People, Jun. 7, 1976

Actress Elizabeth Taylor, who charmed Iranian Ambassador Ardeshir Zahedi during a visit to Washington, D.C. (TIME, May 17), proved a little less enchanting to the ambassador's countrymen. Invited on Iran Air's inaugural nonstop flight from New York to Tehran, Taylor came playing the role of temperamental tourist. On arrival she sent Tehran police in search of a missing hand-carried package. Rumored to be a jewelry box, it turned out to be some Glenfiddich pure malt scotch. Then came a minor row at her hotel when she found her accommodations were not the royal suite she expected, and more trouble when she passed up several social functions. By the time she had taken some photos for the family album and finished her ten-day visit, she was being criticized not only for her manners but for her looks and taste. Liz, carped Zan-E-Ruz, Iran's largest women's magazine, "is a fattish, short, big-busted woman with poor makeup, and totally out of fashion." ∙ "She predicted we wouldn't do well against Chicago last weekend, and they kicked the living dickens out of us," noted Oakland Athletics Owner Charles Finley of his new employee. She is Laurie Brady, an astrologer, columnist (the National Star), and now Finley's designated team prophet. Brady has drawn astrological charts on all the Oakland players, as well as on Finley himself, and is telling her boss what's in his stars, athletically speaking. Maybe Finley shouldn't listen. Brady says Kansas City will top Oakland in the Western Division, and that three A's aces, Pitcher Vida Blue, Third Baseman Sal Bando and Outfielder Joe Rodi, are headed for injuries. Specific game results? The A's will win in Boston June 15 and 16. Brady is less precise about her own future in baseball. "Mr. Finley is rather difficult to work with," she concedes. "When I tell him negative things, he gets angry."

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Heavyweight Champ Muhammad AM says he is slowing up at 33, but he is still fast enough to suit one admirer, Photographer-Actress Candice Bergen. After snapping pix at ringside as Ali battered English Boxer Richard Dunn in Munich, Candy rhapsodized: "He's so breathtakingly beautiful, absolutely dazzling. He's just like a mirrored ball. You can't keep track of him while he's dancing around in front of you." Before Ali's victory, Candice won, with the help of NBC, a bout of her own—against German tradition forbidding women a ringside seat. Was it worth it? "Watching a fight is kind of like watching a car accident," concluded Candy. "It's horrible, but you can't take your eyes off it. I just sat there thinking Ali was a beautiful sculpture and I didn't want to see it get damaged."

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