5. Bette Davis’s waist, rather than her eyes, was insured by Lloyd’s
In 1981 singer Kim Carnes released the song Bette Davis Eyes, introducing a new generation to the 1930s and 40s glamor queen and actress of prodigious talent. From the song, it could easily be inferred that Bette’s eyes were her most well-known and popular asset as regards her physical appeal. But Davis evidently would not have agreed. As her career was beginning to blossom, and before her famous feud with Joan Crawford began, Bette insured her waspish waist with Lloyd’s. At the time, according to sources, her waist measurement was 21″, and Bette stood 5′ 3″.
The amount she insured it for was $28,000 dollars, according to Lloyd’s. In 2019 terms that comes to just over $400,000. It would seem to have been more a publicity stunt on the part of Davis and her studio than a serious insurance policy, and the terms of the policy have never been made public, though Lloyd’s publicly acknowledges the policy’s existence and amount. It was one of many body parts insured by Lloyd’s over the years, some were made public at the time and others kept relatively quiet until enterprising reporters or biographers made them known.