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Image and Story from The Telegraph Newspaper |
It seems to me regardless of whether the image is bona fide or fictitious, somebody somewhere has made a lot of money from this story... The power of Media!!
Excerpt from The Telegraph Newspaper:
It had appeared to be a sensational find.
Just days after the death of one of the world's most photographed women a unique picture surfaced: a young and beautiful Elizabeth Taylor posing fully nude.
That the star had allowed herself to be pictured naked raised eyebrows among fans and Hollywood historians as part of her allure was an unwillingness to be involved in explicit shots.
But now it has emerged that the picture is almost certainly not of Taylor - and may well have been taken when the actress would have been eight.
The naked "star" of the photograph is believed to be a minor Hollywood dancer, who had to be persuaded to strip for the shot by a photographer who went on to become one of the key chroniclers of the era of Hollywood glamour.
Last night the American photographic agency which released the picture said it had suspended its distribution while there was a "possible challenge to the veracity".
And the widow of the photographer who took what appears to be the original photograph in 1940 said it was an "absolute falsehood" that it was Taylor.
It was reported around the world that it was an image taken by Roddy McDowall, an actor and photographer, and one of Taylor's closest friends.
According to the story released with the photograph he promised to take a tasteful shot and Taylor gave the photograph to her third husband Michael Todd, who she married in 1956, as an engagement present.
The story claimed the picture is then said to have been given to Taylor's make-up artist, Penny Taylor, who was no relation.
Her son, it was claimed, sold the picture to Californian art collector Jim Shaudis in 1980 for an unknown sum.
It was said the picture had been released by Mr Shaudis, of Bakersfield, California - but in fact he died in 2006.
Last night his widow, Karyn, said she still believed the photo showed Taylor, and that an "expert" in the field has identified her, but she said did not know how it had entered the public domain.
"We had it on the wall in its original frame for a very long time," said Mrs Shaudis.
"We certainly thought it was a picture of Elizabeth Taylor.
"I gave it to a family friend a year ago when I put my house up for sale. I didn't want it to be there when brokers came through the house."
It now appears that was not of Taylor, but of Lee Evans, a dancer and model, who posed for Peter Gowland in 1940.
The picture appears in his 2001 book, Classic Nude Photography, Techniques and Images, which tells how Evans lived at the Hollywood Studio Club, a chaperoned dormitory for young women who wanted to make it in Hollywood, which closed in 1975.
Other famous residents included Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak and Maureen O'Sullivan.
In the book Gowland described Evans as "a serious dancer" and said: "She had never done any nude modelling before and since I was looking for a pretty model to expand my photography, I asked her to pose.
"She was shy, but appreciated art and so agreed."
Nothing else is known about her life. Intriguingly, he noted in 2001 that the negative had been missing "for years".
Gowland died last year but last night Alice, his widow, said she was distressed by the mystery, and said her husband would not have sanctioned any image being released just days after someone's death.
She said they had been approached decades ago with a suggestion that it was Taylor and added: "It is an absolute falsehood that it is Elizabeth Taylor.
"It was first suggested to us by a sleazy reporter who came round and saw the photo up in our studio and shouted it was Elizabeth Taylor.
"We told him it wasn't and we knew because it was our photo, but he wouldn't stop, and he was a sleazy rumour guy. I think that's how it started.
"Afterwards I don't remember hearing about it until last week.
"It is distressing to have my husband's name linked to it, but there is very little we can do to change anything."
Bauer Griffin, the US photo agency which originally released a copy of the picture, would not reveal where it had got the picture from.
Frank Griffin, the company's co-owner, said the firm was no longer associated with the picture "now we have learnt there is a possible challenge to the veracity".
