74. Her death was confirmed by Richard Roth, a friend. No cause was given. With her platinum hair, raspy voice and glamorous ’50s-style dresses, Ms. Astor was a formidable presence among the music, film and art makers who gathered at the Mudd Club in TriBeCa. In the summer of 1981, one of her nightclub buddies, Bill Stelling, told her that he had rented a small storefront on East 11th Street with the thought of turning it into a gallery. Did she know any artists? “Yeah,” she said, “I know a few.” The place was just eight by 25 feet, and the idea was to make a...