Elizabeth Taylor's 1976 trip to Iran with photographer Firouz Zahedi

In 1976 Elizabeth Taylor visited Tehran in the company of her friend, the celebrated Hollywood photographer and cousin of the Iranian ambassador to the United States, Firooz Zahedi. The series of photographs Zahedi took on that trip was shown in Los Angeles in 2011. According to Firooz Zahedi's recollections, he was by then visiting Iran for the third time since 1959 and had not been back to his homeland since. Taylor managed to remain unrecognised on the streets, as she went out in plain clothes, with a minimum of jewellery and make-up, without an entourage, and nothing gave away the famous actress. Taylor managed to visit not only Tehran but also Isfahan and the magnificent mausoleums of Hafez and Saadi in Shiraz; in short, she was taken round the most emblematic sights of the country

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

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Frederic Leighton

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Elizabeth Taylor's 1976 trip to Iran with photographer Firouz Zahedi

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

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