Today’s news has included the story that a “tooth product company” she’s working with have insured America Ferrera’s smile for big bucks. Now, while I can’t recall there being any other instances lately, this is an old, old classic Hollywood publicity stunt. You know the drill. A big splash when, for astronomical sums, you get an insurance company to cover Chaplin’s feet, Betty Grable’s legs, Jimmy Durante’s nose … The star, the agent, the studio and the insurance company get lots of free publicity, the papers get a cute story. Everybody’s happy.
I’m cynical enough to suspect that many - all? - such policies were never actually signed and thus the stories were entirely ficticious from the get-go. But if not, then it’s a simple question: have the insurers ever had to pay out on such a policy?
We’re obviously excluding the use of life insurance to cover the, ahem, availability of your star for the duration of a shoot and the like. That’s dull, sensible business planning. Body parts only, preferably famous.
Body part insurance is usually done in what’s called the “surplus lines” market, and there’s pretty much nothing you can’t get insured through the Lloyd’s syndicate if you can convince them it’s a good bet. It’s a very strange business and it often comes down to someone literally going desk to desk chatting up the “Names” with “We want to insure ABC for $X. How much would you like to buy into this?” and person by person, they’ll get responses of “buzz off!” or “3%” or 10%, but only if…" or whatever they feel comfortable in covering.
A rather brief interview with a Lloyd’s underwriter indicates that there’s been at least one payoff: “In a timely move, Olivia de Havilland’s jaw was insured just before being socked by Ray Milland in a film shoot.”
I seem to recall that Rosie O’Donnel (back in the days when she had her own talk show, and kissed all the guests) had her lips insured. She then got a cold sore, and the insurance company paid up. Of course, the payment might have been an orchestrated publicity stunt, too, so I’m not sure what it proves.