THE STARS & THEIR CATS
By Helen Wilson
Movie stars, singers and the actors and actresses of Broadway have long been fond of cats. One of today’s biggest stars, Taylor Swift, has three beloved cats. “Meredith Gray” joined Taylor’s household in 2011, named after Gray’s Anatomy. She was joined by “Olivia Benson” in 2014, another Scottish fold named after the character in the popular TV show, SVU. Finally, “Benjamin Button” is a Ragdoll breed who joined the family in 2019. All were rescues. Taylor’s cats accompany her around NYC and on flights to her destinations. Meredith is registered with the IMDB database of actors and has a substantial income! Benjamin appeared on the cover of Time Magazine with Taylor, and the cats all appeared in a number of TV commercials. (in People.com 12/11/23, NY Magazine.com/Intelligencer; Cosmopolitan.com)
Taylor and Benjamin Button
Because Taylor Swift named a cat after the SVU star character Olivia Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay, Mariska named a new kitty in her own family “Karma”, after Taylor Swift’s Midnight track song!
Another famous singer who adored cats was Freddie Mercury. He rescued many cats from shelters and brought them to live at Garden Lodge in London. His spacious home was full of toys and a big garden where the cats played. Some of Freddie’s felines were “Oscar,” Tiffy, Delilah, and the dynamic duo Lily and Romeo. When on tour, Freddie would talk with his pets on the phone. He wrote a song for his favorite, Delilah, and wore cat-themed clothing. (in “Feline Groovy: the cats of Garden Lodge”, in Sotheby’s by Arsalan Mohammad)
Freddie and Goliath
Other feline fans are Katy Perry, Drew Barrymore, and Mark Ruffalo, who has 5 cats! Ricky Gervais adores his cat “Ollie”; he documented their life together. Christopher Walken wrote an introduction to a book on cats (PETA). James Franco, an English major, named his cats after book characters, including “Sammy” and “Zelda.”
In earlier years, famous movie stars Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, who appeared in such classics as “To Have and Have Not” (1944) and the “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), have been photographed with their cats. Some said that Bacall, with her sultry beauty, was “a cat in human form.” (in the book “Lauren Bacall: a Woman who Dared” by Canon).
Marlon Brando was a movie great who “loved children and animals.” When he was filming “The Godfather” a stray cat wandered onto the set and Brando picked him up and petted the kitty. The cat began to purr loudly in the opening scene of the famous film. Brando, playing “Vito Corlione”, talks to the mobster and strokes the cat, adding “complex layers” to the scene.
Other stars of old who appeared with their cats were Liz Taylor, Clark Gable, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren. Sophia appeared with her cat on Carson’s “The Tonight Show.”
An even more ancient cat story took place in the late 1800’s at the Winter Garden Theatre in NYC. Theaters back then usually had a mascot cat, or even a dog or monkey. “Minnie” was a cat who wandered on stage during performances and had a part in the play “Hold your Horses.” She was a favorite of the star Fanny Brice of the Ziegfeld Follies. Minnie was so popular, The New York Daily News followed her in a regular column. (in the Hatching Cat of Gotham).
The Winter Garden Theatre
Snuggle up for movie night with the ultra-cozy TAART Cat Bed