The story of Elizabeth Taylor’s rise to fame during Hollywood’s Golden Age
ELIZABETH Taylor is one of the biggest film stars of all time and was an inescapable presence on screen, throughout the Twentieth Century.
BBC2 will air a show about the icon entitled Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar at 9pm on September 27, 2024.
The glamorous actress was known for her strong characters and for being unwavering in her fight for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Her career started early, though the American actress was actually born in London.
Silver screen goddess
Elizabeth was born on February 27, 1932, to prominent society parents.
Her father, who was an art dealer, and her mother, who was a stage actress, both moved to London to open an art gallery before Elizabeth was born.
The threat of the Second World War meant they returned to California, where Elizabeth was encouraged to go into film by her mother.
She starred in her first lead role at the age of 12, in National Velvet, and was required by the studio to wear braces and have two baby teeth removed.
They also wanted her to dye her hair and go by Virginia, but Elizabeth’s parents refused.
By 1950, she was starring in roles that the studio considered were “more mature” including the spy thriller Conspirator.
Elizabeth had her breakthrough with 1951’s A Place in the Sun, which was based on Theodore Dreiser’s 1925 novel An American Tragedy.
By the 1960s, she was the world’s highest paid movie star and was widely known for her critically acclaimed role in Cleopatra as the eponymous Pharaoh.
Her role in the 1958 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof also garnered acclaim.
A life of activism
Elizabeth was one of the very first celebrities to publicly join the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Since the 1980s, she helped to raise over $270million for research and to support people who were living with the virus.
She said that, though she resented her fame, she was happy that she could use it to get tabloids to report on AIDS.
Elizabeth even persuaded Ronald Reagan to acknowledge the disease in a speech, in 1987, and testified before the Senate and the House for the Ryan White Care Act.
The Act, which was enacted in 1990, is the largest federally funded program in the US supporting people with HIV/AIDS.
Eight time lucky
Over her life, Elizabeth walked down the aisle a whopping eight times.
She even married the same man, Richard Burton, twice.
Her first marriage was to Conrad “Nicky” Hilton, who was the heir to the Hilton hotel chain.
She was later labelled a homewrecker after she began an affair with Eddie Fisher, who she eventually married and divorced.
Eddie was married to Debbie Reynolds and the pair, known as “America’s Sweethearts”, were the parents of Carrie Fisher.
Her final marriage was to Larry Fortensky, a construction worker who was 20 years younger than the movie legend.
Elizabeth converted to Judaism in 1959 but was adamant that her husbands, some of whom were Jewish, had nothing to do with her choice.
Mother of four
Elizabeth had four children, across each of her marriages.
During her second marriage, to Michael Wilding, she had two sons.
Her first son, Michael Jr, was born in 1953 and her second, Christopher, was born in 1955.
During her third marriage, to Mike Todd, she had a daughter named Liza in 1957.
Finally, in 1964 she adopted a German orphan named Taylor with Richard Burton.
Health battle
Elizabeth had battle serious health problems for most of her life, having been born with scoliosis.
She broke her back while filming National Velvet and had a continued struggle with pneumonia.
The movie star was also a heavy smoker and, over her career, became an alcoholic as well as being addicted to prescription pain killers and tranquillisers.
Elizabeth publicly struggled with her weight, even releasing a diet book in 1980 entitled Elizabeth Takes Off.
Towards the end of her life, she overcame both skin cancer and a benign brain tumour but eventually died from congestive heart failure in 2004.
She was given a private Jewish ceremony, which Elizabeth requested would begin 15 minutes behind schedule.
Her representative said: “She even wanted to be late for her own funeral.”
Love of diamonds
Elizabeth had a love of diamonds and luxury jewellery.
Her Le Peregrina natural pearl necklace broke the world record for the most expensive pearl sold at auction.
It was sold for an eye-watering $10million.
Over her life, Elizabeth amassed a staggering amount of wealth estimated to be around $500million in total.
This was left to her children and grandchildren when she passed away.
One of her her grandchildren, Quinn Tivey, oversees the House of Taylor which is Elizabeth’s foundation and estate.