Following the death of Dame Elizabeth Taylor in Los Angeles this week Courier readers have got in touch to share their memories of the star.
Dame Elizabeth, who died on Wednesday in Los Angeles at the age of 79, often came to Scotland to get away from the world of Hollywood.
A Forfar man has told of the night he met Elizabeth Taylor at a party in Perthshire’s Rannoch Lodge 30 years ago.
Mark Shrimpton (53), a graphic designer, was visiting friends Liz and Mick Smith at the hunting lodge when Dame Elizabeth arrived via chartered helicopter.
“I was 23 at the time and hugely in awe of a glamorous star like Elizabeth Taylor,” Mark said.
“She was with some sort of foreign diplomat and she was very charming, lovely, beautiful and seemed a very nice person.”
Liz Smith’s parents owned the lodge but Liz had been an actress in her own right, going by her maiden name Liz Holloway.
In her first marriage to actor Brook Williams, Liz had become close friends with Dame Elizabeth, who was Brook’s godmother.
Throughout Liz Smith’s second marriage to Mick, Dame Elizabeth remained close and frequently visited the couple at Loch Rannoch.
Despite the glamour and Hollywood hype Mark said Dame Elizabeth seemed “perfectly grounded.”
“My late mother-in-law could tell much better stories about Elizabeth Taylor,” he said.
“She cooked for big parties at Rannoch Lodge and Elizabeth Taylor used to come and sit in her kitchen.”StarHowever, Dame Elizabeth could play the successful actress card when needed.
“She had chartered the helicopter from Glasgow or Edinburgh airport for a week,” Mark said.
“While I was there they ran out of drink or food and she dispatched this helicopter to Perth to go and get more.”
The young Mark once received a kiss on his right cheek from Dame Elizabeth, who was every inch the star.
“When she came down for breakfast around 10am she was beautifully made up with not an eyelash out of place,” he said.
“She was very beautiful and very lovely.”
Mark remained friends with Dame Elizabeth’s daughter Liza Todd, from her marriage to Mike Todd.Hollywood tripMeanwhile a retired Kirkcaldy butcher has told of his late father’s encounter with a young Elizabeth Taylor during a trip to Hollywood in the 1940s.
Bill Keith’s father, also called Bill, was asked along with local builder Alec Birrell to accompany their friend, local cinema owner Frank Carlow, on the Queen Mary for a trip to Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios in 1947.
They were welcomed by studio representative Charles Lapworth, a former employee of the Dundee Advertiser, and he introduced them to Miss Taylor, who was just 15 at the time.
Bill said, “She was about to star in The Rich Full Life, and was introduced to my dad, Alec and Frank as the next big thing and a rising star and they all chatted for a while before getting their picture taken with her.
“That photo was his pride and joy, so much so that he kept it in a safe.
“It was the trip of a lifetime for my dad and he enjoyed reminiscing about it to all the family.
“While in Hollywood he also met western actor Roy Rogers, of who I was a big fan, and he brought me back a signed photograph of him and his horse Trigger, which I have always treasured.
“When I heard Elizabeth Taylor had passed away, I thought of my dad… and thought, given the fact that Charles Lapworth had previously worked at the Dundee Advertiser, that some Courier readers might be interested in the story also.”
Bill senior, who ran Keith the butchers on St Clair Street for over 70 years, died at the age of 94 in 2003.