Tere Tereba thinks of herself first and foremost as an Angeleno. Her L.A. universe spans from downtown to Venice Beach, from Mulholland to Malibu and beyond. She spent her teenage years clubbing on the Sunset Strip, seeing performances by musicians like Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Michael Bloomfield, and English bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. During this time rock legend Jim Morrison’s girlfriend, Pamela Courson, discovered Tere and recruited her to design for her boutique, Themis. Simultaneously, she was hired as an apprentice by Young Edwardian, then the most important junior fashion label in the country. There she was soon given the opportunity to design: Her first collection sold tens of millions of dollars at prominent stores like Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Proving her mettle in the fashion industry quickly, she enjoyed early commercial success. Her hallmark became wearable “contemporary” fashion: timeless yet trendy designs featuring clean lines, unique fabrics, and unexpected detailing.
During this period, she caught the attention of Andy Warhol in Los Angeles and was invited to visit Warhol’s Factory (then at 33 Union Square West) when she came to New York. Tereba began traveling the world meeting new friends, many from the artist’s exotic milieu. Soon, she was written about and writing for Warhol’s magazine, INTERVIEW. Although consumed by a demanding fashion career, Tereba enjoyed writing. As her interest in music gravitated toward film she interviewed iconic filmmakers, like Spielberg and Scorsese, for the magazine. Cast in the dark comedy, Andy Warhol’s BAD (the artist’s final film that was produced with Hollywood standards) her role in the cult classic was expressly written for her. Never pursuing an acting career, Tere appears in just this one film.
Emerging from a hiatus to design cutting edge fashion for the 21st Century, many young pop culture icons were seen wearing her designs for the L.A. based, internationally distributed fast-fashion chain, bebe stores. No longer involved in the fashion industry, since 2005 she worked solely on her critically acclaimed book, Mickey Cohen: The Life & Crimes of L.A.’s Notorious Mobster. The non-fiction historical biography was released on May 1, 2012.
In the book Tereba reveals the complete history of the L.A. underworld – definitively seen for the first time. A seductive, premium octane blend of biography, true crime and Hollywood lore, it’s epic in scope, spanning from the early days of the film business to the late 1970s. Through Mickey Cohen, Hollywood’s Godfather, the book delivers shocking, provocative revelations and iconic players, among the 20th-century legends featured are RFK, Richard Nixon, Rev. Billy Graham, Shirley Temple, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Lana Turner and her lover Johnny Stompanato (Cohen’s associate who was found dead in the film goddess’ bedroom) — as well as gangland powers, Hollywood moguls, socialites, hoodlums, sports stars, politicians, police, pimps, and party girls.
The bestseller made multiple “10 Best of the Year” lists. WSJ deemed it “superb,” Vanity Fair noted,”Tere Tereba gives up charismatic Hollywood mobster Mickey Cohen,” while James Ellroy’s recommendation was,”This is a slashing good book…Buy this book now. It will hang you out to dry!” Mickey Cohen is available in hardcover, trade paperback, electronic and audio formats as well as English, French, Italian, Hungarian and Chinese editions.