NEW YORK, NY.- Cleopatra, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Place in the Sun—Elizabeth Taylor was a truly inimitable Hollywood star who was beloved the world over. Very few people had private access to the celebrity, but acclaimed photographer Firooz Zahedi met the mega-star as a budding photographer at the age of 27. At the time, he did not know that the mesmerizing violet-eyed siren would become one of his biggest professional supporters and dearest friends. My Elizabeth is available in a sumptuous oversized presentation both in a regular and deluxe edition.

Documenting a little-known era of Taylor’s life, from age 44 to the end of the star’s life, Taylor’s photos in My Elizabeth, many of which are never-before-published, offer a singular glimpse into her private life. Zahedi reveals an extraordinarily playful and yet whimsical, down-to-earth spirit not otherwise captured by celebrity photographers.

In this behind-the-scenes collection, we see Elizabeth Taylor at the ancient ruins of Persepolis in Iran; swathed in gorgeous jewel-toned Persian fabrics selected from local bazaars; playing softball in Montauk with friends; on the set of A Little Night Music in Vienna; strolling the National Mall with Firooz in Washington, D.C.;making lunch on John Warner’s Virginia farm; applying her makeup for The Little Foxes on Broadway; napping on a yacht in Cannes; posing with her beloved Shih Tzu Sugar in her Bel Air home; holding a condom to promote safe sex in the age of AIDS on the cover of Vanity Fair, and photographs of her Bel Air home, taken after her death.

Diving deeper than the jewels, gossip, and the marriages, this book explores who she really was at her core, outside of the Hollywood limelight.

From Washington, D.C., to New York, Los Angeles, Europe, and Iran, the duo's collaboration reveals an evolution in their friendship--and the profound generosity that lay beneath Elizabeth's powerful presence.

Firooz Zahedi was born in Tehran, Iran and attended secondary school in England before moving to the United States in 1969 to study at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

He studied at the Corcoran School of Art. After working as a photographer for Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, he moved to Los Angeles in 1978 with Elizabeth Taylor, as her personal photographer on the film, A Little Night Music. He later became a contract photographer for Vanity Fair. Firooz and his wife divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles, New York and Palm Beach.

Liz Smith is known as the "grand dame of dish." She is a graduate of the University of Texas journalism school who has worked in celebrity and show business for 57 years. Her columns have appeared in more than 70 newspapers over the course of her 50+ year career, which also includes radio, television, and a best-selling memoir. She lives in New York City.

Bob Colacello, a longtime special correspondent for Interview and Vanity Fair, was educated at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Columbia University’s Graduate School of the Arts. He has written definitive biographies of Andy Warhol, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan and lives in New York City.