My Take
Suze Rotolo is one of those figures who gets remembered as a footnote in someone else's story, and that's honestly a little unfair. Yes, she's the woman huddled against Bob Dylan on the Freewheelin' cover, that iconic snowy West Village street shot — but she was so much more than a girlfriend frozen in a photograph. A painter, a printmaker, a political activist deep in the civil rights and anti-war movements of early-1960s Greenwich Village, she was by many accounts a genuine intellectual force on the young Dylan, introducing him to Brecht, Italian art, and left-wing politics at a formative moment. Her 2008 memoir A Freewheelin' Time is a warm, sharp-eyed portrait of that whole scene, written very much on her own terms. She deserves to be read for herself.
Overview
Susan Elizabeth Rotolo (November 20, 1943 – February 25, 2011), known as Suze Rotolo ( SOO-zee), was an American artist and political activist. From 1961 to 1964, she was in a relationship with musician Bob Dylan. Dylan later acknowledged her strong influence on his music and art during that period.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Suze Rotolo
- Name (Japanese)
- スーズ・ロトロ
- Reading
- すーず・ろとろ
- Born
- November 20, 1943 – February 25, 2011
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Goat
- Origin
- Sunnyside, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- artist / visual artist / painter / writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- William Cullen Bryant High School
- University
- University of Perugia
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties | — |
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.