We're going to give you a little bit of an entertainment history lesson here! The iconic cartoon character of Betty Boop was inspired by a real-life film star by the name of Helen Kane. Boop was created in the 1930s, but her inspiration had been appearing on the big screens a decade earlier. You might not know Kane by name, but if you always thought 'I Wanna Be Loved by You' was Marilyn Monroe's song, you're wrong. It was Kane's work, and she was famous for it at the time.
One of Kane's fans was Grim Natwick, an animator for the Fleischer Studio. Bizarrely he initially created the Betty Boop character as half-human and half-dog in 1930, but two years later (presumably after sobering up), he changed it into a fully human woman, at which point the resemblance to Kane became obvious. The character was a sensation, and made hoop earrings popular with young women of the time.
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.