Elizabeth Taylor visits young patients in a Tel Aviv hospital, Dec. 1982. (Credit: AFP)
Comfortably nestled into the curve of a sofa draped in sable fur, Elizabeth Taylor keeps her guests waiting in the adjacent lounge. It’s the evening of Dec. 24, 1982, and the Hollywood icon appears unusually preoccupied. From the grand hall of her opulent Zurich villa, she makes calls to ambassadors and high-profile journalists, piecing together the complexities of a region she understands only in broad strokes.Dressed in a shoulder-padded evening gown and framed by the flicker of a crackling fireplace, Taylor wrestles with doubts. She “almost regretted accepting Phil Blazer’s proposal,” recalled Angela Sakellaropoulou, a Franco-Greek journalist with years of experience covering Taylor’s European appearances. Blazer, the editor of Israel Today, had invited Taylor to Jerusalem to close out the year by promoting tourism and education...
Comfortably nestled into the curve of a sofa draped in sable fur, Elizabeth Taylor keeps her guests waiting in the adjacent lounge. It’s the evening of Dec. 24, 1982, and the Hollywood icon appears unusually preoccupied. From the grand hall of her opulent Zurich villa, she makes calls to ambassadors and high-profile journalists, piecing together the complexities of a region she understands only in broad strokes.Dressed in a shoulder-padded evening gown and framed by the flicker of a crackling fireplace, Taylor wrestles with doubts. She “almost regretted accepting Phil Blazer’s proposal,” recalled Angela Sakellaropoulou, a Franco-Greek journalist with years of experience covering Taylor’s European appearances. Blazer, the editor of Israel Today, had invited Taylor to Jerusalem to close out the year by promoting tourism and...