dreaminginthedeepsouth
Elizabeth Taylor became the highest paid actor, male or female, when she demanded and received one million dollars plus 10% of the box office gross for CLEOPATRA (1963), helping to usher in an era of star power where the star called the shots, not the studio. Now forever free from the shackles of the studio system, Elizabeth, a working actor from the age of nine and working mother at 20, could ensure a paycheck commensurate with her value as an actress and celebrity. Her prowess as a businesswoman reached even greater heights with the launch Elizabeth Taylor's Passion in 1987, the first of 14 fragrances that would include White Diamonds, the top-selling celebrity fragrance of all time.
Perhaps no other photograph of Elizabeth Taylor captures the spirit of #InternationalWomensDay quite like this one. Shorn of her legendary locks and defiantly posing in profile to best display a scar running along the side of her head, it was taken by the great Herb Ritts after the successful removal of a benign brain tumor in 1997 at the age of 65. It was another of life's battles that Elizabeth faced with unshakable courage, fortitude and a sense of humour. "Damn right I survived," she once said. "I'm Mother Courage. I'll be dragging my sable coat behind me into old age."
