When Acapulco Was All the Rage: Elizabeth Taylor and Other A-Listers in Mexico David Ehrenstein - The Hollywood Reporter
go to original March 17, 2014

On Nov. 19, 1946, Hayworth belatedly celebrated her birthday during a small party aboard the yacht Zacha, owned by Flynn. From left: Flynn; his wife, Nora; Hayworth; the actress' husband, Orson Welles; and unidentified guests. Click the photo above to view more stars in Acapulco. (Bettmann/CORBIS)

Hollywood once flocked to the resort town, now riddled with drug violence, where JFK and Jackie honeymooned and Debbie Reynolds served as Taylor's bridesmaid: The town was "glorious," Reynolds recalls.

While the name still vibrates with the promise of pleasure and excitement, Acapulco has tumbled precipitously from its perch as one of Hollywood's most glamorous, sun-kissed playgrounds. A victim of Mexico's drug wars, the Pacific coast seaport regularly makes lists of the world's most dangerous cities, with 143 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2012 (Los Angeles had eight per 100,000 residents).

But in its heyday, beginning in the late 1940s, it was a preferred getaway for film's marquee names, a place where Rita Hayworth celebrated her 28th birthday on Errol Flynn's yacht, Elizabeth Taylor and producer Mike Todd married (with Debbie Reynolds as matron of honor and Eddie Fisher as best man) and a group of stars including Johnny Weissmuller and John Wayne bought and ran the Los Flamingos hotel as a private club. In 1963, Hollywood promoted Acapulco to the world in Elvis' romantic caper Fun in Acapulco. The Flintstones even coveted trips to "Rockapulco."

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