Even the poor dog wasn't immune to the mishaps and misfortune that seemed to befall everybody who worked on this cursed movie. Toto had a habit of running around excitably on set - scenes with him were notoriously hard to direct, and often required multiple retakes - and one of the witch's guard didn't notice him running around their feet. By the time he did it was too late - Toto's paw was broken.
Kind hearted Judy Garland took the dog home with her for two weeks whilst it recovered and became very attached to it. She even wanted to adopt Toto completely, but owner Carl Spitz refused with very good reason; Toto had worked in movies both before and after 'The Wizard of Oz' and earned Spitz a small fortune at the time. There is a permanent memorial to Toto in the Hollywood Forever cemetery in Los Angeles.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.