Photographer Gered Mankowitz Explains Why Elizabeth Taylor Wasn’t Excited to Have Him on the Set of “Boom!” (Exclusive)
Photographer Gered Mankowitz Explains Why Elizabeth Taylor Wasn’t Excited to Have Him on the Set of “Boom!” (Exclusive)
Angela AndaloroSun, August 2, 2026 at 9:59 AM UTC
0
Elizabeth TaylorCredit: Courtesy of Gered Mankowitz, via ACC Art Books -
Photographer Gered Mankowitz was known for his work on the rock music scene when he began to dabble in films
One of his earliest experiences was on the 1968 romantic thriller Boom!, which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
Mankowitz, who turns 80 on Aug. 3, 2026, celebrates 65 years of memorable photos with ACC Art Books’ Gered Mankowitz: Photographs
Despite life in the spotlight, some stars don’t always love to have their picture taken. Photographer Gered Mankowitz knows this from experience.
The famed photographer, who celebrates his 80th birthday on Aug. 3, 2026, has worked with countless celebrities over the last six decades, with some of his greatest photos compiled in Gered Mankowitz: Photographs, which includes 65 years of work from 1960 to 2025.
Among the stories included is a mention of Mankowitz’s first encounter with Elizabeth Taylor while filming 1968’s Boom!, which he recalls in a conversation with PEOPLE.
“Well, I’d worked on a couple of movies, and I always imagined that I would evolve naturally into being a film director, but I was absolutely not cut out to be a film director,” he shares. “And when I got the chance to work on Boom!, it was very challenging initially.”
“Elizabeth didn’t want me on set because she had a real problem with photographers and there were two photographers already on set. One of them was the official unit photographer and the other one was a photographer who was very close to her hairdresser and was seen as part of the family. He was allowed on, but she was resistant to me coming out,” Mankowitz explains.
Elizabeth TaylorCredit: Courtesy of Gered Mankowitz, via ACC Art Books
“Anyway, once she agreed, I became... I don’t know, not a thorn in her side, but she definitely was quite prickly with me,” he admits.
While he didn’t make a quick friend of the movie star, they did end up on good enough terms that it wasn’t the only time they worked together. Mankowitz may not have appealed to the star, but he “got on really well” with her costar and partner, Richard Burton.
“He was lovely. I mean, he was very funny, very entertaining, but he drank a lot. And there was a huge amount of drinking from very early in the morning. And it was all seen and accepted as being completely natural,” Mankowitz shares.
“Nobody was surprised. It was a strange atmosphere. And it put me off forever to the idea of making movies in my life,” he admits. “I mean, apart from the fact that I definitely don’t have or never had the talent to be a director and the discipline and the focus to be a director, I didn’t want to be part of that world, really.”
Elizabeth TaylorCredit: Courtesy of Gered Mankowitz, via ACC Art Books
That said, Mankowitz continues, “I loved dipping into it. I loved the process in many ways, but it was completely insane. And I was terribly pleased to get back to music, which felt completely sane after the madness of the movie set.”
Advertisement
However, even musicians had their reservations about having photographers around.
Mankowitz notes that at the “very beginning” of his career, around 1963, he “realized that in very general terms, people didn’t like having their photograph taken.”
“And so a lot of people, particularly musicians who were very focused on their music, felt that was the most important thing for most of them. So having a photograph taken was often a terrible imposition and they didn’t like it; they frequently compared it to having their teeth out, going to the dentist. It wasn’t seen as a comfortable or enjoyable experience,” he explains.
“I realized that and I learned very quickly that one of the things you have to do is to draw people into the process,” he continues. “And I partly did that by, in most cases, having them come to me.”
— sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Elizabeth TaylorCredit: Courtesy of Gered Mankowitz, via ACC Art Books
Mankowitz found that when someone dedicated time to being in the studio or at a location together, a sense of shared responsibility for the outcome arose.
“On the very few occasions when I had to shoot backstage, I never really enjoyed it. I never felt that I was getting the sort of picture that I would have liked,” the photographer shares. “I did it a few times, but generally I always steered the session around to people coming to me or us all going on location together.”
“By committing a few hours, the best part of a day, they’re already on your side. They’re already working with you just by being there,” he continues. “And that’s why they’re there, to have their photograph taken. And once they’re there, I can feed them and I can look at them and talk to them and try and reassure them, guide them through the process and help them express to the camera what they feel works for their image.”
“That’s the process that I really like. Now, once you’ve done that and once you’ve found that that works, you generally find that applying it in most situations is rewarding and you get results. The walls come down and I don’t have to break in. I never liked doing that and I never did [do that],” Mankowitz concludes.
Gered Mankowitz: Photographs from ACC Art Books is now available, wherever books are sold.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
