“My Elizabeth”: An Intimate Photo Memoir of Elizabeth Taylor
As a celebrity, Elizabeth Taylor gave really good value. She married, and remarried, constantly; she caroused and rabble-roused; she had a worthy foe, and lover, in Richard Burton; she even brought awareness to AIDS when Hollywood wouldn’t touch the issue. She had wattage to spare, even as her star was beginning to wane in the late ’70s. In 1976, she met a young photographer named Firooz Zahedi while she was enjoying a dalliance with his cousin, Ardeshir Zahedi, Iran’s ambassador to the U.S. at the time. (She happened to be married to high-profile Republican senator John Warner then, but that’s a whole other story.) The affair with the Iranian diplomat ended, but Firooz remained Taylor’s friend for life, traveling with her all over the world, and he’s collected his intimate photographers of the late star in a recently-published book, My Elizabeth.
Dangling from her forehead was the famous Taj Mahal diamond pendant, a gift from Richard Burton.
Elizabeth at the tomb of Sa’adi, Shiraz, Iran, May 1976.
Elizabeth with hookah at teahouse, Shiraz, May 1976.
At Shah Abbas Hotel, Isfahan, Iran.
Elizabeth at the tomb of Hafiz, Shiraz, Iran.
Elizabeth putting on lipstick in her dressing room on the set of A Little Night Music, Vienna, Austria, August 1976.
Elizabeth and Sugar, Bel Air.
This rhinestone beaded jacket was designed for Elizabeth by Gianni Versace in 1992. It’s embroidered with faces of Elizabeth in some of her most famous roles, both on and off the screen.
Elizabeth at the Lincoln Memorial.
Elizabeth enjoying time off from work, Cannes, 1993.
