Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Celebrity Insurance - How Much Is It Worth To You?

I remember my mother talking about Betty Grable insuring her legs for $1 million dollars. That got me thinking about the business of insuring body parts, which further got me thinking about who would do something like that.

Thinking it was very rare, imagine my surprise to find that not only isn't it rare, it is, in fact, pretty common for celebrities to insure that which is considered a benefit to their career.

I did some research on the subject and what I found was pretty interesting. Not only did Betty Grable
insure her legs for $1 million, so did Mary Hart, co-host of Entertainment Tonight. Not to be out-done, super-model Heidi Klum, insured her legs for $1.96 million, according to the Washingtonpost.com, who wrote, "Phillips, de Pury and Co. made the assessment based on length, shape, rarity and commercial value". Hum. My legs certainly don't rate a $1 million dollar insurance policy. Sometimes life is not fair.

So I looked at other celebrities to see what they insured and I found some pretty interesting body parts. According to Bankrate.com, these celebrities have all insured body parts:


Jimmy Durante's nose? $50,000
Marlene Dietrich's voice? $1 million
Dolly Parton's breasts? $600,000
Michael Flatley's (Lord of the Dance) legs? $25 million

Bruce Springsteen's voice? $6 million

Again, according to Bankrate.com: "Surprisingly, one category where you would expect lots of insured parts -- the world of sports -- yields none. While one would expect that superstars like Kobe Bryant, Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens would have more insured arms that the United States military, it turns out that the sports world finds little time to quibble with details"

It seems that if the athletes want to insure parts, they have to do it themselves. Well, except Tiger Woods, whose insurance premium would be more per year than he makes from the game of golf. Most of his income is from endorsements. Ballplayer Juan Gonzalez insured himself as a free agent with a $50 million disability policy.

People have insured their taste buds, their teeth, their hands (Keith Richards), a moustache, their eyes, policies against weight gain, fingers, even buttocks.


One can only hope that Clay Aiken has insured that glorious voice of his.





Thanks to Tasapio for the picture the extraordinary Clay Aiken.

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8 comments:

ladyjocelyn said...

Most of those I'd agree with the prices...except I think Dolly's insurance is a bit low, and Flatley's WAY too high. Bruce's is also high, but I'll forgive it because I like Bruce. *g*

Wonder what their premiums are?

Clay's voice? Worth $100,000,000. Of course, I'd also insure the hair too. *g*

The ConCLAYve-Nan said...

And the fingers - they're worth a lot. And the cheekbones. And the eyes. Oh, wait, and the nose. Did I forget anything?

Pink Armchair said...

Hey, Shady, this was fascinating and fun! Really enjoyed it. And Michael Flatley has insurance? Who knew?

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit late getting started on reading the blogs. I'm liking it a lot.

I remember when I first heard about ole' Betty's legs being insured for a million and wondered what would have to happen to them in order for her to collect. If they got a little puffy around the knees or if her ankles swelled up would would she be able to file a claim? What do you think?

Allegra said...

I remember when Mary Hart had her legs insured. It seemed more like publicity than anything. Springsteen insured his voice? It's not the best voice in the world, and I would think he has money up the whazoo so why would he need insurance. If Bruce has his voice insured for 6 mil then Clay would need at least 10 times that amount. *G* Thanks for the enlightening blog.

TheClayBlog said...

Problem is, his voice is PRICELESS! How do you insure that???

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why Dolly Parton's breasts would be insured. Couldn't she just get them replaced if something happened? They're not for real, are they? I seem to remember her losing a lot of weight but the enormous boobs didn't seem to follow the same weight loss pattern.

I would think athletes would be uninsurable because they are such a high risk for injury or permanent damage.

As for Clay's voice, I sure hope he has it insured. That thought occurred to me during the 2004 Joyful Noise Tour when he had to cancel those first few shows.

But yes, it is priceless. I do wonder what that premium would be.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with the Clayblog, his voice is priceless. And if his album doesn't come out soon, how is he supposed to pay the premiums??

;)