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Elizabeth Ploger
Elizabeth Ploger was valuable assistant to Rod Taylor in the
1960s and a remained a lifelong friend to his family. She died Oct. 11,
2019, at age 85.
When
Liz was a secretary at MGM, she jumped at an offer
to help answer fan mail for Rod and to produce his fan club
newsletter, Rod-Lore. She filled each issue (1963 through 1966) with a wealth of
information about Rod, his films, his family and fellow fans.
Information from from Rod-Lore is scattered throughout this website, but
one of the best examples of Liz's work is her report in the October 1964
issue, "On
Location with 36 Hours" (PDF).
She often recruited the help of special correspondents, notably
Rod's mother
and his assistant,
Marco Lopez, who reported about "The Glass Bottom Boat" on Catalina
Island.
The semi-annual newsletter included a letter from Rod, an update from
Liz, a Q&A with Rod, and then reviews and reports about the movies he
was making or had just been released.
Liz also penned articles for movie magazines, such as this one in the
February 1965 issue of Screen Stars, "Who
Says Marriage Isn't for Actors" (PDF).
Liz loved to travel, and she regularly sent me email "postcards" from
her journeys. On one of her trips to Florida in the mid-2000s to visit
Mary Hilem Schott (Rod's ex-wife) in Palm Beach, she made a detour to my
town and we had a delightful dinner together.
We met again in 2017 at the U.S. premiere of the documentary "Rod
Taylor: Pulling No Punches." The event was so special as it brought
together many people central to promoting the life and work of Rod
Taylor: the documentary's filmmakers (Stephan Wellink and Robert de
Young), Rod's biographer (Stephen Vagg), his fan club president (Liz
Ploger) and his webmaster (me!).
The film and the evening were extremely meaningful to Liz, and
considering her advancing health problems at the time, she made a
valiant effort to attend. I'm so glad she did.
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