THE ICONIC FILM STAR ELIZABETH TAYLOR, WHO DIED OF HEART FAILURE AGED 79, WAS IN THE PUBLIC EYE FROM THE AGE OF 11 AND REMAINED THERE EVEN DECADES AFTER HER LAST HIT MOVIE. SHE MANAGED TO KEEP PEOPLE FASCINATED, BY HER INCANDESCENT BEAUTY, HER COURAGE, HE OPEN-NATURES CHARACTER, HER SELF-DEPRECATING HUMOR, HER EIGHT MARRIAGES (TWO OF THEM WITH RICHARD BURTON), HER STUNNING COLLECTION OF DIAMONDS AND HER HUMANITARIAN CAUSES, ALL OF WHICH OFTEN OBSCURED THE REASON WHY SHE WAS FAMOUS IN THE FIRST PLACE - SHE HAD A TANTALIZING SCREEN PRESENCE, IN FILMS INCLUDING 'A PLACE IN THE SUN', 'GIANT', 'CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF', 'BUTTERFIELD 8', CLEOPATRA' AND 'WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLFE?'. TAYLOR WAS BORN IN HAMPSTEAD, NORTH LONDON, OF AMERICAN PARENTS. HER MOTHER, SARA, WAS A FORMER STAGE ACTOR AND HER FATHER, FRANCIS, AN ART DEALER. AS SOON AS SHE COULD WALK SHE WAS GIVEN BALLET LESSONS, AND AT THE AGE OF THREE SHE DANCED WITH HER CLASS IN FRONT OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. IN 1939, A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK OF WAR, THE FAMILY MOVED TO HOLLYWOOD, WHERE HER FATHER OPENED AN ART GALLERY MUCH PATRONIZED BY THE FILM COLONY. THE BEAUTY OF THE OWNER'S DARK-HAIRED, VIOLET-EYED YOUNG DAUGHTER WON ALMOST AS MUCH PRAISE AS THE PAINTINGS ON THE WALLS, AND SHE WAS SOON MAKING HER SCREEN DEBUT, AT THE AGE OF 10, IN 'THERE'S ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE', AT UNIVERSAL. BUT IT WAS MGM WHO LAUNCHED HER CAREER PROPER WITH 'LASSIE COME HOME', AND FOR WHOM MOST OF HER FILMS WERE MADE. WHEN SARA TAYLOR HEARD THAT THE STUDIO WAS LOOKING FOR A YOUNG GIRL TO PLAY VELVET BROWN, WHO WINS THE GRAND NATIONAL DISGUISED AS A BOY IN 'NATIONAL VELVET', SHE BROUGHT HER DAUGHTER TO SEE THE PRODUCER PANDRO S BERMAN. HE THOUGHT HER TOO THIN AND FRAGILE FOR THE PART, ALTHOUGH SHE COULD RIDE WELL. BUT THREE MONTHS LATER, AFTER RIGID TRAINING FROM HER MOTHER, SHE WAS ABLE TO CHANGE BERMAN'S MIND. HER PERFORMANCE, IN WHICH SHE RADIATES YOUTH, IS ENJOYED PERENNIALLY. TAYLOR'S FIRST MARRIAGE WAS TO NICKY HILTON, THE 23 YEAR OLD PLAYBOY SON OF THE HOTEL MAGNATE CONRAD HILTON, IN 1950. IT SEEMED A FAIRYTALE ROMANCE, AS BOTH WERE YOUNG, ATTRACTIVE, RICH AND PAMPERED. MGM TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HOLLYWOOD'S BIGGEST WEDDING OF THE YEAR BY RELEASING VINCENTE MINNELLI'S DELIGHTFUL COMEDY 'FATHER OF THE BRIDE', IN WHICH TAYLOR PLAYED THE BRIDE AND SPENCER TRACEY WAS THE FATHER, AT AROUND THE SAME TIME. AFTER HER SEPARATION FROM HILTON SHE MET THE SOPHISTICATED BRITISH ACTOR MICHAEL WILDING, 20 YEARS HER SENIOR. SHE WAS PLAYING REBECCA IN 'IVANHOE' IN ENGLAND WHEN SHE PROPOSED TO HIM. THEY WERE MARRIED IN 1952, AT A LONDON REGISTRY OFFICE. HER SONS, MICHAEL AND CHRISTOPHER, WERE BOTH BORN BY CAESAREAN SECTION, IN 1953 AND 1955 RESPECTIVELY. BY 1956 THE MARRIAGE BEGAN TO TOTTER. IRONICALLY, THE MAN SHE WAS TO MARRY NEXT WAS FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN WILDING. BUT THE FLAMBOYANT IMPRESARIO MIKE TODD, THE BEGETTER OF 'AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS', WAS NOTED FOR HIS YOUTHFUL SPIRIT AND HIS ABUNDANT ENERGY. AT THEIR WEDDING IN ACAPULCO IN 1957, MIKE'S LIFELONG FRIEND, THE SINGER EDDIE FISHER, WAS BEST MAN, AND EDDIE'S WIFE, DEBBIE REYNOLDS, WAS MATRON OF HONOR. IN THE SAME YEAR, A DAUGHTER, LIZA, WAS BORN AND BOTH MOTHER AND CHILD NEARLY DIED. TAYLOR WAS ADVISED NEVER TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY. A MERE SEVEN MONTHS LATER, TODD'S PRIVATE PLANE, LUCKY LIZ, IN WHICH HE WAS FLYING TO NEW YORK, CRASHED IN A STORM NEAR ALBUQUERQUE LEAVING NO SURVIVORS. TAYLOR HAD WANTED TO ACCOMPANY HER HUSBAND ON THE FLIGHT BUT SHE WAS PERSUADED TO STAY AT HOME BECAUSE OF THE FLU. GRADUALLY, TAYLOR CAME OUT OF SECLUSION AFTER THE DEATH AND COMPLETED 'CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF'. DESPITE, OR BECAUSE OF, HER STATE OF MIND, SHE GAVE ONE OF HER MOST FINELY WROUGHT PERFORMANCES AS THE SEXUALLY FRUSTRATED MAGGIE. HER VOICE, NEVER HER STRONG POINT, SEEMED TO HAVE GAINED IN POWER, AND SHE MATCHED PAUL NEWMAN AND BURL IVES BLOW FOR BLOW. THE FILM'S BOX-OFFICE POTENTIAL WAS INCREASED FURTHER BY GOSSIP SURROUNDING TAYLOR AND FISHER. TAYLOR, WHO HAD BEEN CAST AS THE GRIEVING WIDOW, NOW FOUND HERSELF IN THE ROLE OF THE VAMP WHO WRECKED THE FISHERS' APPARENTLY IDYLLIC MARRIAGE. THE OUTRAGED MORALISTIC PUBLIC WAS UNAWARE THAT THE FISHER-REYNOLDS MARRIAGE WAS ALREADY IN TATTERS. IN 1959, TAYLOR WHO HAD CONVERTED TO JUDAISM WHEN SHE MARRIED TODD, MARRIED FISHER AT A SYNAGOGUE IN LAS VEGAS. TAYLOR WAS IN LONDON WHERE SHE WAS COMPLETING 'SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER', WHEN THE PRODUCER WALTER WANGER OFFERED HER THE TITLE ROLE IN 'CLEOPATRA'. THE STAR HALF-JOKINGLY TOLD HIM THAT SHE WOULD DO IT FOR $1 MILLION AGAINST 10% OF THE GROSS. TO EVERYONE'S ASTONISHMENT, 20tH CENTURY FOX AGREED TO HER TERMS, MAKING HER THE HIGHEST PAID PERFORMER FOR A SINGLE FILM IN THE HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD TO THAT DATE. AS SHE SAID, 'IF SOMEONE'S DUMB ENOUGH TO OFFER ME A MILLION DOLLARS TO MAKE A PICTURE, I'M CERTAINLY NOT DUMB ENOUGH TO TURN IT DOWN.' WHEN FILMING ON 'CLEOPATRA' STARTED TAYLOR WAS FIRST STRICKEN WITH A COLD, THEN A FEVER, THEN AN INFECTED TOOTH. IN MARCH 1961, SHE WAS RUSHED TO A LONDON CLINIC WITH LUNG CONGESTION. SHE WAS GIVEN A TRACHEOTOMY THAT HELPED HER BREATHING, BUT FOR DAYS SHE WAS ON THE DANGER LIST. AFTER SOME TIME IN A COMA, SHE BEGAN TO RALLY. HER PHYSICIANS ANNOUNCED, 'SHE HAS MADE A VERY RARE RECOVERY. MISS TAYLOR IS A WOMAN OF GREAT COURAGE. SHE PUT UP A WONDERFUL FIGHT.' IN THE SPRING, TAYLOR WON HER FIRST OSCAR, AFTER THREE CONSECUTIVE NOMINATINS FOR BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE (IN 'RAINTREE COUNTY', 'CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF' AND 'SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER') FOR THE HIGH CLASS HOOKER IN THE 1960 FILM 'BUTTERFIELD 8', AN ADAPTION OF JOHN O'HARA'S NOVEL. AS FOR CLEOPATRA, THE WHOLE PROJECT WAS SHIPPED TO ROME, WHERE TAYLOR ARRIVED WITH A LARGE ENTOURAGE CONSISTING OF ONE HUSBAND, THREE CHILDREN, FIVE DOGS, TWO CATS, VARIOUS SECRETARIES AND DOZENS OF SERVANTS, AND SETTLED AT THE VILLA PAPPA, A 14 ROOMED MANSION OFF THE VIA APPIA. 'THERE COMES A TIME DURING THE MAKING OF A MOVIE WHEN THE ACTORS BECOME THE CHARACTERS THEY PLAY', WAGNER NOTED IN HIS DIARY. 'THE CAMERAS TURNED ON AND THE CURRENT WAS LITERALLY TURNED ON. IT WAS QUIET AND YOU COULD ALMOST FEEL THE ELECTRICITY BETWEEN ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND BURTON.' AFTER THE FIRST 'ELECTRIC SCENE' THEY PERFORMED TOGETHER, BURTON, WHO WAS MARRIED, FREQUENTED THE VILLA IN THE EVENINGS. 'I'M AFRAID AT FIRST IT WAS LUST, AND THEN I GOT TO KNOW HER AND IT WAS LOVE', BURTON RECALLED. THROUGHOUT THE SHOOTING, TO AVOID THE CONSTANT PRYING OF THE PAPARAZZI, THE CELEBRATED COUPLE WOULD ESCAPE TO A CHEAP ONE ROOM APARTMENT ON THE BEACH. FINALLY, WARY OF SUBTERFUGE, THEY DECIDED TO BE SEEN PUBLICLY IN THE VIA VENETO. THE VATICAN TALKED OF 'THIS INSULT TO THE NOBILITY OF THE HEARTH', AND ED SULLIVAN ON HIS TV SHOW SAID, 'YOU CAN ONLY TRUST THAT YOUNGSTERS WILL NOT BE PERSUADED THAT THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE HAS BEEN INVALIDATED BY THE APPALLING EXAMPLE OF MRS TAYLOR-FISHER AND MARRIED MAN BURTON.' AFTER CLEOPATRA, BURTON AND TAYLOR ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WOULD MAKE ANOTHER FILM TOGETHER, ORIGINALLY TO BE CALLED 'INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR'. THE TITLE WAS CHANGED TO 'THE VIPs'. DURING THE FILMING IN LONDON, CLEOPATRA OPENED TO MIXED REVIEWS. AUDIENCES WERE DISAPPOINTED THAT THE LOVE SCENES BETWEEN TAYLOR AND BURTON THAT HAD BEEN THE TALK OF MODERN ROME WERE NOT REPEATED WITH SO MUCH PASSION IN THOSE OF ANCIENT ROME. BUT PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE COUPLE'S PRIVATE LIVES STILL MADE THE FILM A TOP EARNER OF 1963. THE AFFAIR CONTINUED IN THE PUBLIC EYE, WHILE BOTH FISHER AND SYBIL BURTON HELD OUT FOR THE BEST POSSIBLE DIVORCE DEALS. FINALLY, SYBIL BURTON CAVE IN, CLAIMING CRUELTY AND THAT HER HUSBAND WAS 'IN THE CONSTANT COMPANY OF ANOTHER WOMAN', WHICH NEWSWEEK CALLED 'THE THROWAWAY LINE OF THE DECADE'. BURTON AND TAYLOR WERE MARRIED IN MARCH 1964 BY A UNITARIAN MINISTER AT THE RITZ-CARLTON IN MONTREAL. SHE WORE A PALE YELLOW IRENE SHARAFF GOWN, AND A $150,000 EMERALD AND DIAMOND BROOCH THAT BURTON HAD BOUGHT HER AT BULGARI IN ROME. THE SCANDAL OVER, PUBLIC INTEREST IN THEM ONLY SEEMED TO INCREASE. THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS COUPLE HAD BECOME CELEBRITIES RATHER THAN ACTORS. 'I WANT TO BE KNOWN AS AN ACTRESS', TAYLOR TOLD THE NEW YORK TIMES IN 1964. AFTER A SERIES OF LESS THAN CONVINCING FILMS TOGETHER, IT WAS FORTUNATE THAT THEIR CREDIBILITY AS PERFORMERS WAS SOON BRILLIANTLY RESTORED BY 'WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLFE?' FOR WHICH TAYLOR WON HER SECOND BEST OSCAR, PLAYING THE BITTER, 52 YEAR OLD, VULGAR WIFE OF A SELF LOATHING PROFESSOR. AS THE TAYLOR-BURTON CIRCUS MOVED FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY, THEIR WAY OF LIFE, WHICH THE NEW YORK TIMES LIKENED TO THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV, BECAME EVER MORE LAVISH. TAYLOR'S ELDEST SON, MICHAEL, WOULD BECOME A HIPPIE AND LIVE IN A COMMUNE IN WALES 'IN ORDER TO GET AWAY FROM ALL THOSE DIAMONDS', ACCORDING TO THE DAILY MIRROR. 'THOSE DIAMONDS' INCLUDED THE 33.19 CARAT KRUPP DIAMOND THAT BURTON BOUGHT TAYLOR FOR MORE THAN $300,000 IN 1968; A $1.5 MILLION CARTIER DIAMOND SET IN A NECKLACE OF SMALLER DIAMONDS, AND THE MUCH PUBLICIZED HEART SHAPED DIAMOND PENDENT BURTON GAVE HER FOR HER 40th BIRTHDAY. THE MARRIAGE EVENTUALLY BROKE DOWN AND, IN JUNE 1974, TAYLOR DIVORCED BURTON IN SWITZERLAND. 'THERE WERE TOO MANY DIFFERENCES. I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING', SHE TOLD THE COURT. YET THEY WERE RECONCILED IN AUGUST 1975, ATTRACTING AS MUCH ATTENTION AS EVER. ON A VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA IN THE AUTUMN, AN X-RAY OF TAYLOR'S CHEST SHOWED TWO SPOTS ON HER LUNGS. TERRIFIED, BURTON AND TAYLOR CLUNG TO EACH OTHER ALL NIGHT. IN THE MORNING, SHE WAS TOLD SHE DID NOT HAVE CANCER. IN HIS JOY, BURTON PROPOSED REMARRIAGE. THE CEREMONY TOOK PLACE ON THE BANKS OF A RIVER IN BOTSWANA. A FEW MONTHS LATER, THEY WERE AGAIN FILLING FOR DIVORCE. TAYLOR SOON MET JOHN WARNER, THE FORMER SECRETARY OF THE NAVY TO PRESIDENT GERALD FORD, AND THEY MARRIED IN 1976. SHE BECAME A POLITICAL WIFE, CAMPAIGNING HARD TO GET HER HUSBAND ELECTED TO THE SENATE. 'IT WAS SO BORING. THAT'S WHY I PUT ON SO MUCH WEIGHT', SHE CONFESSED. SHE THEREFORE DECIDED TO RETURN TO ACTING, ON BROADWAY, AS THE VIXEN REGINA GIDDENS IN LILLIAN HELLMAN'S DRAMA 'THE LITTLE FOXES', WHICH SHE ALSO PLAYED AT THE VICTORIA PALACE THEATRE, LONDON IN 1982 TO MIXED REVIEWS. BUT, WITH HER CAREER IN FULL SWING AGAIN - AND SOLO - SHE WAS NOT CONTENT TO BE KEPT DOWN ON THE FARM IN VIRGINIA. SHE AND WARNER DIVORCED IN 1982. THE LONG-RUNNING ROMANCE ENDED WITH BURTON'S DEATH IN AUGUST 1984. TAYLOR STAYED AWAY FROM HIS FUNERAL AS AS NOT TO TURN IT INTO A MEDIA CIRCUS. BUT A FEW DAYS LATER, SHE STOOD STRICKEN AT THE GRAVESIDE OF THE MAN WITH WHOM SHE HAD SHARED THE LIMELIGHT FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES. AND IN 1991 TAYLOR MARRIED LARRY FORTENSKY, A CONSTRUCTION WORKER 20 YEARS HER JUNIOR WHOM SHE MET WHILE BEING TREATED AT THE BETTY FORD CLINIC. TAYLOR, WHO WAS MADE DAME IN 2000, IS SURVIVED BY HER BROTHER, HOWARD; TWO SONS, MICHAEL AND CHRISTOPHER WILDING; HER DAUGHTER LIZA TODD; HER AND BURTON'S ADOPTED DAUGHTER, MARIA; AND 10 GRANDCHILDREN.
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