In 1995 I was approached by a publicist who had asked me to select an iron bed for a photo shot on the beach for her client, who had just been nominated for and Academy Award. She had wanted the bed to have a white chipped finish, because her client was going to be wearing a form fitting white dress, while being shot on the bed. The shoot was going to be a promotion for one of the trade magazines that the studios were placing a supporting ad in, for her clients nomination.
She asked that I select the bed and have it at a specific location on the beach in Venice Ca, the following morning. At the time I only had a few antique iron beds that already had a “white chipped” finish on them. The one I selected was a bed that was scheduled to be shipped out the following day to a couple in Miami Beach Florida, with a number of other antique iron beds.
The following morning I showed up with the bed bright and early. The actress was Sharon Stone who had just won the Golden Globe and was now nominated for her part in Casino, opposite Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. She had actually gotten there early and was in make-up when I got there. I proceeded to set up the bed rather close to the waters edge. It was a great shoot and everone was very pleased with the bed and the photo’s of it.
The following day I shipped the bed I’d used for the shoot, to the new owners in Miami Beach Florida. I had asked the publicist where the photo’s that were being take would evntually be used. “Strictly the entertainment magazines promoting the movie Sharon is nominated for.” Little did I know the photo’s were sold and had been used in a national decorating magazine. It wasn’t but a few days after that decorating magazine came out, that I received a call form my client in Miami asking if I’d seen the iron beds in the magazine and that it looked very much like their bed. I informed them that prior to shipping their bed, that I had loaned it for the photo shoot. This met with many thank you’s and a lot of I told you so’s to her husband in the back ground. “Looks like I get taken out to dinner tonight ” she said. She had made a bet with her husband it was the same bed.
