Elizabeth Taylor, 5, poses with her mother Sara, 1937.

Actress Elizabeth Taylor had stunning beauty. She was such a gorgeous little girl that, when people would see her for the first time, they would gasp in astonishment, staring at her sapphire eyes wreathed in thick black lashes and the shiny black hair framing her porcelain face.  ”What a pretty child !” they would exclaim, prompting the well-rehearsed Elizabeth to curtsey and smile.

Elizabeth Taylor in "Lassie Come Home," 1943.

But Elizabeth was not always gorgeous, said her mother, Sara Taylor, a former stage actress. She considered Elizabeth to be quite an ugly baby when born in London on February 27, 1932.

Sara Taylor cradles her newborn daughter, the future movie queen Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

At first glance at her newborn, Sara was repulsed:

“As the precious bundle was placed in my arms, my heart stood still. There inside the cashmere shawl was the funniest-looking baby I had ever seen. Her hair was long and black. Her ears were covered with thick black fuzz, and inlaid into the sides of her head….”(1)

Baby Elizabeth’s arms, shoulders, and back were covered with a thick downy pelt called lanugo, not uncommon in newborns.

“The infant looked like a little monkey,” remembered Viennese art dealer and family friend Ernest Lowy. (2)

Compounding the problem, Elizabeth’s eyes were screwed tightly shut. For ten days, the doctor tried to pry them open unsuccessfully, finding only the whites visible.

Then one day, Baby Elizabeth suddenly snapped open her eyes and gazed up at her new mother. Sara found herself gazing down into two pools of deep violet fringed by thick black lashes – double rows of lashes! Then the baby smiled. Sara considered this a special greeting from her daughter and told the nurse so.

The nurse chuckled, reminding Mrs. Taylor that infants can’t express emotion:

“That was no smile,” the nurse indicated, “only a little gas.” (3)

Elizabeth Taylor in profile, ca. 1934

The dark fuzz fell off and a swan emerged.

Elizabeth Taylor didn't begin to walk until she was 16 months old. She is shown here with one of the many dogs for which she cared during her lifetime. ca.1934-35

As a young girl, Elizabeth Taylor had a big head on a little body. "What a podge!" she remarked, upon seeing a young photo of herself. 1934.

Elizabeth Taylor enjoys tea and cake in her dressing room. In this unretouched 1950 publicity photo, one can see La Liz's arms were covered in a dark and velvety down, in keeping with her being a beautiful brunette.

(1) Ladies’ Home Journal,  March- April 1954

(2) Heymann, C. David. Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1995, 2011.

(3)  Walker, Alexander. Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Taylor. New York: Grove Press, 1990, 1997.

Readers: For more on Elizabeth Taylor on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

Elizabeth Taylor in costume as "Cleopatra," from the 1963, 20th Century Fox production of the same name

Yet another iconic item worn by actress Elizabeth Taylor is on the auction block – a wig she wore in the 1963 film, “Cleopatra.” Ms. Taylor wore many different hairdos in the movie and British wigmaster Stanley Hall made three wigs for each style. The wig for sale is made of real human hair, medium brown, and is adorned with hanging braids and gold beads.

Elizabeth Taylor is photographed with some props from the 1963 film, "Cleopatra."

In the movie, Ms. Taylor’s character wears this particular wig when she tries to convince Julius Caesar, played by Rex Harrison, to accept supreme control of the empire. (1) The wig is being sold by Heritage Auctions of Dallas, Texas, and is set to fetch around $11,000.

Elizabeth Taylor in the arms of Richard Burton, from the movie, "Cleopatra," 1963.

It was during the 1962 filming of “Cleopatra” in Rome that 30-year-old Elizabeth Taylor fell madly in love with her other male costar and onscreen lover, Richard Burton, 36, cast as Mark Antony. The two were both married to others at the time.

At the time, Ms. Taylor was already a big film star being paid the unprecedented amount of a million dollars to play Cleopatra. Mr. Burton, however, who was Welsh, was a Shakespearean stage actor largely unknown outside of England.

Richard Burton (l), talks with Eddie Fisher and his wife Elizabeth Taylor on the Cinecitta set in Rome, early 1962.

When people began to whisper that perhaps Ms. Taylor and Mr. Burton were conducting an illicit affair, the couple denied the accusations. So uncontrollable was their love and lust, that their affair was

“bloody obvious,” to use Burton’s term – so flagrantly on display. (2)

When the director of “Cleopatra” shouted “Cut!” at the end of love scenes, Taylor and Burton would continue to kiss.

They carried on on the movie set, film lot, in their private villas, and took their love to town – to the Via Veneto. But they were not safely in America, where  there was a time-honored tradition not to pry into the private lives of public people and where the studio would have squelched any unflattering press. They were in Rome – the land of the paparazzi.

March 31, 1962: Nightclubbing in Rome – Elizabeth Taylor, wearing leopard-skin coat and hat, holds Richard Burton by the arm as they leave a nightclub in Rome early in the morning. In New York City the day before, singer Eddie Fisher, Ms. Taylor's husband, held a press conference for about 100 journalists to deny that his marriage with Miss Taylor was on the rocks.

The Italian “paparazzi” were a new style of journalist. These young, Vespa-riding photographers with cameras with zoom lenses slung around their neck were hungry for a money-making photo that would reveal the affair to the waiting world. With a pack mentality, they were ruthlessly intent upon snapping photos of the jetset enjoying La Dolce Vita, the sweet life, popularized in the film of that same name. And Liz and Dick were getting hot and heavy on the Via Veneto.

From February thru July, paparazzi stalked Taylor and Burton’s every move, hoping for that money-making photo that would expose the lovers to the world. And they got them, too, forcing both Liz and Dick to deal with their respective spouses.

Liz Taylor and Richard Burton emerge from the restaurant Tre Scalini in the Piazza Navona, spring, 1962.

The Burton-Taylor Affair – “Le Scandale,” as Burton termed it – created international interest and thus, international coverage.

Richard Burton leans in for a kiss from Elizabeth Taylor on the Cinecitta sound stage, circa March 30, 1962. Paparazzo Elio Sorci hid under a car across from the movie lot all day to snap this photo which came to be known as the "kissing picture." It blew the lid off the Taylor-Burton affair, appearing in first the Italian papers before making its way to New York.

The public, it seemed, had an unquenchable appetite to follow the drama. Gone were the days when American readers of Photoplay and Modern Screen were content to read fictional accounts of their favorite movie stars generated by the big movie studios.

Elizabeth Taylor gazes into the eyes of her true love, Richard Burton, as they sail off the Amalfi Coast where the filming of "Cleopatra" was wrapping up. June, 1962.

It is hard to overstate the excitement caused at the time by Elizabeth and Richard’s grand passion. Everyone was following the saga, even First Lady Jackie Kennedy, who asked the publicist Warren Cowan in early 1963,

“Warren, do you think Elizabeth Taylor will marry Richard Burton?”(3)

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in the glow of their love, caught by paparazzo on a yacht off the coast of Ischia in the Bay of Naples, June 1962.

Initially, the pair were condemned by the press for their public adultery until publishers woke up and realized how much the “Liz and Dick” machine increased tabloid, newspaper, magazine, and book sales.

Photoplay July 1962. Everyone had an opinion about the Taylor Burton affair.

Note to readers: Today also begins the first auction at Christie’s, New York, of  The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor, which I was privileged to view on December 3, 2011. (2)

(1) Source: The Guardian

(2) “Remembering Liz (1932-2011),” Life Commemorative, 2011.

(3) Kashner, Sam and Schoenberger, Nancy. Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010.

Readers: For more on Elizabeth Taylor on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

Whitney Houston dies at 48.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, has died. She was 48.

Publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unclear.

At her peak in the 1980s and ’90s, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry and one of the world’s best-selling artists.

Among her hits were “How Will I Know,” ”Saving All My Love for You” and “I Will Always Love You.” She won multiple Grammy Awards including Album and Record of the Year.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies like “The Bodyguard.”

But by the end of her career, drug use took its toll as her record sales plummeted and her voice became raspy and hoarse.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston on this blog, click here.

An homage to the more innocent days of Whitney Houston’s singing career:

“How Will I Know?” My niece sang this to me when she was 12.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston on this blog, click here.

Michael Jackson wraps his arms around Whitney Houston

The Los Angeles Times reports that pop singer Whitney Houston died Saturday in Beverly Hills at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Authorities are trying to determine a cause of death.

The Beverly Hilton Hotel

Houston, 48, was in the Los Angeles area for a musical tribute to music executive Clive Davis and had performed and spoken to reporters earlier in the week. Clive Davis was the person responsible for launching Houston’s singing career. Appearing on Good Morning America, Davis once said of Houston:

“The time that I first saw her singing in her mother’s act in a club … it was such a stunning impact. To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine.’

Record studio executive Clive Davis poses with singer Whitney Houston whom he discovered singing in a nightclub with her mother.

Whitney’s publicist Kristen Foster told the Associated Press on Saturday that Houston had died but did not provide further details.

The Daily Mail Online reported inaccurately that Whitney was found by her on-off boyfriend Ray J in her hotel room.

Whitney Houston and Ray-J, April 2008

It is now believed that Ms. Houston was found by her bodyguard, “Ray.” The Beverly Hills Police Department say that at 3:43 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time), a 911 call was placed from the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The police were on the scene in two minutes. When they got to Ms. Houston’s room on the 4th floor, hotel staff were attempting CPR on her lifeless body. At 3:55 p.m., the singer was pronounced dead. As of 6:10 p.m. PST, Ms. Houston’s body was still in the room. (Radar Online)

Preliminary findings suggest no foul play.

Oddly enough, the Clive Davis preGrammy Award party – the biggest black tie event associated with the record awards ceremony – went on as planned, just hours after Houston’s death. The party was held in the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the same hotel where Houston was found unconscious. It was an eerie incongruency, stars stepping out of limos for the party as Houston fans arrived in tears to lay bouquets of flowers in memory.

Singer Alicia Keys consoles record mogul Clive Davis at the site of his preGrammy party, the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where just hours earlier his protegee, Whitney Houston, was found dead.

Singer Britney Spears chats with celebrity Kim Kardashian at the Clive Davis 2012 preGrammy Awards party.

Motown record producer Berry Gordy and former Supremes lead singer Diana Ross ham it up for the camera at the Clive Davis preGrammy party held just yards away from the site of Whitney Houston's death.

Celebrity Kim Kardashian and film actress Jane Fonda are in fine form for their photos at the 2012 Clive Davis PreGrammy party at the Beverly Hilton.

Shocked to learn of Whitney Houston's tragic death, fans flock to the scene at the Beverly Hilton, where they lay flowers and light candles in tribute to the fallen singer

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

Whitney Houston hugs daughter Bobbi Kristina, 18 at the time of her mother's untimely but not unexpected death at the age of 48

The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Whitney Houston has died at age 48. The news broke at around 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time today, Saturday, February 11, 2012.

The R&B singer and multiple Grammy Award winner was due to make an appearance at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy Awards gala tonight. She was spotted in the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday morning where she was overheard chastising an assistant. According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“Later that night, Houston got into an altercation with X Factor finalist Stacy Francis at an R&B appreciation event where she was said to be acting “belligerent.” On Friday night, as THR broke news that Houston had been approached for the judges’ seat on X Factor, she was said to be at a spa, according to her publicist.”

Houston had been at rehearsals for the show on Thursday, coaching singers Brandy and Monica. The Daily Mail Online reported that Houston looked disheveled, was sweating profusely, and liquor and cigarettes could be smelled on her breath.

It is speculated that Houston’s death could be due to a drug and/or alcohol overdose, as it is well known that the singer struggled with substance abuse for decades. Whitney Houston and her ex-husband, Bobby Brown, once had a reality show on which they appeared high on drugs.

She is survived by her daughter with Brown, Bobbi Kristina, 18, who is known as “Krissi.”

A disheveled Whitney Houston is shown in the last week of her life at the nightclub, Tru Hollywood.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here. 

Whitney Houston is seen leaving the nightclub Tru Hollywood in L.A. the week of her death.

The Daily Mail Online has put together “Life and Times of Whitney Houston.” It’s not to be missed -

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

Mariah Carey (l.) and Whitney Houston perform a duet at the 1999 Oscars ceremony. The two pop stars were good friends.

Zimbio is posting what Hollywood stars such as Mariah Carey are saying about Whitney Houston’s death. Check it out. Also Toofab is showing tweets from stars.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

Whitney Houston (1963-2012) The legendary singer, actress, and producer won six Grammy awards, two Emmy awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards across her extensive career. She was probably best known for her megahit “I Will Always Love You,” written by Dolly Parton.

Gifted singer Whitney Elizabeth Houston (1963-2012) died today yet her voice lives on and has the power to move us.

This video features Houston singing the American National Anthem at the 1991 SuperBowl when the U.S.A. was involved in the Gulf War.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

This Peace Love Whitney Jr. Hoodie honors the life of Whitney Houston with a peace sign, a heart, and a graceful treble clef to symbolize Whitney's musical gifts. This is one of the many offerings at CafePress.

More tasteful gifts from Cafe Press, these to memorialize the passing of the great American rhythm and blues singer Whitney Houston, with “Peace Love Whitney” t-shirts and gifts. Visit Cafe Press to see the cool designs for yourself.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

Before Whitney Houston signed a contract with Artista Records in 1983, she was a much sought-after teenage model. She was one of the first African-American women to appear on the cover of Seventeen magazine.

Whitney Houston (r.) enjoys an ice cream treat with an unidentified model in this 1981 issue of Seventeen magazine. Whitney was 18 years old.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

An emergency medical team removes Whitney Houston's lifeless body from her 4th floor room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, L.A., on February 11, 2012.

TMZ reports that Whitney Houston may have drowned. Her body was initially found face down in the bathtub but had been removed by her bodyguards and staff before medical personnel arrived. Various pill bottles were found in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. An autopsy will be performed to discover whether Ms. Houston died from an overdose, drowning, or another cause.

A bathroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel much like the one in which Whitney Houston died.

Family members said Houston had been taking Xanax, prescribed for anxiety. TMZ reported that, the night before she died, Whitney Houston had been drinking alcohol heavily. Had she mixed the two drugs, it would have had a strong sedative effect, perhaps causing her to fall asleep in the bathtub and drown.

Paparazzi swarm around a coroner's van transporting Whitney Houston's body from the Beverly Hilton Hotel to the L.A. County morque for an autopsy.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

On the second to the last night of her life, Thursday, February 9, 2012, singer Whitney Houston was photographed as she left the L.A.nightclub Tru Hollywood, the site of a pre-Grammy Awards event at which she performed.

Tru Hollywood nightclub

Houston was intoxicated and sweating as she clashed with photographers and security staff. Her hair was tangled into a rat’s nest. She was cursing the security staff. She had scratches on her wrist and blood was running down one of her legs. (Daily Mail Online)

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

Whitney Houston talking to the audience before proceeding to perform "Saving All My Love for You" during the HBO-televised concert "Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston" honoring the troops, who took part in Operation Desert Storm, their families, and military and government dignitaries, 1991.

from TMZ:

Whitney Houston‘s family was told by L.A. County Coroner officials … the singer did not die from drowning, but rather from what appears to be a combination of Xanax and other prescription drugs mixed with alcohol … this according to family sources.

We’re told Coroner’s officials informed the family there was not enough water in Whitney’s lungs to lead to the conclusion that she drowned.

Our sources say the family was told Whitney may well have died before her head became submerged.

And family sources tell us … it was actually Whitney’s aunt, Mary Jones, who discovered Whitney’s body in the bathtub. Mary had laid out Whitney’s dress for the evening on the bed and then left for about a half hour. When Whitney didn’t come out of the bathroom, Mary entered, pulled Whitney out of the tub and began administering CPR.

And we’re told … Whitney’s mom has arranged to have the singer’s body flown back to Atlanta, as early as tomorrow. The family was told the Coroner has no problem releasing the body because there is no evidence of foul play — and unless cops put a hold on the body, it can be flown back East.

Readers: For more on Whitney Houston here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India, and the first Head of the Commonwealth.

It was Christmas, 1939, and Great Britain was at war with Nazi Germany. Like his father before him, King George VI would continue the holiday tradition of addressing the British Empire in a live radio message. That year, he would broadcast from the royal country house at Sandringham, where he and his family would spend Christmas.

The Royal Residence at Sandringham, England

King George VI and his family leave Buckingham Palace, 1939, to spend Christmas at their country house at Sandringham. Pictured are the King and his wife Queen Elizabeth, daughters Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Princess Elizabeth would become Queen Elizabeth upon the death of her father in 1952.

You will remember that King George VI was not a man comfortable with public speaking. His struggle to overcome a debilitating speech impediment – a stutter – was immortalized in the 2011 American Academy Award-winning film for Best Picture, “The King’s Speech.” A shy, nervous man, a heavy smoker and drinker (it would kill him at 56), King George VI would have preferred to have remained the Duke of York, living a quiet, out-of-the-public eye life with his sturdy wife and two rosy-cheeked daughters.

British Royal Princesses Elizabeth (l.) and Margaret Rose. This photo was taken in February 1939, seven months before the outbreak of WWII.

King George VI – born Albert, called Bertie - never wanted to be king. He wasn’t supposed to be king. He was only king because his brother David had abdicated the throne in 1936 and he, Bertie, was next in line. Nevertheless, unwillingness aside, this unlikely monarch would rise to the occasion and be the very king the British people so sorely needed in a time of great trouble.

It was December 25, 1939, the day of the broadcast. Dressed in the uniform of the Admiral of the Fleet, the tall and too thin sovereign approached the table where two radio microphones were set up, taking his seat.

King George VI addresses his people on September 19, 1939, at the outbreak of WWII.

Taking a few deep breaths, he began to speak, slowly yet solidly. Measuring his words carefully, he spoke from the heart:

“A new year is at hand. We cannot tell what it will bring. If it brings peace, how thankful we shall all be. If it brings us continued struggle we shall remain undaunted.”

Toward the end of his nine-minute broadcast, he said:

“I feel that we may all find a message of encouragement in the lines which, in my closing words, I would like to say to you:”

He then read from a poem given to him by his 13-year-old daughter, Princess Elizabeth,

“I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’
And he replied, ‘Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be better than light, and safer than a known way.’”*

He finished by saying,

“May that Almighty Hand guide and uphold us all.”

For a king not known for compelling speeches, this one would be a landmark. It united King and Country in common cause and inspired the people to hold fast. After all, at this point in history, no one knew that the Allies would triumph. Britain was to face five more years of war and brutal bombing by Hitler before the day of liberation would arrive. The end of 1939 was a shaky time and great leadership by King, Queen, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill would hold Britain steady against the Nazi aggressors.

Queen Elizabeth and King George VI of Great Britain stop at Vallence Road, Stepney, in the East End, London, to examine the debris following an air raid in the Second World War. October 4, 1945

King George VI pins a Distinguished Service Medal on Chief Petty Officer C.L.Baldwin in December 1939.

Listen to the last four minutes of the King’s Christmas 1939 message here:

For more about the British Royal Family on this blog, click here.

Click here for the full text of the King’s 1939 Christmas Message plus The REAL austerity Christmas: How a nation gripped by fear kept calm and carried  on three months after outbreak of war in 1939

*“The Gate of the Year,” by Minnie Haskins (1908)

Natalie Wood (1938-1981) January 2013 autopsy report says death may not have been solely accidental

From the Daily Beast:

FOUL PLAY? Wood Autopsy Hints at Assault

“A year after the LAPD reopened the 1981 drowning case of Natalie Wood, a new autopsy report suggests the late actress may have been assaulted before she plunged into the Pacific Ocean. The coroner has amended Wood’s cause of death from accidental drowning to “drowning and other undetermined factors,” detailing bruises on her body that “appeared fresh” along with scratches down her legs. It remains unclear whether the abrasions resulted from falling off the dinghy, attempting to climb back on, or something potentially darker. There were also conflicting statements as to when Wood went missing and whether or not she had a confrontation with her husband, Robert Wagner.”

Read more from the Los Angeles Times.

For more on Natalie Wood on this blog, click here.

From ABC News/Univision

Frida Kahlo’s Closet is Opened After 58 Years

Frida Kahlo is seen smoking after a 1946 operation.

“Imagine being in Frida Kahlo‘s childhood home and opening up a closet that has been locked for decades. Inside are hundreds of personal items – personal photographs, love letters, medications, jewelry, shoes, and clothing that still hold the smell of perfume and the last cigarette she smoked.

That is exactly what happened when Hilda Trujillo Soto, the director of the Frida Kahlo Museum opened the closets that had been locked since the Mexican artist’s death in 1954. Inside were over 300 items belonging to Frida Kahlo, and now, a wide array of what was found is on display at the Casa Azul, the Frida Kahlo Museum in the Coyoacán neighborhood of Mexico City.

The exterior of Frida Kahlo’s home called Casa Azul outside Mexico City, 1952.

The exhibit, Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo, a collaboration between the museum and Vogue Mexico, brings to an end an elaborate 50 year scheme to keep private the intimate details of Kahlo’s life. It started when she died in 1954, as a distraught Diego Rivera, the famous Mexican muralist and Frida Kahlo’s husband, locked the doors to her closet and never let anyone enter for fear that the contents would be mishandled and ruined.”

Kahlo contracted polio when she was six, leaving her right leg shorter and thinner than her left. Then, when she was 18, a metal tube pierced  through Frida’s abdomen during a bus crash, subjecting her to painful operations and  long periods of bed rest throughout her life.

In keeping with her flamboyance and ebullient spirit, Frida wore long, flowing tehuana skirts, lacy and colorful, that hid this affliction and celebrated her Mexican heritage.

Frida Kahlo’s dresses in the Tehuantepec style are on exhibit in Mexico City at the Casa Azul, January 2013.

Frida Kahlo Self-Portrait, 1848, shows her dressed in traditional Tehuantepec costume.

Later in life, Frida’s right leg had to be amputated. Included in the exhibit is a ornate red boot with the prosthetic leg Kahlo wore after the amputation.

A prostetic leg belonging to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is on exhibit at the Casa Azul in Mexico City (Jan. 2013). Frida’s fashion sense combined both form and function – a red boot attached to an artificial leg. Frida Kahlo’s right leg was amputated in 1953 due to gangrene.

Also on view are three ornate corsets, one styled by Jean-Paul Gaultier in memory of Frida after her death. Frida had to wear plaster corsets to alleviate her excrutiating spine pain.

Frida Kahlo, 1941, displays her Communist sympathies with her therapeutic plaster chest cast

For more on Frida Kahlo on this blog, click here.

From Frida Kahlo’s diary, “Why do I need feet if I have wings to fly.”

About a month before doctors amputated her right leg at the knee, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo drew a picture of her severed feet on a pedestal. Instead of healthy veins protruding from the amputated feet, dead, thorny vines snake out. The flesh is yellow, anemic, and the page is stained with her blood.

This is one of many diary entries in which Frida explores her anguish over the impending operation. She knew that she had no other choice but to cut off her leg. In truth, her right leg was skinny, crippled, shriveled, and lame. It hung from her body as if it were broken. Two toes were missing from the foot. The leg was infected with gangrene. It hurt her terribly.

Her husband Mexican muralist Diego Rivera urged her to accept her fate and submit to yet another operation. Maybe she would be able to get a good prosthetic leg, he urged, and walk a little.

For Diego’s sake, she said to the doctors,

“Prepare me for the operation!”

Then, putting on a brave face for her friends, she asked them, 

“Did you know they are going to cut off my paw?”

For more on Frida Kahlo on this blog, click here.

Herrera, Hayden. Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1983.
The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait. Introduction by Carlos Fuentes. Essays by Sarah M. Lowe. New York: Abradale, 1995.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (1920) introduces retired Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. This is Christie’s first published book.

It was all a bit of a lark! There they were, Archie and Agatha Christie, just trolling along, living their ordinary lives in their Battersea Park flat, with him working in London, her writing mystery novels at home, the two of them raising little Rosalind, poor as church mice, unable to afford any amusements, when, in late 1921, Archie’s old schoolmaster Major Belcher popped into their lives and changed everything.

Belcher had a new job. At dinner, he described it:

“‘You know this Empire Exhibition we’re having in eighteen months’ time? Well, the thing has got to be properly organized. The Dominions have got to be alerted,…to cooperate in the whole thing. I’m going on a mission – the British Empire Mission - going round the world, starting in January.

What I want is someone to come with me as financial adviser. What about you, Archie?…You’re just the man I want.'” (1)

The trade mission would last ten months, with first class accommodations in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Even better, Belcher continued, Agatha could accompany Archie and, to top it off, he suggested that, on a stopover between duties in New Zealand and Canada, they pause in Hawaii for a month’s holiday.

At that point in their lives, on their tiny incomes, Archie and Agatha could only expect a two-week holiday once a year.  And now this offer! Round the world and Hawaii, too? All expenses paid and first class accommodations as representatives of Great Britain! (The British Empire was at the height of its territorial extent.) Who could say no to that?

Of course there were risks to consider, they reminded themselves. Money would be tight and Archie might not be able to get his old job back upon his return. They would be leaving two-year-old Rosalind with Agatha’s sister, mother, and nurse for almost a year and be essentially incommunicado except for the occasional telegram and letters carried by ships.

After considerable thought, though, they accepted Belcher’s generous offer. Archie quit his London job. A lot of luck had come their way and they would be fools to pass it up, they decided. They were young and adventurous; Archie was Colonel Christie, having served in the Royal Air Force in the First World War. Agatha was 31; Archie, 32. They have never been ones to play it safe, having eloped despite Archie’s mother’s objection to his marrying Agatha. They were due for a bit of fun.

They packed their steamer trunks (Agatha packed her swimsuit), closed up the flat, and kissed Rosalind goodbye. On January 20, 1922, the mission party left Southampton on the RMS Kildonan Castle.

RMS Kildonan Castle

The weather was atrocious and Agatha was confined to her cabin with seasickness until they reached the Portuguese isle of Madeira, west of Morocco. She was finally able to enjoy the rest of the (smoother) voyage south to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, snapping photo after photo of her travel companions.

Agatha Christie and Archie Christie on board the RMS Kildonan Castle. Jan.-Feb. 1922. Photo from the Christie Archive

Seventeen days later, the Kildonan Castle docked at Cape Town, South Africa. The V.I.P.s were greeted by the Deputy Trade Commissioner and shown to their rooms at the Mount Nelson Hotel.

The 1922 British Empire Exhibition Trade Mission with from l. to r. Colonel Archie Christie, Major Belcher, Secretary Bates, and Agatha Christie. Photo from the Christie Archive

For the next two months, both Archie and Agatha were swept up in a whirl of meetings, lunches, teas, field trips, dinners, dances, bridge and golf games with government officials and local notables. It was always go-go-go!  Agatha visited a diamond mine in Kimberley, got misty at Victoria Falls, saw crocodiles and hippos swimming at Livingstone. But the thing she enjoyed most of all in South Africa was the sea bathing.

The Cape Peninsula, South Africa, where Cape Town is located. This is False Bay.

Whenever she and Archie and others could steal away, they took the train from Cape Town to Muizenberg on False Bay and went “surf bathing” – lying flat on a light, thin board and riding a wave to shore. Sometimes Agatha took a painful nose dive in the sand, but soon she got the hang of it.

Surf Bathing at Muizenberg ca. 1929

Fish Hoek on False Bay was the place to get in a good swim. Many days, though, Agatha had to settle for bathing closer to their hotel in an outdoor seawater pool at Sea Point, on the Atlantic coast, where Agatha felt like a fish in an aquarium.

Agatha swims at Sea Point, February 1922. Photo from the Christie Archive

In late February 1922, she and Archie were luncheon guests at Admiralty House in Simonstown on False Bay. Their hosts Admiral Sir William Goodenough and Lady Goodenough took them down to the pier to show them where they bathe. Agatha recalled:

…and Lady G. looking down into the water said quietly: ‘Ah, I see the Octopus has gone. Such a fine fellow – about 5 ft. across.’

We bathed from the other side of the pier. I never care to bathe close to an octopus!”

Agatha wasn’t aware at the time, but there were far more dangerous animals lurking in the waters of False Bay than an octopus. Out in the middle of the bay was Seal Island, the home of the Cape fur seal, the favorite food of the Great White Shark. The Great White Shark is one of the most notorious and ferocious hunters on earth. False Bay has the highest number of Great White Sharks in the world. (2)

Two months passed. On May 6, 1922, Agatha and the B.E.E. mission folks were on the distant and strange Australian island of Tasmania. In her official capacity as Mrs. Christie, she passed that Saturday on dry land, without incident, creating local bonhomie by visiting a museum, attending the races, and playing bridge.

Meanwhile, back in Simonstown, South Africa, where her friends Admiral and Lady Goodenough lived, the ones with the octopus below their pier, where Agatha swam, a more terrible scene was being played out. That morning, a student from the University of Cape Town named Edward Pells decided to go for a swim in Simon’s Bay (off False Bay). The water was calm, translucent.The General Botha was moored in the harbor 300 meters off the end of the jetty and Pells decided to slowly swim around the training ship. He dove in. He was halfway to the ship when there was a swirl of water below him, followed by “what felt like the impact of a torpedo. Simultaneously he was seized by very powerful jaws…” The shark turned downwards into the depths, taking Pells with him. Pells pushed against the shark’s body, tearing himself free, but not before his stomach, thigh, and back were gashed and shredded by the shark’s teeth. He lunged fifteen feet to the surface of the water, the shark close by. He gasped for air.

Fortunately three Malay fishermen in a pram had witnessed the attack and made fast to his rescue. Pells could not speak, he could not call for help; he was in shock. They hauled Pells over the gunwale as the huge shark surfaced and bumped their boat, threatening to overturn it and them into the blood-tinged water.

Once to shore, Pells was rushed to the hospital where his blood was staunched and his wounds were stitched.

Meanwhile, the shark was still cruising the bay. Two days would pass before a local fisherman would harpoon and kill it in a “battle royal,” then hang it by its tail from an old gum tree for all to witness. The shark was over 12 feet long (3.66 meters) and weighed over a thousand pounds (+453.6 kilograms). It was a Blue Pointer (Carcharodon carcharias) known as the Great White Shark. (3)

In her autobiography and letters, Agatha Christie mentions her disappointment that, in some places along the South African coast, “one had to bathe in an enclosure, netted off from the open sea.” There was a reason for that. Those outdoor swimming pools protected the swimmers from being eaten by sharks. From 1905 to 2013, there were 239 unprovoked shark attacks in South African waters and 53 were fatal. Compare those figures to the ones for the United Kingdom, Agatha’s home country. From 1847-2013, there were only two shark attacks, and neither were fatal.

The admiral and other South African government officials should have advised Agatha and her friends of the dangers of swimming in False Bay. Coming from England, they would not have dreamed of sharks being in the water.

Fortunately, when they were in Fiji later that August, they were forbidden to swim in the Pacific because of the danger of shark attack.

(1) Christie, Agatha. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography. New York: a Berkley book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1977

(2)

(3)

Additional source: Christie, Agatha. The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.

For more on Agatha Christie, click here.

Frida Kahlo photographed by Nickolas Muray outside her home, La Casa Azul, Coyoacán, Mexico. 1939

Because she was ill for so much of her adult life, artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) spent much of her time in bed. Her bedroom was upstairs in her home, La Casa Azul (The Blue House), in Coyoacán, outside Mexico City. As a result, her bedroom became her daily world. She gathered around her necessary things and things of beauty.

On the underside of the bed canopy a mirror was hung so that Frida could see herself. Lying in the bed, she could paint self-portraits using the wooden easel her mother gave her. Her paintbrushes, paints, and diary were nearby. She covered her headboard with photographs of loved ones and political idols: Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao. In the bedroom were her toy collections, pre-Hispanic art pieces, Judas figures, and a diorama of mounted butterflies under glass. The room was fragrant with medicines and perfumes.

The room was both her haven and her prison.

Frida Kahlo’s bed at La Casa Azul

Frida Kahlo painting in bed. Undated photo

Source: Zamora, Martha. Frida Kahlo: The Brush of Anguish. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1990.

For more about Frida Kahlo, click here.