Elizabeth Taylor gave Michael Jackson an elephant as a thank-you present, longtime assistant says

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Elizabeth Taylor was infamous for receiving extravagant presents from her seven husbands, however the Hollywood icon didn’t hesitate to spoil her buddies.

The display screen legend and AIDS activist, one of many final icons of Hollywood’s golden period, handed away in 2011 at age 79. Her property has participated in two new documentaries exploring her life and legacy, titled “Elizabeth Taylor: The Misplaced Tapes” for HBO and “Elizabeth Taylor: Insurgent Celebrity,” which was produced by Kim Kardashian. The property additionally launched an attire line.

Tim Mendelson, her longtime government assistant and pal, informed Fox Information Digital that his boss favored to go huge with gift-giving.

“In 1991, she acquired married to a person she met on the Betty Ford Middle, which you’re not imagined to do, however they fell in love,” stated Mendelson, referring to Taylor’s final husband, Larry Fortensky.

“They married at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch,” Mendelson shared. “As a thank-you reward, she gave him an elephant named Gypsy.”

“Certain, she acquired individuals automobiles, however she introduced that elephant to Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch as a shock,” Mendelson chuckled.

As a thank-you reward for holding her wedding ceremony at Neverland Ranch, Elizabeth Taylor gave Michael Jackson an elephant named Gypsy.” Julien'S Auctions/Shutterstock

Dwelling as much as their title as icons in Hollywood and Pop, Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson's legendary friendship was on full show with their change of elephants!

To Michael, Elizabeth gifted an elephant and in return, Elizabeth obtained a titanium elephant purse. pic.twitter.com/rsvHKXspis

— Elizabeth Taylor (@ElizabethTaylor) April 18, 2023

In return, Taylor obtained a titanium elephant purse.

When it got here to her household, Taylor liked spoiling them, too. And in the event that they inherited her dazzling eyes, they acquired a particular assortment from her.

“She had these superb blue eyes that folks at all times stated had been violet,” Mendelson defined. “Each her sons and her brother Howard had these dazzling turquoise blue eyes. She would at all times purchase them the perfect cashmere sweaters to match their eyes. They usually wanted to be the softest cashmere sweaters. They will need to have had an entire shelf of their closet stuffed with that shade due to their eyes.”

“Certain, she acquired individuals automobiles, however she introduced that elephant to Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch as a shock,” Tim Mendelson, her longtime government assistant and pal chuckled. WireImage

“She wasn’t afraid to push the pocketbook to present somebody the proper reward that will solely come from her,” he shared. “If somebody misplaced a canine, she was the primary to get them a brand new pet. Canine, cat, no matter animal they wished – she would give them one.”

If anybody wished to impress the film star, they merely needed to give her jewels. Mendelson recalled how considered one of Taylor’s favourite pastimes was to have him fetch her packing containers containing her numerous diamonds, simply to have a look at them.

“She had a jewellery closet,” Mendelson recalled. “She was like just a little lady admiring her presents. And he or she completely had lovely items, particularly from the 2 nice loves of her life – Mike Todd and Richard Burton.”

“She had a number of sentimental items from [Burton],’” Mendelson added concerning the man Taylor married twice.

In keeping with Taylor’s web site, Burton showered her with “simply because” presents over time. Throughout their affair in Rome, whereas bringing the 1963 movie “Cleopatra” to life, he usually took her searching for emeralds and diamonds.

“I can’t deny that Richard gave me some spectacular presents on birthdays and Christmas, however in fact, he was so romantic that he’d use any excuse to present me a bit of bijou,” Taylor recalled in her e book, “My Love Affair with Jewellery.”

“He’d give me ‘It’s Tuesday, I like you’ presents,” Taylor wrote. “’It’s a wonderful day’ presents. ‘Let’s go for a stroll. I need to purchase you one thing’ presents. Through the years, I’ve come to consider these as my, ‘It’s Tuesday, I like you’ jewellery. And I by no means knew when he would give you essentially the most extraordinary ring or one thing very candy and easy.”

It was additionally Burton who purchased her a number of of her magnificent jewels, together with the pear-shaped 69-carat diamond that got here to be referred to as the Burton-Taylor Diamond. She later auctioned it off to fund a hospital in Botswana.

Taylor would go on to own one of the vital vital non-public collections of bijou in America, Vainness Truthful reported. It featured uncommon pearls, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Lots of Taylor’s prized items had been placed on the public sale block by Christie’s.

Taylor didn’t discriminate when it got here to jewels, stated Mendelson.

When it got here to her household, Taylor liked spoiling them, Mendelson stated. Getty Photos

“After I first began working for her, it was her sixtieth birthday,” Mendelson recalled. “I noticed these earrings that appeared like one thing she would love. That they had amethyst they usually had been sparkly. They weren’t costly – like 100 {dollars}. She was so impressed that I acquired these for her as a result of they appeared like her type. She appreciated them a lot. It simply made her really feel so excited, to be considered.”

When Taylor obtained a damehood in 2000, she returned the favor.

“I keep in mind I wished this watch, which was referred to as The Black Watch, and I assumed it was so cool,” stated Mendelson. “I didn’t ask her for it. However whereas she was looking forward to jewellery, she purchased two and stated she was going to present them to her sons. We acquired again to LA, and we had been simply goofing round. She then circled and gave me the watch. She stated, ‘This was at all times going to be for you.’”

“The factor is, the Black Watchmen are the lads that guard the queen,” stated Mendelson. “She gave the opposite watch to a different expensive pal of hers, Jose, her hairdresser. She felt, ‘These are the fellows that watch over me, identical to the Black Watchmen watch over the Queen of England.'”

Kyle MacLachlan, Taylor’s co-star within the 1994 movie “The Flintstones,” not too long ago claimed that the actress “needed to have a present on daily basis” whereas bringing the live-action model of the cartoon to life.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, host of the “Dinner’s on Me” podcast, exclaimed, “Wait, wait, cease. She needed to have a present?”

“A present on daily basis,” the “Intercourse and the Metropolis” alum repeated.

“And within the dressing room, the trailer, she needed to have greenery round her. And I stated these are going proper into my contract… A present on daily basis.”

MacLachlan, 65, gave the instance of “jewellery” because the sort of reward the “Nationwide Velvet” star would anticipate.

“That is secondhand now,” he added, saying he had heard the story from producer Bruce Cohen. “Bruce most likely informed me and stated, ‘Don’t ever inform anyone that.’ I’m like too late. It’s too late.”

“The Flintstones” marked Taylor’s last movie, though she continued to do TV, together with the TV film “These Outdated Broads” in 2001.

In “The Flintstones,” Taylor performed Wilma Flintstone’s mom, Pearl Slaghoople.

After she died in 2011, “The Flintstones” producer Bruce Cohen informed The Hollywood Reporter, “The second she stated sure, we wished to make it a particular expertise for her.”

Mendelson recalled how considered one of Taylor’s favourite pastimes was to have him fetch her packing containers containing her numerous diamonds, simply to have a look at them. NBCUniversal by way of Getty Photos

“Lavender was her favourite shade, so we made lavender stairs as much as her trailer, and we stuffed the trailer with lavender flowers for her first day of labor. I had additionally been informed it was a convention that you just gave her lavish presents for the primary day of manufacturing, so we wished to try this as nicely.”

Cohen stated when he went to her home for a wardrobe becoming earlier than manufacturing began, she whispered to him, “‘Darling, you understand that I like presents on the primary day of images.’ I stated, ‘Sure, I’ve heard of this custom.’ After which she whispered, ‘I like Cartier, darling.’”

“We didn’t have an Elizabeth Taylor reward allotment within the finances, so I went to Mr. Spielberg, who was the chief producer, and I stated, ‘Steven, I want you to jot down me a private examine, so I can go searching for Elizabeth Taylor.’ He liked that concept and understood why we couldn’t put it within the finances.”