This week I talked with Tim Mendelson who was the longtime executive assistant to legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor & is currently a trustee & officer of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF). Tim worked fulltime for Taylor from the early 1990s until her death in 2011 beginning as a freelance production assistant in 1984 but after assisting with Taylor's "White Diamonds" perfume tour in 1991 she hired him as her secretary. He eventually became her executive assistant & worked with her closely on her charitable endeavors including her fight against AIDS. Mendelson & Taylor developed a close & trusting relationship over their decades together. As a trustee of her estate & The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation he continues Taylor's humanitarian work. Taylor co-founded The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) in 1985 & The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) in 1991. Tim personally witnessed Elizabeth’s passionate drive to help people affected by HIV/AIDS with an immediacy that she felt was crucial for this fight. Currently Tim remains dedicated to keeping Elizabeth’s voice & spirit pre-eminent in HIV/AIDS activism for the purpose of ensuring it is at the forefront of current actions concerning this global pandemic. Mendelson has appeared in documentaries related to Elizabeth Taylor including the fabulous film “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” (2024) on MAX. With thousands of Gen Z & Gen Alpha fans newly discovering Elizabeth through Taylor Swift’s new album it’s a perfect time to highlight what this fierce ally brought to our LGBTQ community through her lifetime. I talked to Tim about what he would like to accomplish with Elizabeth Taylor’s legacy & his spin on our LGBTQ issues.
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