AZIZA AL-TAWIL BIOGRAPHY TRIVIA

(From a recent photo shoot)

AZIZA AL-TAWIL BIOGRAPHY TRIVIA INFORMATION: AZIZA WILL BE AUDITIONING FOR THE ROLE OF ELIZABETH TAYLOR IN "FURIOUS LOVE: ELIZABETH TAYLOR, RICHARD BURTON, AND THE MARRIAGE OF THE CENTURY."


-Native "West Sider" of New York City. Still calls it "Hell's Kitchen!"

-From age 6 through 13 was a regular guest on "The Turkish Voice" TV program which aired in the NorthEast on the legendary "Wometco Network" and also in Ankara, Turkey.

-Was Discovered for child modeling by Tom Clancy of the Irish folk singing group "The Clancy Brothers."

-Was hired for the famous "Lipton Soup Campaign" commercial as a child but was shy about having her front teeth out and would not co-operate with the "freaked out" director who wanted her to grin great big. They regretfully fired her and gave it to Gary Coleman. The rest is history!

-Studied Acting & Movement for Stage w/ future Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman at The Hudson Theatre Guild during his "Electric Company" days. She saw something special in him even then and years later was so pleased to see what he had achieved.

-Her mother Johanna was Aristotle Onassis favorite belly dancer in Greektown of the 1960's. By age one, she followed in her footsteps & became a professional dancer performing in nightclubs and other venues in NYC and nationwide. Johanna founded the first Middle Eastern Dance company in the U.S. the "Oasis Ballet." Aziza also performed w/ her company in it's various incarnations through the years.

-Her mother Johanna's agent in the late 1940's was Jim Hetzer. Hetzer was Mickey Rooney's dance partner in the service during World War II.

-Aziza's father Samir Al-Tawil was a singer, musician, composer & actor who appeared in the Sophia Loren flick "Judith" (1967) & starred as the Persian poet Omar Khayyam in an Arabic language bio-pic.

-Grew up in the the old "Henry Hudson Hotel." Her neighbors & friends included comedian Nipsey Russell, actor Robert Culp, & Whitman Mayo & Bubba Bexley (Grady and Bubba) of TV's "Sanford and Son. "The Henry Hudson Hotel' also shared a building with "WNET" Channel 13 & one floor was leased out to the mental ward of nearby Roosevelt Hospital! ("The Henry Hudson" was eventually bought & refurbished by Ian Schrager the surviving owner of "Studio 54" & now simply known as "Hudson.)

-Her mother briefly dated New York's leading Humphrey Bogart impersonator & his gift to Aziza of the coffee table book "A World of Movies" started Aziza's lifelong love affair w/ cinema themed literature.

-Was perhaps the youngest member of the Carnegie Hall Cinema. Her love of acting was born in that "hallowed" hall.

-At age 13 was taking messages at an answering service for supermodel Beverly Johnson.

-Was a regular at actor Patrick O'Neal's "O'Neal's Balloon" near Lincoln Center, famed hangout of ballet stars. (Her mother Johanna had been a protege' of Vaslav Nijinsky's understudy).

-Studied art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art & oil painting with famous artist Suzanne Forestieri who was the mother of her best friend.

-Douglas Fairbanks Jr. married her cousin Mary Lee Epling from WV after he was divorced from Joan Crawford & Mary Lee was divorced from "A&P" heir Huntington Hartford. (Through her father, she's also a cousin of Comedian Danny Thomas & the late child star Anissa Jones of 1960's TV show "Family Affair.")

-She's also a "possible" but "unconfirmed" cousin of comedienne Carol Burnett & actor George Hamilton. Some of her ancesters were in the same land grant as country singer Tim McGraw's ancestor Yost Hite in the Kentucky, VA & NC region. some of her ancestors eventually participated in an armed revolt against Governor Tryon in NC before the revolutionary war.

-Is a huge fan of Lisa Kudrow's celebrity geneology show "Who Do You Think You Are?" & the work of native West Virginian & African American Scholar Henry Louis Gates.

-She's of a mixed ethnic background which includes (but is not limited to!): English, Armenian, Arabic, Gypsy, Italian (from the De Lorenzy, De Laurentiis Tree), Native American, and now, a new discovery points to Portugese Jew. She's related to the Royal Family in England through her maternal Grandfather's mother whose family were in Colonial Williamsburg. She's also a descendant of Lord Falconer.

-During her teenage years lived in her mother's hometown of Charleston, WV. Joined the American Federation of Musicians & started performing as a percussionist & vintage style "Charleston" dancer w/ "The Straw Hatters Dixieland Band" & the "Fat Sam Band."

-Studied Acting for Stage w/ Patricia Edwards who coached her in tournament competition as a member of the National Forensics & Drama League. Won First & Second place Trophies & Ribbons Stonewall Jackson H.S.

-Was invited to Marshall University by the head of the Drama Dept. Family circumstances & her desire to move to Boston to be an activist & join the folk music revival prevented her from accepting his offer.

-Had a sweet young romance w/ Robert Mitchum's nephew Dennis. Their attraction was both cerebral & physical. She didn't stay w/him because she had already decided to live in Boston when he lived elsewhere-something she regrets to this day.

-In Boston continued her belly dance career & sang "Big Band Style" w/ some of the original members of the Tommy Dorsey Big Band.

-Photographer at the famous & popular Kriegsmann Studio in NYC declared she had the most stunning & beautiful eyes he'd seen since he'd photographed Susan Sarandon. He also told her, "With eyes & a body like that there's no reason why a girl like you can't reach the top!"

-Moved to Orlando in the 90's & was an extra for Disney Films, performing in some scenes w/ Robert Alda and Carol Kane and Mickey Mouse himself.

-Hedy Lamarr, MGM Star & "Uber Patriot and Inventor" made a special visit to Aziza's workplace to give her an autograph in person & wish her luck in her career.

-Was mistaken for actress Annie Potts & begged for an autograph until the woman was finally convinced by Aziza & two other people that she was mistaken.

-Came close to being cast as Natalie Wood in a planned James Dean bio-pic. She'd been recco'd to producers but before there was a greenlight on the audition & casting process the production was sued on behalf of the James Dean family & estate.

-In NC studied Acting for Film in seminar & class w/ Hollywood Casting director Jordan Beswick. As an actor, Jordan Beswick trained with Michael Moriarty, Mira Rostova, Sandy Dennis, William Hickey, Shelley Winters, Sally Kirkland, & Martin Landau, among others. (Shelley Winters is one of Aziza's inspirations).

-She wrote a screenplay that was plagiarized & produced with two top named stars
several years after submitting the work to a prestigious competition in Hollywood. After the shock wore off she chalked it up to "experience" & advises people to get an agent instead.

-The late director Robert Altman was intrigued w/ her belly dance photos taken in the style of "Mata Hari." He initially tried to sell a "Mata Hari" project w/Juliette Binoche in mind but unfortunately the project never got off the ground w/any actress as the famous accused spy. Mr. Altman passed away shortly after pitching it one last time at Canne.

-In NC wrote & performed the Zsa Zsa Gabber Burlesque Show-actually a history of show business revue combining historical facts, jokes, songs, & dances.

-In the last few years was offered a role by Ramin Bahrani in the film "Taxi" (which was later re-titled "Goodbye Solo") after reading for a part that she was not particularly suited for-they decided to come up with another role. Associate producer Summer Shelton said Aziza's acting was "very natural" in style. After several phone calls from them trying to arrange for her appearance in the film she had to turn them down completely because they could not come to terms. Mr. Bahrani was the winner of the Guggenheim fellowship & film festival prizes & was praised by Roger Ebert as "the new great American director."

-Had a meltdown after several years of living in Andy Griffith's hometown. Tired of experiencing bigotry for the first time in her life, Aziza chronicled her miseries & those of the other poor unwitting souls in the explosive blog "Mayberry Assholes Your Shit Has Hit the Fan."

-As a tireless "Worker's Right's Activist" she's also written a blog that slams controversial "right winger" Glenn Beck.

-The cousin of actor Paul Fix fell in love with Aziza because her personality & mannerisms reminded him of Drew Barrymore & it led to an almost 2 year affair between the two who were both actors & shared a love of natural medicine & the "supernatural and unexplained." (Paul Fix played Liz Taylor's father in "Giant" & the judge in "To Kill a Mockingbird.")

-Had a torrid 3 year affair w/ William Townsend, grandson of Titanic survivor Kate Murphy. Their split was bitter & scandalized "Mayberry," Florida, & parts of New York.