Arthur Kane - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

On July 13, 2004, just 22 days after the reunion concert, Kane thought that he had caught the flu in London and checked himself into a Los Angeles emergency room, complaining of fatigue. He was quickly diagnosed with leukemia, and died within two hours. He was 55 years old. Johansen described Kane as "nonjudgmental, bawdy and holy."

Annual tributes to Kane's lasting memory and influence were held at the Continental in New York City until its closing in 2006. Singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock wrote a tribute to Kane, "N.Y. Doll", for his 2006 album, Olé! Tarantula. In 2009 Kane's autobiography was published entitled, I, Doll: Life and Death with the New York Dolls, with the forward and epilogue written by Barbara Kane.

Kane met Barbara (née Garrison) when he was with the Dolls, and they were married in 1977. Although they were separated for many years, their divorce never became finalized. She was interviewed for the New York Doll documentary, portions of which are interspersed within the film's narrative.

In 2005 the documentary, New York Dolls: All Dolled Up, was released on DVD. The directors, rock photographer Bob Gruen, and his then wife, Nadya Beck, owned an early video camera and shot many hours of footage of the Dolls in the early 70s. Edited down to 95 minutes, the black and white film shows the Dolls in different locales, such as backstage or at an airport, and documents several of the Doll's live performances in New York City and California. Kane appears in some of the footage wearing a plaster cast on his left arm. In 1973 a volatile girlfriend of Kane's tried to cut off his thumb so that he would not be able to play bass guitar anymore. Dee Dee Ramone mentioned Kane when discussing the chaos surrounding this same girlfriend in his own autobiography.