The Arsenio Hall Show

Elizabeth made a rare late-night TV appearance when she dropped by The Arsenio Hall Show in 1992. “It was very intimidating,” Hall later said of having her as a guest on his show. “She almost hampered my performance from the moment she hit the couch!” But his nerves seemingly subsided as the two quickly established a rapport. “I like your pumps,” he complimented her. “I like your jewels,” she said, at which members of the audience broke out in the show’s trademark barking, their sign of approval. “Oh, that’s the sound I wanted to hear!” she said with glee. “Do it again, please! I love it, I love it!!”

Elizabeth shares that she had seen a sketch Arensio had done on the show of an Elizabeth Taylor look-a-like being kidnapped from a mall. Hall was relieved when she told him she thought it was funny, and a big part of the reason she wanted to appear on his show. “[I]t was terrific,” she told him. “You made me feel very wanted. I thought, if you went to that extreme, you really must want me on the show.”

The two also discussed motorcycles and compared bling. “That’s beautiful. What is that?” Hall asks, pointing to the famous Krupp diamond glittering on Elizabeth’s finger. “That’s, uh, a diamond,” Elizabeth says with a laugh. “That’s the same thing as this?” he asks, as the two put their hands together for the camera to compare rings. “It was so big, I thought it was some other kind of stone!”

Elizabeth reveals that there’s a new bike in the family—she gave husband Larry Fortensky a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy for Christmas. Arsenio asks whether she wears a helmut when she’s on the back of her motorcycle. It’s the law, she reminds him. “I don’t want to get arrested for that,” she said. “Do something major, but not that.”