Elizabeth Taylor - biography and personal life

Biography

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born on February 27, 1932 in London. Her parents were a couple of American actors who worked in the British capital. In 1939, when a major war broke out in Europe, her parents returned home to Los Angeles, which opened up great opportunities for their daughter.

In 1942, he offered 10-year-old Liz a contract to star in the film “A Man Is Born Every Minute,” where she played the role of Gloria Twine. This film is the first in the extensive filmography of the great actress. Over the next two years, she starred in films from two more companies that have become the main force in Hollywood today - MGM (Lassie Comes Home) and 20th Century Fox (Jane Eyre with the great Orson Welles).

Elizabeth Taylor in childhood

Taylor received her first “adult” role in 1950 in the film Father of the Bride, and her role in the film A Place in the Sun (1951) made critics talk about her.

Filmography

Movies

Already in those years, Elizabeth showed her difficult character. She didn't like many of the films she starred in and was annoyed by the company's total control. She even wanted to break her contract with MGM and end her career that had not yet really begun. However, things got better, and in the mid-50s Taylor began to get leading roles in serious films.

Elizabeth Taylor in her youth

She gained widespread recognition from films based on the works of Tennessee Williams - “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958) and “One Day Last Summer” (1959). For her scene as "Cat" Maggie Pollitt in the film Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, lying in a silk nightgown, Taylor received comparisons to Marilyn Monroe in her role in the cult film The Seven Year Itch, when the air from the ventilation of the New York subway inflates the skirt of Monroe's heroine. And for her role in Once Upon a Time Last Summer, Elizabeth Taylor received her first major award - the Golden Globe for Best Actress.

And the following year, Taylor received her first Oscar for her role in the film Butterfield 8, which became the last in the history of her collaboration with MGM. Elizabeth Taylor was destined for world fame.

Elizabeth Taylor in her youth

The year 1963 was eventful for cinema. The comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” was released, Alfred Hitchcock showed the world the film “The Birds”, Ingmar Bergman released his “Silence”. The same year, Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor was released. For her, she received a colossal fee of one million dollars at that time. The film turned out to be so expensive that it paid off only after 4 years, when the rights to show it were sold to television companies. This work changed the life of the actress. She became a star, captivating millions of viewers with her rare beauty and her bright, talented performance.

Elizabeth Taylor at the Oscars

Elizabeth Taylor won her second Oscar for her role as Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? For the sake of this role, the actress made great sacrifices - she had to gain significant weight, which she then did not manage to lose for a long time. This work was the last truly big one for Taylor in film. She continued to act a lot, but did not have the same success. Viewers from the CIS should remember the film “The Blue Bird” based on the play by Maurice Maeterlinck, filmed in 1976 jointly by Lenfilm and 20th Century Fox, in which Taylor played several roles at once.

Elizabeth Taylor in the movie "Blue Bird"

In the 80s, Elizabeth Taylor starred mainly in television films and TV series, the names of which will tell the domestic audience little. She became involved in social activities and business. So, she was the first Hollywood star to release a perfume line under her own name. Taylor paid a lot of attention to the fight against HIV infection, becoming a co-founder of the American Foundation for HIV Research, as well as opening a foundation in her name. She devoted a lot of time and effort to charity, for which she was awarded the US Presidential Medal in 2001.

The last time Elizabeth Taylor appeared on the big screen was in 1994 in the feature film The Flintstones, which did not gain much fame. In addition, it should be noted that Maggie Simpson from the famous TV series “The Simpsons” said her first and only word in the voice of Elizabeth Taylor.

In 1993, the actress received her third Oscar “for outstanding individual contribution to the cause of humanism,” and her last public appearance took place in 2007 at film events dedicated to the problems of HIV and AIDS.

Confession

In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Elizabeth Taylor as the seventh greatest film star.

It was reported that the filming of a biographical film based on the book by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schonberger, “Fierce Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Wedding of the Century,” [7] was planned for 2011, in which the role of Elizabeth Taylor was to be played by Angelina Jolie or Catherine Zeta Jones.

In 1963, Andy Warhol portrayed Elizabeth Taylor in the painting Liz No. 5. On May 12, 2011, it will be sold at Phillips de Pury auction in New York, expected to fetch $30 million.[8]

Personal life

Elizabeth Taylor's personal life attracted and still attracts, perhaps, more attention than her work. And this is not surprising, because a woman with such a bright and unusual appearance, who finds herself at the pinnacle of fame, cannot have the boring, gray life of a simple man in the street.

Elizabeth Taylor is a carrier of a genetic mutation

It’s worth saying a few words about one feature of Taylor’s appearance. The actress had a rare genetic mutation - distichiasis, and simply put - had two rows of eyelashes, which gave her eyes and her look a special beauty and expressiveness. Moreover, the color of her eyes is defined by many as purple, which is a rare case.

Elizabeth Taylor was married 9 times to 8 men. She was married to one of them, Richard Burton, twice.

Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Wilding

18-year-old Nicky Hilton became the actress's husband when she was 23 years old. The heir to the giant Hilton empire turned out to be an ardent lover, but a useless husband who allowed himself to drink, carouse and even raise his hand to his pregnant wife. The marriage ended tragically - Elizabeth lost her child.

Actor Michael Wilding, who was old enough to be her father, was taken away from the family by Taylor, and it seemed that their marriage was supposed to be ideal. Taylor gave birth to two children for her husband, but this marriage also fell apart.

Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Todd

Liz did not grieve for long and three days later she married producer Michael Todd, who was 24 years older than her. According to the actress’s recollections, this marriage was the happiest; she sincerely and passionately loved Michael. And she could have been on the same plane with him on March 22, 1958 (which later crashed), if not for illness. Edwin “Eddie” Fisher, a friend of Taylor’s deceased husband, was in the right place at the right time and, having stood by the inconsolable widow, became the actress’s husband for 5 years.

1958 plane crash

The filming of the famous “Cleopatra” mixed everything up. Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony in this film, became the fatal man in the life of Elizabeth Taylor. When he publicly admitted their affair, clarifying that he was not going to divorce his wife, she attempted suicide. Many said then that Burton simply wanted to bask in the glory of his partner on the set, but the actor really fell madly in love with Taylor and showered her with expensive gifts throughout their life together.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

The violent emotions and vivid passions that reigned around their family for almost 10 years faltered. Burton started drinking, and films with their participation stopped making box office. A divorce followed. However, Taylor and Burton a year later tried to restore their former idyll by getting married again, but everything turned out to be in vain.

Virginia Senator John Warner, who became Liz's next husband, owed much to his wife for the successful election campaign that she actively supported in 1978. Perhaps that's all Warner was interested in about Taylor. He was neither a fan of her talent nor a connoisseur of her beauty, which by that time began to fade due to the actress’s passion for alcohol.

Elizabeth Taylor and John Warner

The last official marriage of our heroine seems like a farce from the outside. A simple worker, Larry Fortensky, was in no way suitable for the role of the husband of a great actress. Even the ceremony, which was held in the famous Neverland of Michael Jackson, who was the best man at the wedding, was not a happy sign for this, the last marriage in Elizabeth Taylor’s life.

After the end of her last marriage, Liz said she was tired of weddings and devoted the rest of her life to charity and philanthropy.

Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson

One of Elizabeth Taylor's closest friends was the King of Pop Michael Jackson. There were rumors about their romance and imminent wedding, but all this remained only rumors. Most likely, it really was a great friendship between two lonely people who were loved by millions, but who never knew happiness in their personal lives.

Notes

1. Actress Elizabeth Taylor dies at age 79
2. “Cleopatra and her men” - Newspaper “Musical Truth” No. 02 dated 02/04/2011
3. “Elizabeth Taylor Died” “New Look”
4. https://www.sem40.ru/index.php?newsid=216441
5. https://www.sem40.ru/index.php?newsid=216441
6. Simcha Dinitz, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, spoke about the fact that E. Taylor offered herself as a hostage.
7. "Who will play Elizabeth?" — Newspaper “Musical Truth” No. 03 dated 02/18/2011
8. “Portrait of Taylor will go under the hammer” “New Look”

Death

On March 23, 2011, sad news spread around the world: Elizabeth Taylor passed away. The actress who captivated more than one generation of film fans around the world, the actress whose very name became synonymous with cinema in the 20th century, has passed away. The woman who conquered millions of men's hearts with her beauty, the woman who conquered millions of movie lovers with her brilliant talent, the woman whose personal life interested many more than their own, was gone. After her death, Michael Wilding Jr., the actress's son, said:

“She was an extraordinary woman who lived every day to the fullest. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, her love will live forever in our hearts."

Elizabeth Taylor in her final years
Elizabeth Taylor died surrounded by her family on March 23, 2011, at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, at the age of 79, from heart failure. The funeral took place the next day according to Jewish custom. There was some curiosity. The ceremony was delayed for 15 minutes, and then Rabbi Jerome Cutler said:

“She even decided to be late for her funeral.”

The actress had the right to this even after death. Because she is Elizabeth Taylor.

Conversion to Judaism and support for Israel

The actress's parents raised Taylor in the spirit of the precepts of Christian Science, but in 1959 (at the age of 27) the actress converted to Judaism (her husbands Michael Todd (Avrom-Hirsch Goldbogen) and Eddie Fisher were Jews), taking the name Elisheva Rachel[ 5]. Her mentor was Rabbi Max Nussbaum. Throughout her life, she actively helped Jews and Israel, for which she was constantly attacked in the Arab world.

On February 2, 1959, Elizabeth Taylor publicly bought Israeli government bonds for a huge amount: $100,000, besides her, other Hollywood stars also bought securities, but Taylor bought the most.

In response, the United Arab Emirates authorities banned all films starring Taylor in their country.

In 1961, the actress and her husband Eddie Fisher came to Moscow for a film festival, and for the American army soldiers stationed in Moscow at the embassy, ​​they performed songs in Hebrew at a concert.

In 1962, Egyptian authorities prohibited the actress from entering the country. She was blacklisted by the League of Arab States, but two years later, the Egyptian authorities removed her from this list and still allowed the screening of the film “Cleopatra” with her participation, since this film “raises the image of the country in the eyes of the international community.”

On June 12, 1967, Elizabeth Telor, along with other friends of Israel, holds a charity evening in London and raises $840,000 to help the state of Israel. Two weeks later, on June 28, Taylor's representative announced at a press conference that the actress was refusing to attend the Moscow Film Festival as a protest of the Soviet Union's position towards Israel. Along with Taylor, Tony Curtis also refused to visit the Soviet Union.

In August 1974, Taylor and Barton visit Israel, and Kisinger laments that she will interfere with his mission to Israel.

In 1975, Elizabeth Taylor signed a letter condemning the UN for its resolutions against Zionism. This letter stated: “...we are shocked that a thoroughly racist resolution is being applied to the national movement of the Jewish people... This resolution threatens all the moral principles on which the United Nations is founded...”.

When on June 26, 1976, Arab terrorists hijacked an Air France plane en route from Tel Aviv to Paris, and the news spread throughout the world that the plane was in Uganda and that Jews had been subjected to selection, Elizabeth Taylor loudly announced that she was offering herself to hostages in exchange for all Jews on board the plane. (The Israelis convinced her not to take such a step, since the operation to free all the hostages was already in the development and preparation stage)[6].

In 1983, Taylor visited Israel again, where she met Menachem Begin, and offered her participation in negotiations between the Israeli Prime Minister's Office and the Lebanese President.

In 1987, Taylor signed a letter - an appeal to Raisa Gorbacheva demanding the release of Jewish refuseniks from the country.