Fashion Icon Valentino passed away January 19th at his home in Rome surrounded by the love of his family per an Instagram statement. Movie Icon Elizabeth Taylor was instrumental in putting Valentino on the map in the early 1960s and he was always loyal and grateful. I reached out to ET’s longtime friend and personal assistant Jorjett Strumme for more details of the Valentino/Taylor connection. “As Elizabeth’s personal assistant I had the pleasure of interacting with Valentino both professionally and personally on countless occasions… Elizabeth and Jackie Onasis were the celebrities that introduced Valentino to the world. Valentino always credited Elizabeth and when he celebrated his 30th anniversary as a designer in 1991, Elizabeth was Valentino’s Guest of Honor at the festivities. Four days of unforgettable parties and events in Rome – We had an amazing time. I think Valentino ranks as a leader in fashion alongside Christian Dior and Balenciaga. In my experiences with Valentino, he was always a gentleman and always looked impeccable. He had a great sense of humor and held firm to his ideas. At Elizabeth’s wedding reception at Michael Jackson’s ranch all of the carnival rides were open – we were all in black tie attire. Valentino rode the rides and ate candy just like everyone else did’.
Jorjett continues… “His clothes were gorgeous, classic and timeless. I am lucky enough to own many pieces of Valentino, and I never get tired of them… For Elizabeth’s wedding to Larry Fortensky in 1991 all the dresses in the wedding party were Valentino designs: bride, matron of honor and the bridesmaids. I was one of the wedding coordinators and my dress was Valentino as well. There are many photos of it in the People Magazine story.” She continues, “During my years with Elizabeth she wore lots of Valentino, both off the rack from the Valentino boutique, and one of a kinds he designed for her. The white gown she wore when she presented the Best Picture Oscar with Paul Newman in 1992, the yellow gown she wore for the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award and the yellow wedding gown she wore for her wedding to Larry Fortensky were all Valentino originals. I know that when Elizabeth discovered Valentino’s clothing, she thought it was extraordinary. She wanted to be his client. She bought clothes and started wearing them which gave him lots of publicity. The glamor of old Hollywood is gone. I am so lucky I got to experience what I got to do”.
These days Jorjett Strumme is an Artist who creates beautiful masks and other pieces of wearable art. Visit http://www.Jorjett.com to see her lovely work. She also has a Facebook page. Jorjett has also contributed to books about costume design during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She recently appeared in the documentary ELIZABETH TAYLOR: THE REBEL SUPERSTAR and she appears in the only authorized biography of Elizabeth, ELIZABETH TAYLOR: THE GRIT AND THE GLAMOR OF AN ICON” by Kate Anderson Brower. I appreciate her contribution to this column!
We also mourn the loss of the incredibly talented and very sweet Catherine O’Hara, 71. Gone too soon. Condolences to her husband Bo Welch, two sons Matthew and Luke and all her loved ones. When asked what her favorite role was, she said, “Being a mom”. She was a great person.
My effervescent friend actress Kathy Garver (Cissy on Family Affair+) was nominated for a Grammy for her great narration work on Carol Connors/Steve Bergman’s very entertaining book Elvis, Rocky & Me. Congratulations Kathy – what an honor! She’s seen in the photo wearing her special Tiffany’s Grammy pendant with CC and Alyssa from Extra. Kathy started acting as a child appearing in The Ten Commandments.
“What an exciting time in my long career – who would have ever thought I would be nominated for a Grammy award especially since I sing offkey… I’m glad the recording academy recognized the ability of a narrator to make melody out of written words.” Though she lost to the Dalai Lama’s narration of Meditations she loved the whole experience of being nominated which included Grammy gift suites, luncheons, parties and mingling with music greats. Her friend Mike Schwimmer flew in from Chicago to escort her to her awards night. Kudos to David Longoria who was in charge of their campaign. The book recording was done at Northridge Studios.
Our friends at the beautiful Grammy Museum invited us to the special press preview of Selena… I’m away but my photographer pal Martin Rayala attended and got these great images of the beautiful exhibit. Long time Selena fan Actor Jonathan Caballero Salaiz attended and was very moved by the costumes and memorabilia. RIP Selena.
Speaking of great music K- POP’s “Golden” really is golden and upbeat. When accepting the Golden Globe, they talked about their rough start, but they kept at it … “Rejection is Redirection” was the phrase that resonated… Truly inspiring. Perhaps they’ll win an Oscar next?
Halle Berry was shining on the red carpet at the premiere of her new movie Crime 101 directed by Bart Layton also starring Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Barry Keoghan and Nick Nolte. Julia Roberts recently celebrated the birthday of her beloved makeup artist Genevieve Herr and is excited about the next possible Oceans movie – She says the script is really good….
Happy belated 96th birthday to the iconic Tippi Hedren… I found this photo I took of her in PS a few years ago in the vaults, seen with producer Paul Cruz – he’s the late Sally Kirkland’s best friend who I wrote about a few issues ago… I’m looking forward to seeing the new Michael Jackson movie – the trailer with cousin Jaafar Jackson as MJ looks very promising. The film is directed by Andre Fuqua.
Wuthering Heights looks like it’s going to be very good too. The poster of Margot Robbie & Jacob Elordi is really cool and a great tribute to the classic film Gone With The Wind which was produced by the father of my late great friend Daniel Selznick, David O. Selznick… Wuthering Heights is directed by Emerald Fennell and opens on Valentine’s.
Check out the new play Off Key, opening February 2/28 at the Blue Door Theatre in Culver City…. It is directed by Greg Shane and written by Chris Urena – it’s about a series of stories about a matchmaker’s disastrous dates. All the pieces are performed by blind actors and actresses.
The beautiful Hollywood Museum owned by my pal Donelle Dadigan kicks off their always amazing annual Black History Month Exhibit February 20th. The exhibit called This Joint is Jumpin’ includes treasured items belonging to Whitney Houston, Denzel Washington, Diana Ross, Lena Horne, Halle Barry, The Pointer Sisters, Jayne Kennedy, Ella Fitzgerald, Freda Payne, RuPaul, Whoopi Goldberg and many others.
If you’re in the PS area late February check out a staged reading of Luke Yankee’s acclaimed play “Marilyn, Mom and Me”. Morgan Fairchild stars as Luke’s mom Eileen Heckart, Allisa Soper stars as Marilyn Monroe and Luke will be playing himself – son of the late great Eileen Heckart who starred with MM in the classic 50s film Bus Stop. It’s the true story of the special relationship these unlikely kindred spirits developed.
Thanxs for your support dear readers & have a very enjoyable Valentine’s…. HH
Photos courtesy HH, Martin Rayala, Instagram, Jorjett Strumme, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures