Stars and Serendipity
Renée Taylor shares a few of her favorite Hollywood stories
Renée Taylor’ s life in the arts has been marked by many unforgettable encounters with icons of stage and screen. Here are a few fun annecdotes:
Mel Brooks chose her to play Eva Braun in The Producers after a particularly memorable audition.“ He remembered the audition years later,” shares Taylor.“ He said when I played Eva Braun with a New York accent, he thought it was just hilarious.”
In Lee Strasberg’ s acting class, she watched Marilyn Monroe tremble with fear.“ She was a huge star already, but she was so vulnerable,” Taylor says.“ She was so nervous and sweating. I was so impressed she’ d still put herself in that position to grow.”
Taylor once followed Marlene Dietrich into the ladies’ room just to find out what perfume she wore.“ I’ m very scentdriven,” she says.“ I had to know what it was. That smell— it told me everything about her.”
Perhaps John Wayne made the most powerful impression.“ I thought he was so sexy,” she shares.“ When I met him, my knees buckled. There’ s nobody like that now. Not like there used to be.”
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