The Most Beautiful Woman in the World (61 page)

Read The Most Beautiful Woman in the World Online

Authors: Ellis Amburn

The face that had launched a thousand hits, headlines, magazine covers, fads, fans, perfumes, and throbbing hearts was now history, but Dame Elizabeth had played enough Tennessee Williams heroines to find solace, like Blanche DuBois in
A Streetcar Named Desire
, in the fact that “physical beauty is passing. A transitory possession. But beauty of the mind and richness of the spirit and tenderness of the heart—and I have all those things—aren’t taken away, but grow! Increase with the years!” Elizabeth, too, had all those things.

Wordsworth’s “She Was a Phantom of Delight” began this book, on the dedication page, and a verse from the same poet’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” will bring it to a close:

What though the radiance which was once so bright

Be now forever taken from my sight,

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendor in the grass, or glory in the flower;

We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind.

In Elizabeth’s case, what remains behind are stupendous contributions in business, movies, and philanthropy—and as a mother who will leave her large brood very well provided for. In February 2011 she told Kim Kardashian, in
Harper’s Bazaar
, that “the things that are important to me [are] being a mother, a businesswoman, an activist . . . I always wanted to connect with people in some way other than movies.”
⁸²She developed her fragrance line so that Everywoman could enjoy what she calls “the most accessible luxury. I had no idea that White Diamonds would become a classic when we began, but I am thrilled it has because it means we have really succeeded in giving women a little bit of luxury every day.” White Diamonds, now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, is worth $200 million per year.

As a philanthropist she changed history. Her private war on AIDS not only saved lives and eased human suffering, but erased much of the ages-old stigma attached to homosexuality, and helped gays everywhere gain first-class citizenship—truly a seismic breakthrough and a bewitching testament to female fortitude. But for most of us, it is as a beloved movie star that Elizabeth Taylor leaves a giant footprint. Those deathless per for mances in
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Giant, Butterfield 8, A Place in the Sun, National Velvet, Jane Eyre
, and
Lassie Come Home
comprise an incomparable legacy.

Notes

I
NTRODUCTION

1.
Elizabeth Taylor,
Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002).

C
HAPTER
1

1.
E.T. revealed her father’s abuse to Barbara Walters on national television. See also C. David Heymann,
Liz
(Secaucus, N.J.: Carol, 1995), pp. 24–25.

2.
Paul Theroux, “Ms. Taylor Will See You Now,”
Talk
, October 1999, p. 169; Roddy’s quote: Jackie Cooper and Dick Kleiner,
Please Don’t Shoot My Dog
(New York: Morrow, 1981), pp. 160–161; Shirley Temple Black,
Child Star
(New York: Warner), 1988, pp. 485–490.

3.
Sheilah Graham,
Hollywood Revisited
(New York: St. Martin’s, 1984), pp. 113–114.

4.
Warren G. Harris,
Natalie and R. J.
(New York: Doubleday, 1988) p. 26.

5.
Heymann,
Liz
, p. 51.

6.
Black,
Child Star
, pp. 322–323.

7.
Kitty Kelley,
Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star
(New York: Dell, 1981), pp. 28–32; see also Kevin Sessums, “Elizabeth Taylor Tells the Truth,”
POZ
(November 1997), p. 72.

8.
Sydney Guilaroff and Cathy Griffin,
Crowning Glory
(Santa Monica: General, 1996), pp. 188–189.

9.
Heymann,
Liz
, p. 60.

10.
Guilaroff and Griffin,
Crowning Glory
, p. 189; “might not show up”: Mary Astor in Heymann, p. 60 (“required more sick leave than any other performer”).

11.
Jerry Vermilye and Mark Ricci,
The Films of Elizabeth Taylor
(New York: Carol, 1993), p. 70.

12.
Elizabeth Taylor,
Elizabeth Takes Off
(New York: Putnam’s, 1987), p. 23 (hereafter
ETO
).

13.
Vermilye and Ricci,
Films of Elizabeth Taylor
, p. 71.

14.
“Howard’s kid sister”: Christopher Nickens,
Elizabeth Taylor
(New York: Dolphin, 1994), p. 14; Astor’s harsh remarks: Donald Spoto,
A Passion for Life
(New York: HarperCollins, 1995), p. 54; and Kelley,
Elizabeth Taylor
, p. 29.

15.
ETO
, p. 56.

16.
Heymann,
Liz
, p. 58.

17.
E.T., “Loving You,” quoted in Kelley,
Elizabeth Taylor
, p. 33.

18.
Davis, Kearns, Blanchard: Heymann,
Liz
, p. 67; Spoto,
Passion for Life
, p. 58.

19.
Lester David and Jhan Robbins,
Richard and Elizabeth
(New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1977), p. 71.

20.
Spoto,
Passion for Life
, p. 57.

21.
Ibid., pp. 58–59.

22.
Glenn Davis, Leigh, and E.T.: Heymann,
Liz
, pp. 67, 68; Kelley,
Elizabeth Taylor
, p. 42.

23.
ETO
, p. 64.

24.
E.T., parent, chaperone, Robert Taylor in London: Nickens,
Elizabeth Taylor
, pp. 20, 23; Spoto,
Passion for Life
, p. 59; Alexander Walker,
Elizabeth
(London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1990), p. 80; Heymann,
Liz
, p. 73. Patricia Neal and Richard Deneut,
As I Am
(NewYork: Simon & Schuster, 1988), p. 112.

25.
Michael Wilding,
The Wilding Way: The Story of My Life
(New York: St. Martin’s, 1982), p. 75; Ruth Waterbury with Gene Arceri,
Elizabeth Taylor
(New York: Bantam, 1982), p. 31.

26.
“Screw it” and “Please do me one last favor”: Kelley,
Elizabeth Taylor
, pp. 41–42.

27.
Mike Todd Jr. and Susan McCarthy Todd,
A Valuable Property: The Life Story of Michael Todd
(New York: Arbor House, 1983), p. 318.

28.
E.T. and Howard Hughes: Graham,
Hollywood Revisited
, p. 103; Walker,
Elizabeth
, pp. 81–82; Marianne Robin-Tani,
The New Elizabeth
(New York: St. Martin’s, 1988), p. 25; Peter Harry and Pat H. Broeske,
Howard Hughes
(New York: Dutton, 1996), p. 241; Kevin Sessums, “Elizabeth Taylor Tells the Truth,”
POZ
, November 1997, p. 74.

29.
Spoto,
Passion for Life
, p. 66.

Interviews with Jean Porter, Jerry O’Connell, Frank Taylor, and editorial notes from meetings with Shelley Winters when I was senior editor, William Morrow, for
Shelley
, and collaborator for
Shelley II
; notes from meetings with June Allyson when I was editorial director of G. P. Putnam’s Sons for
June Allyson
, and notes from a meeting in Ojai, California, with June Allyson, Paul Rosenfield of the
L.A. Times
, and Ms. Allyson’s husband, David Ashrow; notes from a meeting at l’Hotel in Paris with Olivia de Havilland when I was editor-in-chief of the Delacorte Press; notes from meetings with George Cukor and Hector Arce when I was at Morrow.

Other books consulted for this chapter: Dick Sheppard,
Elizabeth
(New York: Warner, 1974), p. 46; Monty Roberts,
The Man Who Listens to Horses
(New York: Random House, 1996), p. 44; Michael Troyan,
A Rose for Ms. Miniver
(Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999), pp. 209–210; Anthony Holden,
Behind the Oscar
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993), pp. 190–195; Janet Leigh,
There Really Was a Hollywood
(New York: Jove, 1984), p. 91; Carroll Baker,
Baby Doll
(New York: Arbor House, 1983), p. 134 (E.T.’s reckless driving); Rona Barrett,
Miss Rona
(New York: Bantam, 1974), p. 54; Mel Gussow,
Don’t Say Yes Until I Finish Talking: A Biography of Darryl F. Zanuck
(New York: Pocket, 1972), pp. 125–127, 152; Stephen M. Silverman,
The Fox That Got Away
(Secaucus, N.J.: Lyle Stuart, 1988), p. 111.

C
HAPTER
2

1.
Boze Hadleigh,
Hollywood Gays
(New York: Barricade, 1996), pp. 298–299.

2.
Theroux, “Ms. Taylor Will See You Now,” p. 214.

3.
Ibid.

4.
Natalie Wood television biography written by Gavin Lambert, produced by Howard Jeffrey, AMC. Interviews with Frank Taylor, Jack Larson; notes from editorial meetings with Shelley Winters, William Morrow and Company.

Other books and articles consulted: Barney Hoskyns,
Montgomery Clift
(New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991); Robert LaGuardia,
Monty
(New York: Arbor House, 1977); Sessums, “Elizabeth Taylor Tells the Truth,” p. 52.

C
HAPTER
3