Condos in Heaven

This woman rented Sharon and Roman 10050 and was seen in several documentaries about the case. She also scared small children with her surgeried face.

Celeb Real Estate Agent Elaine Young Dies

By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
Friday, April 21, 2006; 2:49 AM

LOS ANGELES -- Elaine Young, the real estate agent who bought and sold so many properties to and from the stars that she became a celebrity herself, has died. She was 71.

Young died Thursday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center after a months-long battle with cancer, according to her daughter, Jennifer Young, and her brother, Tony Garber.

Glamorous and ebullient, Young lived a life that rivaled those of her star clients, who included Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Stevie Wonder, among others.

She married six times, once to film star Gig Young, who was the father of her daughter. She appeared on television, was profiled in major publications and drove a Rolls-Royce convertible with the license plate "Elaine 7."

It was in the Rolls that she shuttled her clients to some of the most pricey properties in Southern California.

"She was a gallant soul. I knew her from way back because Gig Young was a good friend of mine," author Dominick Dunne told The Associated Press. "I always think of her sitting in the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel, holding court, saying hello to people, being funny."

One of her sales was a $25 million estate belonging to the Sultan of Brunei. Her more recent listings included the multimillion-dollar estate of rock legend Smokey Robinson.

Fame and Hollywood's glitzy lifestyle had its dark side, however.

In the 1970s, Young did what many Hollywood stars were doing: She sought to improve her appearance through cosmetic surgery. It was the beginning of a horror story that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

As she told it many times in interviews warning others about the pitfalls of such operations, she was maimed by a doctor who injected loose silicone into her face to accentuate her cheekbones. After a time, the silicone began to migrate, causing eye problems and disfigurement.

She underwent 46 surgeries to try to remove the material and correct the problem. The doctor, meanwhile, committed suicide and Young never received any compensation for the medical disaster.

In the end, the disease that claimed her life began with a cancerous tumor in the part of her face that had endured so many surgeries.

Young's soft voice and gentle manner belied her flossy image, and famous clients were drawn to her. She was one of them, born and raised in the realm of Hollywood fantasy.

Her father, David S. Garber, was a manager at Universal Studios and she grew up with the movie business. She graduated from North Hollywood High School and attended the University of California at Los Angeles.

When she began selling wildly expensive Southern California palaces, she acknowledged that even bringing herself to tell clients the price was daunting.

She listed her first million-dollar home in the 1970s and recalled showing it to a potential buyer who pointed out that it had only one bathroom.

"I got up all my courage and I said, `Well, what do you expect for a million dollars?'" Young recalled.

That story and many others became the basis for her book, "A Million Dollars Down," an often humorous memoir of her adventures with the rich and famous.

The secret of her success, she said, was in keeping tabs on the domestic lives of celebrities. If she heard that a famous couple was divorcing or marrying, she knew that a home sale or purchase was likely, and she would contact them.

A slogan on her Web site read: "If you want to live in heaven, acquire a home or condo from Elaine Young."