With Academy-Awards and nostalgia as my excuses, here are a few of my brief encounters with a real queen, a world queen, a political
queen and a few Oscar-winning drama queens. 1956, Miami Beach A few blocks from my house, in front of the Sheridan movie theater, 24-year old Elizabeth Taylor and her second husband, producer Mike Todd are here to publicize his movie, Around the World in 80 Days. She is often described as “the most beautiful woman in the world,” but she looks more like a doll on my shelf: short, shoulder-length jet hair, purplish eyes, paperwhite skin. In a couple of years Todd will be killed in a plane crash, and Liz will find comfort with Carrie’s dad, singer Eddie Fisher. But at this balmy moment, all seems perfectly divine. I stand right behind her, roped off in the first row because I have stood for over an hour, waiting for my first brush with a celebrity. In the photo in the Miami Herald the next day, my awed young face peers longingly at Elizabeth Taylor’s perfect countenance. I don’t wish being photographed with a young Liz on anyone. 1989, Bangkok I am working on an early DVD project for the military as the executive producer (not exactly Mike Todd, but a bit of irony). I’m between marriages and have been living for a few years in Washington, DC with the owner of the company, but have been my own here for several months, heading the international crew. I see Liz Taylor once again, at the Oriental hotel, at a charity event for the magical festival of Loy Krathong, where the country is alight with candles along its waterways. She is with Larry Fortensky in two years he will become her seventh husband — for awhile. She is overweight, over made -up. And this time I ‘m not overwhelmed. 1965, Edinburgh I ‘m walking to a castle in Scotland, on my honeymoon, and a car suddenly stops next to us, and inside is another Liz — Queen Elizabeth 2. Her eyes and skin are exceptional (similar to Liz Taylor’s, actually). I do not see Philip, or her purse. In 1970-71, when I live in London, I see her several times in official ceremonies, but not as close-up, or for as long, and not by chance. So it isn’t as special. And she isn’t aging well.
1970, Hyannis, MA My youngest is three months old, and my first husband, Mr. Wonderful, and I are staying at a Cape Cod resort. One evening we decide to hear the singer Peggy Lee at a summer theatre. Much buzz. Enter Jackie O and her entourage, among them astronaut and current Ohio senator John Glenn, children Carolyn and John, Maria Shriver, Ethel Kennedy and some of her brood. Jackie is married to Onassis, who is not there.