Aat around 4 P.M. on a Friday in 1998, Elizabeth Taylor, the most famous movie star of the 20th century, was dressed in her nightgown, applying makeup, and showing her friend Dorothy Flagler, a salesperson at Van Cleef & Arpels in Beverly Hills, a magnificent new yellow diamond ring. Flagler sat cross-legged on the floor of Taylor's bathroom as they chatted away.
But when Taylor's assistant Tim Mendelson walked in and told them that a friend of a friend had passed away from AIDS-related causes that day, the mood in the room changed dramatically.
"He really doesn't have anyone and he has no money," Mendelson told them. There was no money even to bury him.
Taylor told Mendelson to get her business manager on the phone, because she wanted to arrange for his burial. Mendelson called his office and was told that it would have to wait until Monday. When he relayed the message to Taylor, she threw the brush she was using down on the bathroom counter and her eyes went wild.
"We will not fucking wait until Monday. We will do it right now. Get him on the phone again. I want to talk to him. No mother's son is going to lay on a cold, hard slab for the weekend when I can do something to stop it."
This story is from the February 2023 edition of Vanity Fair US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 2023 edition of Vanity Fair US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Queen Anne
Anne Hathaway has become a style icon to gen Z-and embraced who she is after years of self-recrimination and internet noise. With the racy romance the idea of you hitting theaters, the Oscar winner talks about living out loud
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
For nearly 60 years, CABARET has transfixed-and shocked-audiences the world over. As Broadway welcomes a new revival starring Eddie Redmayne, MICHAEL RIEDEL discusses the musical's enduring power with Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Sam Mendes, and other keepers of the flame
THE CONFESSIONS OF INIGO PHILBRICK
The wunderkind dealer personified the art market's wealth-generating potential and its unregulated excesses-until he pleaded guilty in what was the largest art fraud in US history. Now out of prison and \"wearing the scarlet letter,\" Philbrick is searching for a second act
SOMETHING WICKED
Director Jon M. Chu originally thought unknowns would play Glinda and Elphaba in his adaptation of Wicked, but he had to settle for superstars: ARIANA GRANDE and CYNTHIA ERIVO. VF goes on set for an exclusive peek at the beloved musical's big-screen debut
TURNER CLASSIC
In the last few years, English actor CALLUM TURNER has worked with Clooney, Hanks, and Spielberg-so yes, you could say it's going well. VFcatches up with Hollywood's latest heartthrob as he takes downtown NYC in style
THE DEANS' LIST
THE MUSIC INDUSTRY POWER COUPLE ALICIA KEYS AND KASSEEM \"SWIZZ BEATZ\" DEAN HAVE HELPED LEAD THE WAY FOR A GENERATION OF COLLECTORS OF BLACK ART. THE REST OF THE WORLD IS FINALLY CATCHING UP
OUT OF SIGHI
INSIDE APPLE PARK, CEO TIM COOK TALKS EXCLUSIVELY TO VF ABOUT THE GENESIS OF A \"MIND-BLOWING\" NEW DEVICE THAT WILL SHAPE HIS LEGACY AND, PERHAPS, HOW WE SEE THE WORLD
THE KING'S Gambit
Margrethe II catapulted the Danish royal family to stratospheric heights of popularity. Her sometimes controversial son Frederik X faces a tougher road
A HERO of Our Time
In life, Alexey Navalny was warm, real, and human-the opposite of what, and who, he stood against
DEATH & THE MASQUE
In Hollywood in 1977, punk rock was exploding and a small band of scene-makers were flourishing in a dingy basement club. Little did they know a pair of serial killers would soon claim one of their own
