Cleopatra, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Place in the Sun—Elizabeth Taylor was a truly inimitable Hollywood starlet who was beloved the world over. Very few people had private access to the celebrity, but acclaimed photographer Firooz Zahedi met the mega-star as a budding photographer at the age of twenty-seven. At the time, he did not know that the mesmerizing violet-eyed star would become one of his biggest professional supporters and dearest friends.
Documenting a little-known era of Taylor's life, from age forty-four to the end of the star's life, Taylor's photos in My Elizabeth, many of which are never-before-published, offer a singular glimpse into her private life. Zahedi reveals an extraordinarily playful and yet whimsical, down-to-earth spirit not otherwise captured by celebrity photographers.
In this behind-the-scenes collection, we see Elizabeth Taylor at the ancient ruins of Persepolis in Iran; swathed in gorgeous jewel-toned Persian fabrics selected from local bazaars; playing softball in Montauk with friends; on the set of A Little Night Music in Vienna; strolling the National Mall with Firooz in Washington, DC; making lunch on John Warner's Virginia farm; applying her makeup for The Little Foxes on Broadway; napping on a yacht in Cannes; posing with her beloved Shih Tzu Sugar in her Bel Air home; holding a condom to promote safe sex in the age of AIDS on the cover of Vanity Fair, and photographs of her Bel Air home, taken after her death.
Diving deeper than the jewels, gossip, and multitude of husbands, this book explores who she really is at her core, outside of the Hollywood limelight. Beginning in Washington, DC, and traveling to New York, Los Angeles, Europe, and Iran, the duo's collaboration underscores an evolution in their friendship and the real star presence of Elizabeth.
About the Authors:
Firooz Zahedi was born in Tehran, Iran and attended secondary school in England before moving to the United States in 1969 to study at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He studied at the Corcoran School of Art. After working as a photographer for Andy Warhol's Interview magazine, he moved to Los Angeles in 1978 with Elizabeth Taylor, as her personal photographer on the film, A Little Night Music. He later became a contract photographer for Vanity Fair. His editorial work has also appeared in Vogue, GQ, Town & Country, Architectural Digest and Entertainment Weekly. His portraits, fine art photographs, and collages have been shown in prominent galleries in New York, Los Angeles, Basel, London, and Dubai as well as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach. Firooz and his wife divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles, New York, and Palm Beach.
Liz Smith is renowned as "the 2000-year-old gossip columnist." She is a graduate of the University of Texas journalism school who has worked in celebrity and show business for fifty-seven years. She has written for magazines and newspapers, and appears regularly on television. She lives in New York City.
Bob Colacello, a longtime special correspondent for Interview and Vanity Fair, was educated at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and Columbia University's Graduate School of the Arts. He has written definitive biographies of Andy Warhol, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan and lives in New York City.
Glitterati Incorporated
ISBN: 978-0-9962930-4-4
166 pages; 12 x 13"; hardcover;
6-page gatefold, 2 printed vellums
FRENCH LANGUAGE EDITION (€60)
ENGLISH LOOK INSIDE / FRENCH
ENGLISH PRESS RELEASE / FRENCH
