Elizabeth Taylor: A Love Life That Rocked Hollywood

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re taking a look at the drama-filled, scandalous, and industry-shifting romantic life of Elizabeth Taylor.

Actress, Star, Icon, Wife

As a movie star, she was a luminous presence on the screen. From the time she was a teen, Elizabeth Taylor was being fashioned into a public persona responsible for upholding the reputation of a multi-million-dollar studio. However, her active and tumultuous love life generated more attention than even Classic Hollywood’s tireless publicity departments could handle. Her career survived scandals that would have toppled a star of less magnitude. Somehow, she was often able to use that publicity to her advantage. But after eight marriages, that intense attention and worldwide notoriety came at the expense of her privacy.

Early Stardom & First Husband

By the end of the 1940s, Elizabeth Taylor was barely 18, but she was already one of MGM’s biggest stars. She began working in more mature fare in the 1950s, and she entered that decade with her first of seven husbands. The “National Velvet” star wanted to settle down quickly, citing some traditional beliefs about love, marriage, and sex. While she entertained proposals from some esteemed gentlemen, she eventually chose hotel heir Nicky Hilton. Her home studio had a heavy hand in their opulent nuptials, as it paired nicely with Taylor’s new film, “Father of the Bride.” But Hilton’s abuse had a calamitous effect on her life. She had a miscarriage as a result of his mistreatment and the two divorced several months later.

Hollywood Husbands

For her next two marriages, Taylor chose men who were familiar with her industry. British actor Michael Wilding caught her eye, and the two tied the knot in 1952. She was about to turn 20, and Wilding was pushing 40. The union lasted five years and saw the birth of Taylor’s first two children, Michael and Christopher. Her third husband, Mike Todd, was also much older than her. Interestingly, the Oscar-winning producer had a flair for manipulating the news media. Their well-publicized marriage was to the benefit of both their careers, and Taylor reportedly admired Todd deeply. Sadly, their storybook romance ended with his death in a 1958 plane crash. He left Taylor behind with their infant daughter, Liza[a].

An Affair to Forget

In the aftermath of Todd’s death, Elizabeth Taylor was hounded by the same publicity machine they had enjoyed as a couple. She was soon accompanied by Eddie Fisher. The actor and singer was a dear friend of her late love, and the spouse of her MGM colleague, Debbie Reynolds. However, as Fisher’s daughter Carrie put it, he found an unconventional way to console her. As you can imagine, their affair fueled a public frenzy. Reynolds and Fisher divorced. Taylor took Fisher as her fourth husband, and the ensuing scandal saw her painted as the “homewrecker” of a squeaky-clean celebrity couple. This was the late ‘50s, after all. Divorce was still taboo, and that’s to say nothing of adultery.

Scandal, Superstardom & Struggle

Eddie Fisher once said that Liz Taylor was the love of his life. Conversely, Taylor considered their marriage a huge mistake, a by-product of her grief over Todd’s death. Despite the negative publicity, this was an intensely successful period of Taylor’s career. Between 1958 and 1961, she earned four Oscar nominations. But there were health troubles amid her success. In March 1961, she was enduring a bout with pneumonia that nearly killed her. It was so severe she underwent tracheotomy. In April, she was collecting her first Oscar for “BUtterfield 8.” Taylor shared the common view she only won the award out of sympathy. Ironically, her reputation and operatic struggles only made her more famous. In 1961, she was also working on “Cleopatra.” That film’s behind-the-scenes dramas would become the stuff of legend.

Love on the Nile

Months of delays, production woes, and illness plagued “Cleopatra.” Taylor’s only solace may have been her co-star, British actor Richard Burton. Everyone could see their chemistry immediately. Before she knew it, Taylor was once again locked in an adulterous affair. The news media were tripping over themselves to cover this burgeoning Hollywood romance. Hordes of paparazzi got in on the action, snapping and selling shots of them from every possible angle. Taylor married Burton just days after divorcing Eddie Fisher. When “Cleopatra” was finally released, they couldn’t go anywhere, together or apart, without inviting a spectacle.

The Legend of Liz & Dick

The sensation of their relationship was unlike anything even their Hollywood friends had seen. Coverage of this power couple heralded a new and invasive era of celebrity journalism. Taylor and Burton didn’t do much to quell the public’s interest either. They played out facsimiles of their relationship in the movies, fueling and fusing their public personas with the people they played on the screen. Taylor won her second Oscar co-starring with Burton in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” a movie with a profoundly dysfunctional marriage at its center. However, theirs was a union marked by passion. It could be as romantic as it was contentious.

So Nice They Did It Twice

Inevitably, all that fighting and spending and tabloid interference led to a divorce in 1974. Their wild tempers and mercurial personalities led them to remarry in 1975, but only for a very brief time. Their romance is still considered one of the most iconic in all of show business. In fact, Taylor said their flame never really went out. If Richard Burton hadn’t passed away in 1984, she claimed they might’ve gotten hitched again. According to her, the men she married after him were just placeholders. In the 1980s, Taylor flirted with becoming a politician’s wife and tied the knot with Virginia Republican John Warner. This period of her life was marked by a massive career slowdown and scandal sheet coverage about her personal troubles.

Last Marriages & Devotion to Activism

Taylor divorced Warner in the early 1980s. She got married once more, to her seventh husband, Larry Fortensky, a construction worker. She also pursued her passion for philanthropy during this time. Spurred on by the illness and passing of her friend, actor Rock Hudson, Taylor threw her time, money, and energy into the fight against HIV/AIDS. And though Taylor and Fortensky split in ‘96, they remained friends until her death. In the last years of her life, the icon wrote off questions about ever getting married again, instead devoting her status and stardom to foundations dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS. She continued this work up until her death in 2011 at the age of 79.

A Legacy

Elizabeth Taylor’s romantic history changed the way the public interacted with the personal lives of its stars. Much of modern celebrity culture and the way we engage with it is a direct result of her immense popularity and the coverage of her eight marriages. But that notoriety also gave way to something else. Taylor demonstrated the value of using a platform for good. With decades of learning how to craft a public image and get attention, her later life and career was about engaging her fame in service to humanity. That legacy lives on in her children and grandchildren, many of whom are still heavily involved in the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

What’s your favorite Elizabeth Taylor performance? Tell us in the comments.





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