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TA YLOR MADE The star (here in 1959) took an unprecedented role in shaping her public image, says author Mann.
Books
HER PLACE IN THE SUN
She played a queen (Cleopatra, 1963) and has lived a
regal life offstage—think minks, diamonds, and loyal
retainers. And in his nuanced, detail-rich How to Be
a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood, William
J. Mann proposes that, thanks to coaches like Montgomery Clift and Richard Burton, “Taylor created the
model of stardom and turned it into big business.” Informed in 2006 that Julia Roberts was pulling down
$20 million per film, our homegrown “Queen Elizabeth” smiled and remarked, “I started it.” —Allan Fallow
Trading Up
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ROBIN WRIGHT PENN ADDS A FEW
YEARS AND FINDS A GREAT ROLE
AGELESS
Penn and
Arkin in
Pippa.
Movies
for
FOR ROBIN WRIGHT PENN,
43, it was no stretch to play
the wife of 75-year-old Alan Arkin in their
new movie, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee—
to be featured in AARP’s Vegas@ 50+
Movies for Grownups® Film Festival.
After Arkin wrapped his part in the
film, Penn reveals, “I said, ‘Alan, I’ve got
to tell you, I’ve fallen in love with you.’
He goes, ‘Guess what? You’ll get over it!’ ”
In the title role, Penn plays a fifty-
something woman who moves to a sub-
urban senior living community with her
hubby, a retired Manhattan publisher—
and ends up on the brink of a nervous
breakdown. “It’s not like she’s that much
older than I am,” says Penn, who wore
ill-fitting shoes to age herself slightly
(“They make you walk differently”).
The May–December age difference
wasn’t an issue for Arkin either: “As
anyone connected with AARP should
feel, nobody walks around with a sign on
their head of how old they are. You’re as
old as your attitude.”—Meg Grant
Music
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Jazz’s Jekyll
and Hyde
Robert Glasper has a
musical personality disorder. The young jazz pianist
calmly fronts a soulful, nimble trio on the first
half of his third album, Double-Booked. The rest
of the CD is dedicated to the Robert Glasper
Experiment, an exhilarating fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and electronica showcasing a different set
of accompanists.—Richard Gehr
CLOCK WISE, FROM TOP LEF T: COURTES Y OF EVERE T T COLLEC TION; GENE PAGE/COURTES Y OF SCREEN MEDIA FILMS; COURTES Y OF BLUE NOTE
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