SHE KEPT her fans waiting, but Glasgow was still dazzled by Elizabeth Taylor when she came to the city on September 4, 1979.

She smiled for the crowds outside the Rogano, where she was having lunch with friends, and gave a kiss on the cheek to Eddie Lynch, a 21-year-old fan from Cadder who had waited for almost three hours to present her with a bunch of roses.

Inside the restaurant, it was a slightly different story, as our sister newspaper The Herald reports: “However, once inside, the smiles turned to frowns and she shied away from photographers [among them the Herald’s Jim Connor] with a cry of ‘oh, no’ at her table in a corner of the crowded restaurant.”

The Evening Times writer went a step further – Marian Pallister, clearly miffed by the lack of attention bestowed upon her and her fellow journalists and snappers, did not mince her words.

“Having suffered from an un-named bug which kept her confined to bed over the weekend, she was showing every one of her 46 years’ worth of wrinkles and high living,” sniffed Ms Pallister.

The iconic actor, who at this point was married to Senator John Warner, was in Scotland on holiday with fellow actors Tracy Reed and her husband Bill Simpson.

Her visit to the Rogano in Royal Exchange Square had been ‘leaked’ beforehand, but, according to the Herald, “Liz made a far from spectacular entrance.”

The report said: “Casually dressed in a baggy yellow sweater and dark slacks, she looked pale after reputedly being confined to bed with a bug over the weekend, and appeared startled by the waiting crowd.

“Inside, she was irritated by the attentions of the photographers, and drawled at them: ‘Have you no manners?’”

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She said she had enjoyed her holiday at Rannoch Lodge in Perthshire.

The Evening Times reported: “The Rogano is famous for its oysters, but when asked if that was why she had chosen to eat there, she said in a Brooklynese that belied her English heritage, ‘whaaaat?’”

This was a shame for the poor restaurant manager, Charles Winning, who had arranged for oysters to be brought all the way from Cornwall. It is no surprise the Hollywood quartet chose the Rogano for lunch – the iconic restaurant – pictured here in 1976 – has been part of Glasgow’s fine dining scene since 1935.

The Herald noted that for lunch Taylor, who had been on a £10,000 crash diet, had a starter of mussels mariniere, followed by fillets of Dover sole bonne femme with broccoli and peas. She drank Pouilly Fume Michel Redde, 1977 vintage, and ended with Highland coffee with Drambuie.

The informal lunch lasted just over 90 minutes and Taylor then left to catch a shuttle flight to London.

One enterprising newspaper reporter, intending no doubt to get another few lines out of Taylor, tried to melt the ice by sending an expensive bouquet of flowers over to her table. They were left behind.

Taylor was born in England, but moved to LA as a child. Her career, which spanned six decades, earned her five Oscar nominations and two Best Actress wins.

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She negotiated the first million dollar contract for an actor, for her role in Cleopatra, and she was the first celebrity to launch a fragrance brand.

From the mid-1980s, she used her fame to shine a light on the ignorance surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

She was was married eight times to seven men, and she had four children, ten grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She died in Los Angeles in 2011 at the age of 79.