Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

Albergo Regina Isabella, Ischia, Italy, The Liz Taylor Suite

“Our love is so furious that we will burn each other out.” — Richard Burton

I really don’t remember much about Cleopatra. There were a lot of other things going on.— Elizabeth Taylor

The seaside charms and bubbling thermal baths of the island of Ischia have long been a draw for literary types (Henrik Ibsen, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams), movie stars (Marlon Brando, Brigitte Bardot, Charlie Chaplin, Jennifer Lopez, Leonardo DiCaprio), and other glitterati (Soren Kierkegaard and Prince Charles). None of these visitors, though, has made as big of a splash as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton did when they sailed over to Ischia to film the barge scenes for the 1963 blockbuster Cleopatra. Both were married to other people (she for the fourth time, to Eddie Fisher, who had left Debbie Reynolds for her) and their much-photographed affair was a salacious scandal of which a rapt public could not get enough. The Vatican cited Taylor for “erotic vagrancy” and there was talk that the United States was going to ban entry to the pair. Photos of the lovers sunning on a yacht and swimming in Ischia’s clear blue waters pushed the Space Race and other headlines off the front pages.

Taylor and Burton escaped the prying eyes and lenses of the paparazzi in a seaside suite at the Regina Isabella, in the seaside village of Lacco Ameno. The glamorous resort was already on the jet-set map as a retreat for the likes of Clark Gable and Maria Callas, and the power couple enjoyed royal treatment in what is now known as the Liz Taylor Suite, a sprawling, sun-filled spread with a regal salon and bedroom, huge terrace, and two marble-clad bathrooms fit for Cleopatra herself. No doubt the lapping waters of the Bay of San Montano and scent of pines was a soothing antidote to the stars’ rigorous filming schedule and tumultuous personal lives.

Cleopatra, meanwhile, became the most expensive film ever made (more than $300 million in today’s dollars). For all the expense, fanfare, reasonable box office success, and four Academy Awards, many critics found the epic to be mundane and lumbering. Even Liz, who made $7 million off the film, said she found the three-hour-long version released in theaters to be “vulgar.”

The couple’s allure began to ebb as they became notorious for their boozing and fighting and married and divorced each other twice. Most of the star vehicles the pair made after Cleopatra were disappointing, with the exception of the brilliant Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). For many viewers, the story of a volatile, alcohol-soaked marriage mirrors the lives of the stars, and Taylor won her second Academy Award for best actress.

Just around the coast from the Regina Isabella is a tribute to another well-known, much more subdued couple, the British composer Sir William Walton and his Argentine wife, Lady Susana Walton. The pair created a stir when the 46-year-old year old Walton wooed and won Susana, 24 years his junior, annoying her father so much that he spent her entire dowry on Champagne for their wedding reception in Buenos Aires. They settled on Ischia in 1949 and created one of the world’s great gardens, Villa La Mortella, filled with exotic plantings and splashing fountains, a perfect getaway from worldly affairs.

For more information, visit Regina Isabella.

Ava Gardner

Hotel Splendido, Portofino, Italy, The Ava Gardner Suite

I was born with good health and a strong body and spent years abusing them. —  Ava Gardner

By the early 1950s, residents of picturesque Portofino on the Ligurian Coast had figured out that there was a lot more money to be made from landing movie stars and other beautiful people than from hauling in fish. The man about town in those days was Rex Harrison. He had fashioned a luxurious villa on the remnants of a World War II era bunker high above the Bay of Portofino, where he entertained the likes of Clarke Gable and the duke and duchess of Windsor. So, it wasn’t too surprising to see Ava Gardner sail into the harbor and settle into the Splendido, a former monastery turned lavish hotel.  Gardner was at the height of her stardom, having won acclaim for her roles in such hits as Show Boat (1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), and Mogambo (1953). The high-living, hard-drinking, chain-smoking star came to Portofino to shoot scenes for The Barefoot Contessa (1954), with the pretty little town serving as a backdrop for her escapades with a Latin American playboy. With Gardner came costar Humphrey Bogart and his wife, Lauren Bacall. Not accompanying her was her husband, Frank Sinatra, from whom the star was increasingly estranged, nor her lover, the Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin.

Gardner’s role in The Barefoot Contessa, as a beautiful girl who rises from obscurity to become a famous star, was not far from her own life story. In fact, like her character, Gardner preferred to go barefoot, and she could comfortably do so on the huge terrace of the top-floor suite named after her. The views across the water to the pastel-hued houses hugging a snug harbor are unchanged from Gardner’s day. You can just about make out the spot in front of La Gritta bar where Harrison staggered onto the wharf after a night of celebrating his best-actor win for My Fair Lady in 1964 and threw his Oscar into the harbor.

Gardner went on to make several other well-received films, including The Sun Also Rises (1957) and On the Beach (1959). In 1963, she traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to film Night of the Iguana. Her costar, Richard Burton, arrived with Elizabeth Taylor, and the trio’s off-screen antics inspired a parody by comedian Allan Sherman, sung to the tune of The Streets of Laredo: “They did things at night midst the flora and fauna that no self-respecting iguana would do.”  Gardner, Burton, and Taylor had more than their film careers and fondness for alcohol in common—of all the places the stars touched down on their international travels, the Splendido in little Portofino remained a preferred hideaway for the three of them, as it still is for the rich and famous.

For more information, visit the  Hotel Splendido.

Audrey Hepburn

Hotel Hassler, Rome, The San Pietro Suite

The most important thing is to enjoy your life, to be happy. It’s all that matters. —  Audrey Hepburn

Filmgoers will forever associate Rome with Audrey Hepburn, who buzzed around the Eternal City on the back of a Vespa in the 1953 classic Roman Holiday. Almost 70 years later, it’s still difficult to put your hand into the Bocca della Verità without thinking of Gregory Peck (Joe Bradley) screaming in mock pain as a terrified Hepburn (Princess Ann) looks on.

For Hepburn, Rome was synonymous not with ruins and fountains but with the Hotel Hassler, as it has been with generations of discerning travelers.  The star stayed at this hostelry at the top of the Spanish Steps while filming the story of a princess who enjoys a footloose romp with a dashing journalist, and she returned many times until her death in 1993. Managing Director Roberto Wirth, as much of a legend as many of his distinguished guests, says, “Her grace and elegance fascinated me … I remember her as a fairytale princess when she came down the Hassler’s stairs.”

Judging by her films, Hepburn might have seemed most at home in France (Charade, Funny Face, How to Steal A Million, Sabrina, Two for the Road), and she once famously said, “Paris is always a good idea.” But for much of the Belgian-born star’s life, Rome was where her heart was. Soon after the end of Hepburn’s14-year-long marriage to fellow actor Mel Ferrer, she married psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in 1969 and retreated from films and the limelight for a new role as a Roman housewife and mother. That marriage dissolved in 1982 and Hepburn took up residence in Switzerland, where she happily grew roses when she was not traveling the world on behalf of UNICEF.

Hepburn frequently returned to Rome to visit her son, Lucca Andrea Dotti, often settling into the Hassler’s San Pietro Suite. The rich paneling, Old World paintings, priceless antiques, and acres of marble might have been handpicked for the classy and elegant icon. Anyone, star or not, who stands on the airy terrace and looks across the rooftops toward the dome of St. Peter’s might be tempted to quote one of Audrey’s lines from Roman Holiday, “I will cherish my visit here in memory as long as I live.”

For more information, visit  Hotel Hassler.

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But even recognizing all this, I didn’t fully have a grasp on the essence of the town until I spotted several elderly old men playing Bocce ball. I asked another observer if lawn bowling is popular because many people of Italian descent live in Key West. “Oh no,” she chuckled. “It’s popular because you can play Bocce with one hand and hold a drink in the other.” Welcome to Key West!

Turn a corner on a non-descript street or pass a random restaurant, and strands of guitar riffs assault your receptive ear drums. Either that – or it’s a rooster crowing. Actually a lot of roosters – they’re everywhere.

Many a house bears a plaque dating to the 1800’s – and a number of other historical markers a century earlier. Old Town, the largest predominantly wooden-housed historic district in the country – featuring almost 3000 structures – is deserving of a truth-in-advertising award. There’s a sign near Duval Street, the town’s epi-center, that reads: “On this site in 1897, nothing happened.” That’s probably one of the only spots in Key West where that’s true.

Renovated cigar factories share space with Victorian mansions laced with gingerbread trimming; upscale art galleries reside next to tacky t-shirt shops. Fashion, funk and frivolity define the town; art and shlock and whimsy co-exist on the same bar stool. And yes, those stools are there in abundance – 117 bars on Duval alone, pre-pandemic – many of which claim that Ernest Hemingway, the most famous Key West resident, occupied that seat as well.

And surely, his home is one of the most visited sites in the city. The tiny second-story studio in which he wrote his prestigious novels remains exactly as he left it; photos, books and furnishings recall his life there of more than a decade in the 1930’s. Stuffed heads of animals he shot on safari adorn the walls. You can almost feel the presence of the quirky and fairly disturbed author everywhere. Almost as famous as Hemingway himself was his beloved six-toed cat, Snowball, dozens of descendants of whom still reside there.

An equally notable but very different personality also resided in Key West, but only in the winter. Harry S Truman’s (yes, S without a period is his middle name) Little White House has its own colorful history, with tales of lively poker games and “loud Hawaiian shirt” contests our 33^rd president enjoyed with staff and guests – also chief justices and locals. And oh yes, four other presidents visited there as well.

It’s also rumored that Truman insisted on downing an early morning “shot of bourbon followed by a large glass of fresh-squeezed Florida orange juice,” allegedly on the advice of his doctor. Hemingway, an ardent imbiber himself, would most certainly have approved of his neighbor’s breakfast ritual, which might have made both welcome visitors at Schooner Wharf which boasts the earliest Happy Hour in town, beginning at 7:30 a.m. The theory being that you can’t actually drink all day if you don’t start early.

Hemingway, a hunter of game; Truman, a hunter of humor; Mel Fisher, a hunter of treasure. And his own museum contains treasures – both literal and figurative – for the visiting public. The intrepid fortune hunter spent 16 years seeking the wrecks of Spanish galleons that sank in 1622 off the coast of Key West. The $450 million treasure included more than 40 tons of gold and silver as well as emeralds, Chinese porcelain and other precious artifacts. But even more fascinating than the exhibits themselves is the story of his search for the valuable cache.

So yes, these are the three attractions for which Key West is most famous, but peeling back the proverbial onion proffers many more enticing sites: the always enchanting Botanical Gardens; the Oldest Wooden House with its original furnishings, artifacts and island history dating back to 1829; Tennessee Williams’ small cottage lending insight into another literary giant, and my favorite, the Shipwreck Treasure Museum.

There you get to relive the lives of wreckers – either those brave souls who saved people and ships careening off the dangerous reefs surrounding the island or greedy pirates who pillaged the lost treasures, depending upon your perspective – who played an important part of Key West’s vibrant history. The resulting salvage industry is what Key West is built on.  For a time, that enterprise made the tiny island the richest city per capita in the United States.

But for me, the best way to experience the inimitably funky charm of the town is to just wander the streets, laughing your way from one t-shirt slogan to another, most of which can’t be repeated in a family newspaper. But a few can: “A good lawyer knows the law; a great lawyer knows the judge”; “4 out of 3 people struggle with math”; and “Mermaids smoke sea weed.” Bada boom.

And should you get hungry, be sure to stop at Blue Heaven where, in the 1930’s, Hemingway, an amateur boxing aficionado, refereed matches – yes, he certainly did get around. And even more notable, depending upon your point of view, is that a dance hall and bordello also occupied the same property. But you’d expect nothing less of Key West.

For more information, please visit Florida Keys

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Hollywood stars of stage and screen including, Dyan Canon, Elliot Gould, Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, Joely Fisher, Sharon Gless, and Frances Farmer, all turned out for the Los Angeles premiere of Renée Taylor’s My Life on a Diet, an award-winning one-woman autobiographical theatrical piece written by she and her late husband Joe Bologna, who also directed.  Together for 52 years, they were a dynamic team, writing and performing in 22 plays, nine television shows, and four films including, Lovers and Other Strangers, It Had to Be You, and Made for Each Other. 

Performed on Harry Feiner‘s simple, but elegant drawing room set, enhanced by a colorful light design, and wearing Pol’ Atteu sparkling gold gown, when Ms. Taylor made her entrance, the loving audience broke out into thunderous applause.  Taking it all in, and in her so familiar, thick Bronx accent, she smiled, and with impeccable comic timing, said, “Thank you and good night,” a preview of the merriment that would follow throughout the 90-minute evening.

Seated in a comfortable but elegant easy chair, Ms. Taylor walked us back in time, beginning with her childhood and took us through the ensuing decades.  The text was illustrated by Michael Redman’s playful projection design depicting the fluctuating weight with which she has been dealing her entire life.  Mirroring an AA phrase, at one point she announces, “My name is Renée and I’m a diet tramp.”  She shares “I have tried every diet,” and throughout this entertaining evening, a variety of failed diets are flashed on the screen, some of which included, Dr. Robert Linn’s “Last Chance Diet,” about which she casually mentioned that one of his patients died.  She tried the popular Dr. Herman Tarnower “Scarsdale Diet,” Lou Costello’s “18 Meatballs a Day” and took a shot at the “Okinawa Sea Food Diet.” Her only comment on the “No Food, No Water” plan was that you had to breathe through your nose.  As for her always-slender husband, Ms. Taylor said Joe didn’t mind the fluctuations in weight.  “As long as we could keep dancing,” adding,” “Just don’t get so heavy I can’t dip you!”

In addition to her litany of varying unsuccessful diets, this famous comedienne shared some of her experiences with some of the stars of yesterday, boasting about the time she sat next to Cary Grant.  In her amusing journey back in time, Ms. Taylor reminisces about her studies at the famous Actor’s Studio, under the tight rule of Lee Strasberg, Father of “The Method” style of acting.   He once said to her, “Your problem, young lady is inhibitions – you don’t have any!”  She remembers trying to flirt with Marlon Brando who said, “Girl, you have to leave me alone.” While studying at The Studio, she formed a warm friendship with Marilyn Monroe who she worshipped. Her friend suggested that she try the “Grape Diet” but she ate so many, she actually gained weight. She and Marilyn were in the same class together and in one of the more tender moments, she recalls saying to the blond bombshell “Marilyn, I want to be you when I grow up,” to which this famous movie star replied, “When you become me, tell me what it’s like,” reflecting the deeply troubled and confusing opinion of herself.

Then there was the time she auditioned for a role in one of Tennessee Williams’ plays.  After she read her lines in the best southern drawl she could muster, he turned to her and asked, “What part of New York are you from?”  You know that old saw, “You can take the girl out of the Bronx, but you can’t take the Bronx out of the girl.”  That delightful accent led her to star in many shows, including playing the role of Fran Dreschler’s mother in “The Nanny. ” Throughout the evening, interspersed with her funny stories, supporting visuals depicted scenes from her professional life including clips from her 23 appearances on the “Jack Paar Tonight Show,” as well as guest gigs on ‘The Perry Como Show,” and a shot of her and Jerry Lewis with whom she co-starred in The Errand Boy.  Her career path led her to encounter some of the most famous personalities of the day from Jimmy Durante and Elizabeth Taylor to Orson Welles, Joan Crawford, and Elaine May, and later on to Barbra Streisand, who also gave her diet advice.  Musing about her dating experiences, she said, “I dated a lot of men.  I felt there was safety in numbers.  In remembering Joe, she tells the story of how they met and how she was immediately attracted to him.  He warned her that he basically liked to play the field and because she came on so strong on the first date, he didn’t call her again for a while.  But, as history would prove, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.  He finally called her saying that he would give being monogamous a shot.  Six months later they were married and with the high attrition rate of so many show business marriages, they defied that “tradition,” and were together until his death August 13, 2017.

Ms. Taylor reminisces that when she and Joe decided to write this one-woman show, she had a conversation with Nora Ephron, who wrote the hit show, Love, Loss and What I Wore.  Renée thought she’d do a riff on that and name her show, Love, Loss, and What I Ate, but My Life on a Diet is what emerged.  Ending on a humorous note, she quips about her latest diet adventure, which is Vegan, but admits, “Once in a while, I need a steak.”

Renée Taylor shared both her public and private lives with a grateful audience who laughed and laughed as well as shedding an occasional tear when she shared a poignant memory. The sad thing is because of such a short run, by the time you read this review, she will have been on her way to the next performance stop. But be of good cheer as since the superbly written My Life on a Diet was completely sold out, there’s a chance in will come back again, so don’t be disappointed that you missed it this time.  Also, the show is embarked on a national tour so it might wind up at one of your local theatres, so watch for it.

“My Life on a Diet,”
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd,
Beverly Hills, CA, 90210

Running time:  90 minutes
No Intermission

Closed:    Sunday, April 14, 2019

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