ALSO BY J. RANDY TARABORRELLI
Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot
Once Upon a Time:
Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier
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J. RANDY TARABORRELLI
Copyright © 2006 by Rose Books, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Warner Books
Hachette Book Group USA
1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com First eBook Edition: July 2006
Warner Books and the “W” logo are trademarks of Time Warner Inc. or an affiliated company. Used under license by Hachette Book Group USA, which is not affiliated with Time Warner Inc.
ISBN 0-7595-1622-7
For
Concetta, Antonetta, Rose Marie, Lena, Roslyn, Michelle, Rosemaria
and Jessica
Contents
Prologue
1
Part One = CHILDHOOD 5
Sara and Francis
7
A Change in Sara
13
A Family Held Hostage?
17
“Bravo!”
21
“Missing a Father’s Love”
26
“I Think I Might Want to Be an Actress”
31
A New Life in America
33
“But I Want to Be with MGM!”
37
National Velvet
47
Making a Star . . . a Star!
53
Part Two = FINDING HER WAY 67
Early Suitors . . . and Howard Hughes
69
Nicky Hilton
79
Elizabeth’s Anger
89
viii
Contents
Uncle Howard Gets Rid of Nicky Hilton
94
Michael Wilding
101
A Marriage Devoid of Passion
108
Movies
118
Mike Todd
124
Mike Todd’s Sudden Death
133
Eddie Fisher
139
Elizabeth and Eddie Marry
143
Butterfield 8
148
Part Three = HER DESTINY 153
A False Start for Cleopatra
155
A Near-Death Experience and Then an Oscar
156
Cleopatra Begins Filming
163
Richard Burton
168
Elizabeth Adopts a Baby
174
“Love, in All of Its Mystery, Unfolds”
178
Elizabeth Confesses to Eddie about Richard
184
Unadulterated Drama
188
Elizabeth Attempts Suicide?
191
“Le Scandale”
195
The Taylor-Burton Sexual Revolution
200
Cleopatra Arrives
202
Elizabeth as a Mother
206
Nightmare in Porto Santo Stefano
211
Finishing Cleopatra
214
A Turning Point in Gstaad
218
Richard Chooses
225
True Love in Mexico
229
Part Four = “LIZ AND DICK” 235
Elizabeth and Richard: “We Will Have No
More Marriages”
237
Contents
ix
The Boston Brawl
242
Richard’s Hemophilia
245
“Even Our Fights Are Fun”
250
Elizabeth Apologizes to Debbie
254
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
256
Bad Movies, Great Riches, and Another Oscar
261
“Francis L. Taylor—All Our Love—1897–1968”
269
“Learning from Each Other”
272
“I Sometimes Curse the Day . . .”
275
“Pray for Us”
281
And What of the Children?
282
Part Five = CONFUSION REIGNS 287
“What Makes Us Women”
289
Henry Wynberg
293
Elizabeth Divorces Richard
297
Elizabeth Marries Richard . . . Again!
301
A Diversion before Divorce
306
Richard Asks for Another Divorce
309
Part Six = COMING TO TERMS 315
John Warner
317
Elizabeth Marries John
323
An Important Transition
330
The Little Foxes
336
Sifting Through the Wreckage
341
A Birthday Reunion with Richard
346
“God Has Kept an Eye on My Children”
354
Elizabeth Gets Her Way
356
Private Lives and Private Miseries
359
Richard Marries . . . Someone Else
365
Intervention
371
Betty Ford Center
374
x
Contents
Richard Burton Dies
381
Transition
389
Part Seven = THE GLORY YEARS 393
“I Will Not Be Ignored”
395
Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion
402
Back at Betty Ford
407
Larry Fortensky
411
Michael Jackson
422
Elizabeth Marries Larry
425
Re-creating Her Mother’s Marriage . . . but Not Quite
429
Part Eight = ALL WOMAN 435
“Sara S. Taylor—Loving Mother, Devoted Wife—
1895–1994”
437
Elizabeth and Larry End Their Marriage
441
Facing Her Mortality . . . Again
449
Dame Elizabeth: Honor at Last
458
Appendices = 465
Selected Cast of Characters
467
Acknowledgments
477
Sources and Other Notes
488
Elizabeth Taylor Filmography
517
Index
535
I haven’t had a quiet life. I’ve lived dangerously. Sometimes disaster has come at me like a train. There have been times when I’ve almost drunk myself to death. I’ve been in situations where I was perilously close to killing myself. I’ve almost died several times. Yet some instinct, some inner force, has always saved me, dragging me back just as the train whooshed past.
Miss Elizabeth Taylor, April 1997
Prologue
E ven with all of the star treatment accorded her over the years, the truth is undeniable: It has never been easy being Elizabeth Taylor. Gentle and caring at her core while often appearing to be petulant and self-consumed, Elizabeth is a complex woman who has usually been misunderstood, not only by others but, it would seem, by her as well. It’s true that throughout her life she has claimed moments of clarity, times when she felt she was finally able to see her past in proper perspective. However, one must wonder, given the unique c
ircumstances of her upbringing, if she could ever truly have the ability, the prescience, to see it all clearly.
In trying to understand Elizabeth’s life, one must first turn to her childhood. Born into an affluent family in London, young Elizabeth possessed an engaging quality and stunning beauty that seemed to defy reason. From the beginning, her mother, Sara—a former theater actress—believed her daughter to have potential that was heaven-sent. In her mind, Elizabeth had the makings of a great star. However, Sara also knew it would never happen if Elizabeth didn’t also believe it, and work at it. So from the time Elizabeth was about two, Sara endeavored to create in 2
Prologue
her the ultimate image of dignity, grace, and beauty. With the passing of the years, nearly every aspect of the young girl’s behavior would be carefully considered and altered. Her speech. Her posture. Her gait. It was as if Sara was a director coaching the promising new star of a landmark movie—only she was a mom, and this was Elizabeth’s life, not a film. Because Sara’s optimism about Elizabeth’s chances in show business came from the heart, it was inspiring, if also sometimes a bit alarming. Sara even orchestrated how her daughter would interact with others: If a broad laugh was too much, it would be replaced with a shy giggle. As a result, Elizabeth’s early life soon became a marathon training session for succeeding in a business at which her mother had only found marginal accomplishment. For a young Elizabeth Taylor, perfection soon became the only acceptable option. Anything less would be considered failure.
The dissection of Elizabeth’s self at her mother’s hand also brought with it a legacy of irrationality. The belief that perfection’s only alternative was failure left her feeling that life was, quite literally, unbearable. She felt out of control, so much that it seemed the only way she could seize some power over her world was to become deathly ill, to be hospitalized so that she didn’t have to make movies, didn’t have to take direction. Only she could know for certain if such reasoning explains her countless life-challenging sicknesses, but from the outside looking in it certainly seems plausible. At times, as will be explained in these pages, she would even see suicide as the only way to end her misery. Fortunately, the kindness and patience of those closest to her would save Elizabeth from several apparent attempts at taking her own life.
It wouldn’t be until she was in her fifties that Elizabeth learned some invaluable lessons. Indeed, her work toward the treatment and cure of a deadly disease would ultimately lead her to some grand realizations. How ironic that after so many exhausting years of searching for a genuine connection with the world as an actress, she would find it in work that had nothing
Prologue 3
to do with show business. As many around her suffered premature and cruel deaths, it finally became clear to her that life was a gift. She came to realize that despite what her mother and the movie studio system had taught her, between black and white there is actually a whole spectrum of other shades—and perfection has a short shelf life. In her later years, she would also come to understand that there are certain inevitabilities to living. Life can be painful. Life can be unfair. Life can be unpredictable. And it was only after accepting those facts that Elizabeth Taylor came to the greatest realization of all: Life was worth living.
Part One
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CHILDHOOD
Sara and Francis
S ara Viola Warmbrodt was born on August 21, 1896, in the mill town of Arkansas City, Kansas. For all of her time on this earth, she would be quite a character, a memorable presence not only in her daughter, Elizabeth’s, life but in those of nearly every person she would touch over the years. Through it all, good times and bad, she and Elizabeth would remain inseparable. Even during times of estrangement—for they did have their disagreements—
they knew to whom to turn for unwavering support: each other.
“My mother was my best friend,” Elizabeth would later say, “my guide, my mentor, and my constant companion.” Indeed, mother and daughter were life and breath to each other, and thus it would remain until Sara’s death in 1994, just one month short of her ninety-ninth birthday.
Historically, Sara has been portrayed as a negative influence on Elizabeth’s life, mostly because of her steely determination to mold her daughter into a star; indeed, so-called “stage mothers” are seldom viewed in a positive light. Like many parents who encourage their children into show business, Sara had once been an entertainer. In 1922, she had changed her name to Sara Sothern after relocating to Los Angeles from Arkansas City to pursue her dream career. Her mother—Elizabeth’s grandmother—was a talented singer and musician who played both piano and violin. She was very encouraging of Sara’s goals and didn’t mind her dropping out of high school to pursue them and also study acting in Kansas City. After appearing in a number of small productions in the Midwest, Sara found herself in Los Angeles. There, she was cast 8
Elizabeth
in a supporting role in a theatrical revival of Channing Pollock’s The Sign on the Door. (The silent movie released a year prior had starred Norma Talmadge.) After Pollock saw her in that show, he cast her in a key role—a crippled girl, miraculously healed—in his play The Fool, based on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. The plot, a faith-healing concept, was very much in alignment with Sara’s own spiritual belief as a Christian Scientist—that unwavering faith in a higher power could result in physical healing far beyond the reach and understanding of the medical profession. The Fool first opened in Los Angeles to weak reviews but eventually made its way east to New York, where it opened on Broadway at the Times Square Theater in October 1922. There it played to full houses for nearly a year, even though the show continued to receive generally poor notices—except for Sara, who was singled out for her performance by some reviewers. She was faintly praised by the New York Times critic, who said, “In the final scene of the third act, a little cripple, well played by Sara Sothern, falls on her knees in prayer and rises to find that she can walk.” When the show went to London in September 1924, Sara went with it, and caused quite a bit of pandemonium there. After the opening night, at least according to an interview Channing Pollock once gave, she even had to be extricated from a mob scene, with fans
“clamoring for bits of her frock and locks of her hair as souvenirs. Later,” Pollock recalled, “the Prince Royal went to her dressing room to present her with a diamond brooch the size of a belt buckle.”
Margaret DeForest was the daughter of a friend of Sara’s from Palm Springs, California, where Sara spent her elder years. She recalls of the Taylor matriarch, “Though she was a slight woman, Sara had a magnetic personality. People gravitated toward her, as they would one day her daughter. She was funny, smart and nobody’s pushover. I knew her when she was much older, but I saw many pictures of her as a young woman. She had wonderful scrapbooks of her show business days, and loved to show them to me and my mother. She told us that Elizabeth had gathered the clip-Childhood 9
pings for her, compiled them herself, and then gave her the scrapbooks one year as a birthday gift. With her dark hair and blue eyes, Sara was a real beauty. She was funny, too. She had a biting sense of humor which, sometimes, people didn’t know how to take. In her later years, she used to be frustrated by Elizabeth’s life. ‘It seems that someone forgot to teach that young lady manners,’ she used to say. Then she would add with a wink, ‘And I guess that would have been me.’ I loved her. I just thought she was great, I really did.”
After The Sign on the Door closed, four more less successful theatrical productions in New York followed for Sara Sothern. By the time she was thirty, she began reconsidering her options. It was at just that time that Francis Taylor—a man whom she had dated only casually back in Arkansas City—came back into her life. The handsome and charming Francis Lenn Taylor was born on December 28, 1897, also in Arkansas City, of Scotch-Irish descent. He had dropped out of high school and worked as an apprentice in an art gallery owned by his beloved, if also demanding, uncle, Howard Yo
ung, in St. Louis. When Francis turned twentyone, his uncle gave him the opportunity to move to New York and work at a gallery Howard opened there, the Howard Young Gallery, which specialized in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century European paintings.
Sarah and Francis became reacquainted one evening quite by happenstance at the El Morocco nightclub in New York. Afterward, they began to enjoy each other’s company on a regular basis. She found him to be quiet and unassuming, so different in character and temperament from the many show business types she’d known in recent years. True, he didn’t have the kind of spark that she usually required to stay interested in a man, but still, she couldn’t help but be fascinated by him. He’d been to Europe with his uncle, had a wealth of interesting anecdotes to share about his travels, understood art and could talk about it for hours, so there was seldom a dull moment between them.
Francis Taylor was soft-spoken and easygoing. Tall and lean, 10
Elizabeth
with an aristocratic and refined bone structure, he had piercing blue eyes and light brown wavy hair, which was combed straight back. His was a scholarly air with his horn-rimmed glasses and natty three-piece suits, in which he always looked great. He was always dressed for presentation, never casually. He accepted life as it was and had little interest in changing things. He was whimsical and artistic in nature, not practical. Don’t get the wrong impression of him, though: He wasn’t exactly carefree. Quite the contrary—he was a contemplative person who often seemed uneasy and distracted. Elizabeth once said that as a young girl she would sit and stare at her father as he sat in his easy chair, his eyes closed and brow furrowed as if attempting to solve a complex, troubling problem. A gentle man, he shied away from confrontation and would do anything in his power to avoid an argument. Later in life, at the end of any conflict his fiery and decisive wife, Sara, would always be the victor. In fact, it’s safe to say, at least based on the recollections of those who knew the Taylors well, that Francis never won an argument with her in their entire marriage. “She’s the boss,” he would say. “What she says goes, and that’s fine with me.” Indeed, he had great respect for Sara, thought her to be savvy and smart as well as talented, and never felt that he didn’t have a place in her life. He knew his place. Sara’s zest for life had led Francis to lose all sense in her presence when he first met her. Inexplicably drawn to her, he confided to friends that he couldn’t stop thinking about the ball of fire called “Sassy” by those who only spoke of her and not with her. He loved her unquenchable spirit, her joyous soul. In fact, Francis saw in Sara many qualities he had wanted for himself, such as charisma, a quick wit, and an ability to point a finger in someone’s face and say—as she would quite often—“I know what the problem with you is, and here’s how to fix it.” It was when that finger was finally wagged in his face, as he would recall it, that he felt somehow reborn. Indeed, the first sign that he and Sara were perfect for each other was when she agreed with him about his faults. She could see right away that he lacked focus and confidence, that Childhood
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