“She’s the last of the great stars of the silver screen. She was like a goddess who prowled her way through the Forties, Fifties, Sixties and into the Seventies and, although her box-office stature had waned, She had an allure that held a strange sway over us,”–UK commentator Baz Bamigboye remembering Dame Elizabeth Taylor.
Photo caption 1 - Stars: Elizabeth Taylor with Richard Burton as Martha and George in the film Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? in 1966. Of her eight marriages, she was wed to him twice. ‘She should be Welsh but she wasn’t born here. But it’s as if I bred her in my Welsh bones,’ he once said.
Photo caption 2 - Short-lived romance: In 1950, aged 18, she married Nicky Hilton, a deceptively charming young man whose father, Conrad, founded the Hilton hotel-chain. Nicky was an abusive drunk who battered his young bride so brutally, she lost the baby she was carrying.
Photo caption 2 - Glamorous: Elizabeth Taylor arrives with second husband Michael Wilding in London in 1953. They had two children together but the marriage was over within five years.
Photo caption 3 - Much married: Taylor arrives at London Airport with her fourth husband, singer Eddie Fisher, and her sons Michael, six, and Christopher, four, children of her former marriage to Michael Wilding
Photo caption 3 - Elizabeth Taylor with third husband, showbusiness impresario Mike Todd. They had one child together but tragedy struck when he died in a plane crash in 1958. She was consoled by singer Eddie Fisher, who would become her next husband.
Photo caption 4 - Style switch: Elizabeth Taylor went through a series of image changes following her marriage to eighth husband, builder Larry Fortensky in 1991. But she wasn’t accustomed to men like him. As sweet as he was he couldn’t adjust to her world and she couldn’t adjust to his.
IMBEDDED STRONG MATESHIP – AUSTRALIA’S JULIA GILLARD SWANS ON DOWN TO MEET HER SPECIAL FRIEND, JOHN KEY IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND
[Photo caption - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is greeted by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key at Auckland airport.]
In political press that resembles the good relationship that Kiwi born country rocker Keith Urban has with his Oscar winning wife, Nicole Kidman the two leaders of New Zealand and Australia seem to be getting on famously. The key words, “mateship” “tremendous” “imbed” “strong business” “cross-pollination” “always there to help” “keep productivity and competitiveness high” “special friend” were being openly shared between these two fun and creative world leaders on the stage of global politics.
Guest commentary via the New Zealand Herald today on Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s recent visit to Kiwiland reads like this:
“Prime Minister John Key introduced Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to the Glen Taylor School in the Auckland suburb of Glendowie as his “special friend”. The pair were welcomed with a Maori welcome.
Mr Key recently introduced the new ‘national standards policy’ with this school and explained that there was a degree of difficulty with the moderation aspects of the policy, saying “it takes time for the system to imbed”. But overall it was going to make a “tremendous” difference. A grass-roots based community story, the leaders signed a plaster cast of a young girl who had broken her leg when she tripped at the Parnell pool.
Gillard pays tribute to Kiwi ‘mateship’: Earlier today, Ms Gillard paid tribute to the help New Zealanders gave in the recent Queensland floods. ”You brought comfort, you brought mateship and you will never be forgotten,” she told over a thousand people at a business lunch in Auckland.
“We too will not forget the 29 men who never came home from the Pike River Mine. They live on in our hearts and our memories. And at a time of hardship and grief, Australia will always be there to help.” The main focus of her speech was the business relationship, saying a strong New Zealand was good for Australia and and strong Australia was good for New Zealand.
(She does have a point as Australia owns all but one of New Zealand’s major banks. Good business in New Zealand can only benefit the region, as Gillard so aptly posits).
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Posted by horiwood on February 15, 2011 in Aotearoa New Zealand, Awesome Aussies, Cross-Cultural Narratives, Economy, John Key, Julia Gillard, Kool Kiwis, Leadership, New Zealand, Politics, Pop Art, Pop Cultural Commentary, Wales