Liz Taylor: The First Paparazzi Magnet

Need a good beach (or bathroom) read? Try these

(NEWSER) - To understand how women have defined “celebrity” over the past century, you have to read these 20 biographies. Or maybe, writes Tracie Egan Morrissey for Jezebel , you’re just looking for a trashy bathroom read. That works, too:

• No Lifeguard on Duty, Janice Dickinson: The supermodel is “deliciously TMI about everything: when she tried to trick Sylvester Stallone into thinking he was the father of her baby when he wasn't; getting totally fucked up on coke and booze at Stephanie Seymour's bachelorette party; describing—in detail—Liam Neeson's penis size.”
• Liz, C. David Heymann: “Focuses mostly on the trashier aspects of Elizabeth Taylor’s life and career—like the pills, the booze, the marriages, and the fluctuating weight—but is mostly interesting for its account of all of her ‘firsts’ as a celebrity woman.”

'You’re supposed to be unusual' in Hollywood: Wishful Drinking author

(NEWSER) - Carrie Fisher’s shrink told her, “If you worked in a supermarket they would’ve institutionalized you at 20,” she recalls. Not so in Hollywood, where the erstwhile Princess Leia suffered through drug addiction, manic depression, and failed relationships—her own and her parents’. But electroshock therapy helped her deal with all that and turn it into a one-woman show—and it was “worth it!” she tells New York. “Totally. Fucking. Worth it!” More»

Monroe was jealous of Elizabeth Taylor: memoir

(NEWSER) - A new memoir reveals that it was simple jealousy of Elizabeth Taylor that spurred Marilyn Monroe to pose nude. Monroe agreed to be naked while exiting a swimming pool during a photo shoot, as long as Taylor did not appear in any magazines running the images, reports Vanity Fair, which is publishing the images in this month's edition. (While Monroe made just $100,000 for her final film role in Something's Gotta Give, Taylor pulled down $1 million in Cleopatra.) But the nude pictures weren't the only place Monroe bared all. A smattering of her conversations with photographer Lawrence Schiller, as per his memoir Marilyn & Me:

• On posing naked: "Larry, if I do come out of the pool with nothing on, I want your guarantee that when your pictures appear on the covers of magazines Elizabeth Taylor is not anywhere in the same issue."

Michael Jackson tops the list again

(NEWSER) - When you’re a celebrity, dying doesn’t have to mean you stop making money. Forbes offers up its annual list of the top-earning celebs of the past year:

1. Michael Jackson: The King of Pop is in the top spot for the second year in a row, earning $170 million thanks to music sales, his stake in the Sony/ATV catalog, and a new Cirque du Soleil tour.
2. Elvis Presley: The King of Pop is followed by the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, who earned $55 million, much of which came from Graceland admissions. A Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas didn’t hurt, either.
3. Marilyn Monroe: A resurgence in popularity is partly to thank for her $27 million in earnings; for example, she was featured in an ad for J’Adore fragrance, and soon she’ll be getting her own line of cafes.
4. Charles Schulz: The Peanuts creator earned $25 million as his creations found themselves coming into the digital age via a video game, e-books, and a Facebook app, among other things.
5. John Lennon: The Beatles sold 1.6 million albums last year after finally arriving in the iTunes Store, which may have something to do with Lennon’s $12 million in earnings. Also helping? Yet another Cirque show.

Larry Fortensky defends his relationship with Taylor

(NEWSER) - Elizabeth Taylor's eighth and final husband Larry Fortensky tells the Daily Mail all about his famous marriage to the iconic screen star, spurred on by what he calls false accusations of gold-digging and a loveless marriage. In fact, says the former builder, he and Taylor enjoyed a passionate relationship for many years, continued to talk frequently after their divorce, and he never asked her for any money. "Enough is enough," he says. "It is time for me to tell my story and the truth about Elizabeth and me and to stop these lies once and for all." More»