Did Elizabeth Taylor Ruin Richard Burton?!!

They ruined each other.

He was a depressive alcoholic. His demons were his own.

They were co-dependent. No point in blaming either one.

Again, OP?

She played a large part in his ruin. I think his life would have been a lot better if he'd never left his wife and married her.

That might be my favorite photo of all time.

R5 Totally agree, Richard had great potential as an actor, his relationship/marriage with Elizabeth helped ruining him in my opinion.

Elizabeth Taylor ruined all of her husbands, except the political husband.

People say he was a great stage actor. I'll have to take their word for it. But he was an awful hammy movie actor.

Lauren Bacall ripping Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor

Lauren Bacall is an asshole.

Yes and no. If he never met her, he was hungry for Hollywood success and had a large family to support outside of his first marriage. So I think he would’ve done about the same film roles good and bad for money. And turned to alcohol out of frustration. But it may not have been AS bad if he hadn’t had Liz to cater to her every whim and latest drama. But he just had to have her.

R12

Ah, yes, the age-old tale of a good man brought down by an Eve, a Cleopatra.

But like Adam and the Antony he portrayed, Burton had Free Will. He was besotted forever with his "Ocean."

Did Richard Burton Ruin Elizabeth Taylor?!!

OMG those pants in R6. And with that shirt! Are we sure he wasn't on psychedelics and not booze?

He had other affairs. He was desperate for fame and Liz was his ticket to the big time. So no, it was all his doing. She would have just continued with her serial marriages no matter who they were, if they wanted her - it's not like she drugged him and put a gun to his head or anything.

Those pants seem to indicate he was a Princess Tiny Meat?

Liz luved Dick and Richard had a big un.

She was a whore who broke up marriages

Liz loved to break a happy home.

Actually, I think he may have ruined her. Note how beautiful she still was when she picked up her Oscar for B Eight, and then note the way she started looking after getting the dick from Dick. She became an alcoholic after she got with him. I read in one biography that in addition to loving fried chicken and mashed potatoes, she also drank great quantities of whole milk. I can believe that because strangely enough, after tying one on the night before I have always craved milk the next day - had to have it. I got shit faced one C-Eve, and was driving around everywhere C morning trying to find an open store just to get my milk fix. I drink 1% milk, however.

I agree with r23. Richard definitely ruined Liz, with both his inferiority complex and his alcoholism.

According to some biographies, after Dick Liz got together, Richard had been throwing fits about how she was a bigger star than him. So, Liz gained weight on purpose to try and dim her stardom somewhat so as to make him less insecured. Richard was also the one who pushed her into making the career-derailing string of failed arthouse moives like Doctor Faustus, Boom, Secret Ceremony, Hammersmith etc. Liz had to fight him nail and tooth to make her last semi-successful film, Ash Wednesday. He disapproved solely on the ground that it was a glamor movie-he didn't want to see her looking good on screen, which threatened his frail ego. He accused Liz of being interested in her young costar when everyone and their mom knew he was hard gay. AW resulted in Liz's last significant acting nomination, the Golden Globe World Fav Actress, and their first divorce.

Liz was also the one who paid for the jewelry Dick supposedly bought her. In Auction of A Lifetime oldtimers all agree liz's earning power is far superior to Dick, who couldn't possibly afford the jewelries. So in effect Liz propped up Dick as this big spender mega star while Dick ruined both her beauty and self-esteem, paving the way for her to sink into those hellish John Warner years.

Long story short: Richard Burton ruined Elizabeth Taylor.

They were probably two of the most beautiful people of all time that's for sure. They both were pretty much sex on legs.

They managed to bring out the absolute worst in each other.

Somehow Liz managed to outlive him; she must've had a cast iron liver.

R24 = Fan fiction

What a boozy twosome

A vulgar couple. Vulgar with their flagrant display of adultery and drunkenness and ostentatious display of wealth-- diamonds, yachts, jetsetting, while the world was collapsing around them. Burton and Taylor were a tawdry soap opera.

R29 = the ghost of Debbie Reynolds.

I've always heard that he also likee to get some dick from time to time.

I don't know about Burton, but Elizabeth completely RUINED Eddie Fisher.

" So no, it was all his doing."

No, it was all HER doing. Burton and Taylor had an affair during "Cleopatra." Burton had frequent affairs and the one with LIz was just one more. He was going back to his wife, but Liz being the spoiled monster who wanted what she wanted when she wanted it, made a grandstand play by taking a pill overdose. Realizing he was in over his head Burton threw in the towel. left his wonderful wife Sybil. and threw in his lot with Liz. I suppose the relationship had "passion" but they were a match made in hell, boozing, brawling and in her case drug addiction. He became more of a celebrity than a respected actor; the fame was intoxicating for a while, but inevitably became a burden. He lost his acting cred when he became part of Dick and Liz. His life with her was chaos all the time, her children, her pets, constant traveling, fulfilling her insatiable need for expensive jewelry, her endless illnesses and dependence on painkillers. And he himself became more and more steeped in alcoholism, which ruined his health and his looks. Would his life have been better if he had never married Elizabeth Taylor? It think it's certain that it would have been.

"Long story short: Richard Burton ruined Elizabeth Taylor."

Long story short: you're a total idiot.

Monty Clift's take on Poor Richard- 'He wants to be famous at any cost"

Burton had made plenty of turkeys before he met Liz. He was a drunk and basically a mess. Liz was going to have problems with her career as she got older, regardless. She was a good actress under the right conditions, but basically a "Star" and known for her glamor--a transition to character parts was not going to be easy for her. "Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolff" proved there was more to her than glamor, although a lot of it came from her relationship with Burton. It may be that Burton wanted fame, but his life and Liz's was not going to be easy, regardless of if they ever met.

r27 and r34 have no business talking about the Burtons when they are gonna be willfully blind to existing documentaries on their relationship.

Watch the Auction of a Lifetime documentary video on youtube, where old associates stated on camera that Liz paid for the jewelry Richard supposedly bought her. Read Elizabeth Taylor by Elizabeth Taylor the 1965 biography and you'll see that Liz gained weight after wedding Richard hoping to lessen his feeling of inferiority. Read up on the behind the scene drama of Ash Wednesday. It is documented that Burton had been preventing Liz from doing glamor movies, especially after Woolf, which decayed her screen image from beauty to harridan.

r25 she was gorgeous, he was basic. Nothing special about Richard Burton whether younger or older he was just basic Hollywood looking. I don't know why she even gave him the time of day.

Her only hot husband was Conrad Hilton Jr. He had pretty boy looks with a mogul's bank account. Shame he was such an abusive addict.

r39 "Her only hot husband was Conrad Hilton Jr. He had pretty boy looks with a mogul's bank account. Shame he was such an abusive addict. "

I agree with everything especially about Hilton. He was to me more handsome than most movie stars of 1950. Indeed, shame such a beautiful man was an out of control abuser.

Think the drinky poos had more to do with his downfall than she did.

Thank you r40. She wasn't ever going to top that type of paring, but I assume Hilton scared her for life. She probably really loved him and was hurt by his abuse.

Little known factoid: William Pawley was the man Elizabeth Taylor was set to marry before Nicky Hilton came into the picture. He was wealthy and had eyes to match her own. The proposed marriage went off the rails, however, when Pawley insisted that he would require young Taylor to give up her acting career and devote herself to being a full-time wife and mother to his children. Sarah Taylor, Elizabeth's mother, put the brakes on that one quickly!

r42 Hilton was beating Liz up, and she stuck back too. They carried on fighting physically, with both unaware that Liz had gotten pregnant somewhere along the way. Then came a day when Hilton kicked Liz in the stomach, and she miscarried to both their shock. The tragic event had Liz filing for a rapid divorce renouncing alimony. Hilton, too, appeared crumbled by the event, and drank/drugged away the rest of his short life.

Just in case someone might have an interest. William Pawley actually spoke to Inside Edition at the age of 90 re his engagement to ET.

"I don't know why she even gave him the time of day."

He was incredibly sexy and talented, that's why. His voice alone was a major attraction. I don't know why she gave Eddie Fisher and Larry Fortensky the time of day.

I respectfully disagree R39. Conrad Hilton was good looking in a Hollywood way, but Burton was handsome, rugged and masculine in a working class everyman way. Just fucking gorgeous. I can totally see why she was drawn to him.

Could Richard in 1950 compete with Hilton in terms of looks?

From the film Waterfront.

No Sybil, he was a whore and an alcoholic the entire time he was married to you.

Richard Burton is hot. Some of you are delusional.

The greatest roles of both their careers came from Virginia Woolf, so neither ruined each other- they created masterful performances that will forever be their legacies.

Before I read Burton's diaries which were published a few years ago I had assumed that Elizabeth was the functional half of a co-dependent couple, but she was boozing as much as he was AND abusing prescription medication at the same time.

Richard was not hot. He had a pock-marked face AND back. Yuk.

I saw "Prince of Players" (1955) last week: Burton plays the Shakespearean actor Booth and looks beautiful. Good performance too.

I just got through watching night watch from 1973. That was a really good film I didn't even know existed. I enjoyed it very much.

Who else here has seen it and what do you think of it?

Nicky Hilton beat the hell out of Elizabeth the entire time they were married. That marriage had to end. Or he probably would have ended up killing Elizabeth.

No matter how much money was involved.

Liz did about the only decent acting of her career opposite him (in WOOLF and SHREW) so i’d say it’s more like he salvaged her.

Liz had been great in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, even though the accent seemed a bit fake. She was camp in Butterfield-8 but so was the script. Cleraly she was defined by material and direction, as a product of teh studio system. Burton was much admired by his peers back in his early days, but he was a drunk and he probably liked tghe money and fame given his modest beginnings. He could be reviting on screen and it's not diffiult to see why some women would have ignored the pockmarked face and the lack of "breeding". Liz made some odd choices--Eddie Fisher? Larry Fortensky? that dim bulb John Warner? Warner regularly made lists of 10 dumbest or 10 worst senators.

r54 I watched it. NightWatch's script and director's chops are a bit convoluted, but not out of place for a 70s horror movie. Liz delivers some very strong acting here. Her final scene prior to exiting is even more scary than those nightmare horror scenes coming before. She channeled that level of conniving malice. It was too bad she was still somewhat overweight there, which probably contributed to the lukewarm box office. Had she already slimmed down in NW like in her next film Ash Wednesday, this worthy horror film would have been a lot better received.

Anyone else think it probable that Liz got with the BBC (and I don't mean British television)? Good God, but she was beautiful.

Ooh, that looks like the Sandpiper Liz that some DL-ers love to make fun of for being fat. Fat 1960s Liz was still far more beautiful than those so called plus sized models of today.

No. I think George Soros was behind it

Night Watch was based on a play that starred DL fave Joan Hackett in the role Taylor got in the movie.

I wonder why Elizabeth always married showbiz types? She could've had anyone she wanted. Like wealthy bankers, or lawyers, or corporate executives, and CEOs.

I know she was married to a politician at one point and did the whole Washington DC thing.

But I've always said female movie stars are better off marrying powerful men in business. Preferably outside of show business. Therefore, they have their Hollywood careers and movie money. And then they have they're powerful business man husband who has serious corporate money to fund a glamorous lifestyle that a salary from the movies probably wouldn't be able to finance.

You know, the lifestyle of a powerful corporate executive. Because movie $$$$ is only going to go but so far. But I guess nicky hilton was enough especially with him beating her constantly.

I've just always found it cheesy when actors marry each other. I've always liked the idea of Hollywood and power marriages. Instead of two Hollywood figures in a marriage together. There's just something cheesy about it to me.

But powerful businessmen are usually ugly if not old as well. Liz don't do unfuckable men, or she would have married Howard Hughes when he offered her a studio plus a million in the late 40s for her hand. And she made more than enough $ with her skyhigh film salary, along with the various art/realty/fashion brand investments she had starting from the 50s. She didn't need no sugar daddy, she needed romances with hot guys.

^I'll second that assessment. She left behind $600M - chick did a hell of a job amassing her fortune while spending a hell of a lot of it along the way. I'd say that William Pawley was the best looking of all her men. She had the chance for a "normal" life early on, but chose to take the other road.

According to most of what I read- she was his trigger. He could only handle being with Elizabeth- drinking. She was the apex of stardom and film success in his eyes and as he said, beautiful beyond pornography. She admired his classical training in theater and literacy. She did not stop drinking until well after their marriages were over. He picked up any time he was with her. They sure did take up headlines in he 1960s. She really was something to look at, vastly more beautiful in person than in pictures and film. That's an interesting interview Bacall gives.

Taylor was married to Nicky Hilton, R63. He was a businessman/heir to a fortune. He was abusive.

RB hit the proverbial wall in about 1963. After that, it was a liquor-slicked highway to hell.

"Lauren Bacall ripping Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor."

Actually, she doesn't mention Taylor in that clip. The woman with "integrity" that she's talking about is Burton's first wife, Sybil. She does seem to have Burton's number pretty well. He reveled in his wealth and fame and having a trophy wife like Elizabeth Taylor was just part of it. But as Bacall said, all that extravagance and greed and avarice was really just "obscene."

If Burton had gone back to his wife after "Cleopatra", he'd have been just another Brit ham actor with a spotty box-office record, and a taint of scandal. He was as ambitious as hell, and he probably would have spent the next ten years kicking himself for not taking his chance with Liz, who could have boosted him onto Hollywood's A-List.

And he probably would have blamed his wife for any career woes that came while he was married to her, because she'd cost him the A-list. And he'd have blamed her for his alcoholism, too. Spouses always get blamed.

Oh please this is ridiculous. Elizabeth Taylor was made of gold and she UPPED Burton's glamour and salaries.

r70 "And he probably would have blamed his wife for any career woes that came while he was married to her, because she'd cost him the A-list. "

This so much. That marriage had to end after he encountered Liz, or it'd get crumbled by the would-have-been. Richard was just like Monty's character in Liz's iconic film A Place in the Sun: a man tempted by beauty and fortune both at once. If he didn't dump Sybil right then, he'd have done it later anyway.

A Place in The Sun: Dick and Liz Version

"Richard was just like Monty's character in Liz's iconic film A Place in the Sun: a man tempted by beauty and fortune both at once. If he didn't dump Sybil right then, he'd have done it later anyway. "

Ain't it the truth!

That's the heart of it, really. Liz offered him sex and beauty and all the fame and success he'd ever wanted, and top actors don't get where they are by being loyal and refusing shots at the big time when they come along.

And let's remember how Richard had been cheating on Sybil with other women since their wedding night. Theirs is a marriage of duty and practicality, not love or even just passion.

Oh, for crap's sake, his involvement with Elizabeth Taylor did him no good in the long run. Oh, hooking up with her made him a huge celebrity, a well paid commodity, but he lost the respect of his peers and audience for selling out and his acting career was never what it could have been. And of course since the two of them were were boozers (she was also a drug addict) they fed each other's weaknesses and wallowed in their excesses. Would Burton have lived longer is he'd never had the self destructive relationship with Liz? I think he would have.

There was some interview where the interviewer asked Burton why he didn't do serious work anymore, the kind that. for instance, Paul Scofield did. Scofield was a brilliant, although not sexy or attractive, British actor, not very famous at all (at least not famous like Burton was), who went one to win an Oscar for "A Man of All Seasons." La Liz was sitting right next to Burton when he was asked the question. Burton tried to calmly explain why his work didn't take the direction that Scofield's did, but Liz jumped all over the interviewer for daring to say anything negative about her Dick. But the interviewer was right. Burton could have had a less showy career like Scofield, and if he'd done more serious work he could have won an Oscar, too. But he blew it off to be with LIz and his life and career suffered for it.

r76 "Oh, hooking up with her made him a huge celebrity, a well paid commodity, but he lost the respect of his peers and audience for selling out and his acting career was never what it could have been."

He would have "sold out" artistically with or without Liz.

Richard hated his dirt poor miner's background, and was desperate to elevate his large family out of poverty. According to his Diary he considered acting a sissy's profession. He did it in large part for money and also fame, and as a way out to climb up socially.

If he didn't love green to begin with, why would he even sign up for non-artistic "commercial crap" the likes of Cleopatra?

He also had crap taste when it comes to what is and isn't art. Remember Doctor Faustus, which he directed? Or how about the dreary the Comedians? Liz would never have been involved with those career-derailing stinkers if not for him. And he would have been stupid enough to take on bombs the likes of Exorcist II: The Heretic with or without Liz.

Richard milked Liz for all the fame fortune and sex she's worth, before ruining his career with his own bad taste in film projects.

R78 Taylor was certain Burton would win his Oscar for "Virginia Woolf", but he lost to Scofield.

I would have liked to have seen Burton win the Oscar for "Equus." But he lost to Richard Dreyfuss for his manic, coked out performance in "The Goodbye Girl." It was amazing that he lost. He deserved to win much more than Dreyfuss.

To be very fair I don't think Liz ruined Dick or vice versa, though they both enabled each other's drinking and drug use and destroyed both their health. I do wonder what would happen if, instead of Dick, Liz had gotten together with George Hamilton back in 1963? For those who don't know, the fitness conscious GH was a driving force behind Liz's dramatic weight loss in the 1980s. Would he have helped Liz stay thin and beautiful throughout the 60s?

He's one of the actors who has done a drama where he starred as Winston Churchill.

He actually met Churchill and he tells the story about Churchill being in the audience where Burton was playing Hamlet and Burton could hear Churchill doing the lines with him. As Burton went faster, so did Churchill. Faster? Churchill did likewise.

Here's the link.

R79 I thought Dreyfuss deserved to win for "Close Encounters" that year. What a great performance in a wonderful movie. I hated "Goodbye Girl" and "Equus".

So basically Elizabeth carried them financially throughout their marriages since she appeared to have always had a bunch of money.

Did Elizabeth come from a privileged wealthy background? I've always had the impression she came from a prestigious background.

I've always wondered about Liz's finances, R83. Yes, she was earning big bucks during the late fifties and sixties, but she also spent like someone having a manic episode that lasted decades. If she really paid for that huge entourage and all those clothes and jewels and mansions herself, as well as taxes and the usual fees to her managers and agents and ex-husbands, I'm amazed she had anything left after the Burton divorce. The first Burton divorce.

I'm told she had various other sources of income, like her perfume and some patents Mike Todd left her, but I still don't really get why she lived like a queen for the second half of her life, with hardly any visible income.

R84 I think the same way. She was clearly a very wealthy woman. The $$$$$ was coming from somewhere.

Must've been really nice. I heard she left each of her 4 kids $100 million dollars a piece. Not sure how true it is, but that's what someone I believe right here on DL said.

If you read his diaries you will see that Burton didn't like acting, especially on stage. People criticized him for abandoning the theatre for film but he didn't enjoy either. Acting onstage was a grind and film acting an absurdly overpaid job.

Taylor's father, Francis, had a millionaire uncle who set him up as a fine art dealer in London, which is where Elizabeth was born. The family lived in a beautiful landed home in Hampstead-Heath until the start of WWII. They migrated back to the US and moved to Beverly Hills, where her father opened another fine art dealership/gallery. It was in his art gallery that Elizabeth was discovered as a seven year old. She was briefly considered for the small role of Bonnie Blue Butler in GWTW. The rest is history. Because of her father, Taylor had an exceptional eye for fine art. She acquired many paintings by old masters for investment purposes, holding onto them for decades before trickling them out onto the market. Example: At the birth of a new grandchild in the 1990s, she placed one of her paintings on the market to establish a financial trust for that grandchild. What's generally not entertained by the public due to all the notoriety is the very real fact that this chick was also a hell of a business woman.

Taylor's birth place where she was raised until age seven.

How much did she get from Todd's estate?

She got Todd-AO, which was his version of Cinema-scope, a wide screen formatting process he developed to film "ATW in 80 Days." She'd demand that some future films in which she starred use the process, generating more income for her. Whatever else he left behind, I'm sure she got that too after breaking off a piece for his son.

Alcohol

Sybil had the last laugh. She married Jordan Christopher, who was a lot younger than she was, and lived a very nice life. She helped found The Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor with Julie Andrews’ daughter. Bay Street certainly kept her in touch with celebrities. Not only do they appear onstage there, they go there to watch shows, particularly taking their children to the shows for kids. Sybil was very well respected in the Hamptons & went to the best parties, if she felt like it.

Sybil also opened a discoteque in NYC called "Arthur" in 1965. It was very popular among celebrities, and perhaps was the precursor to "Studio 54."

Kate Burton (daughter of Richard and Cybil) was quoted as saying that her mother never spoke to her father again after they divorced. With her mother, when something was done, it was done.

Interesting brief comments from Kate Burton.

Kate Burton also became an actress. The last thing I saw her in was Julia Louis-Dreyfus' "VEEP" on HBO. She played a Senator or Rep, if I'm not mistaken.

It was the perfume and art that made her the big money. Her house was relatively modest.

Burton's diaries are sad: he suffered from depression, and the only thing he really seemed to enjoy after the 60s was reading. His drinking exacerbated his depression, and he struggled to find the energy to act or socialize.

Well, here's an interesting clip.

The dedication of the Roddy McDowall Rose Garden in 2001.

Two women pivotal to this thread.

Burton's diaries are very interesting. He was obviously a very intelligent, well read man. Also a drunk. If he hadn't been addicted to alcohol who knows what he could have accomplished.

Liz worked hard for her money. Whether you approve her acting style or not, she tackled long scenes with LONG dialogues in her films, which required great effort and technique. And like a poster said she was a very good businesswoman. She invested-and wisely-in many different areas since the 1950s, and they paid off. She was given her rare and outstanding beauty by birth, but the rest she earned by her own hard work. She deserved her great fame and fortune.

Liz did do an unusually good job of paying her looks into fame and a personal fortune, and she did it without ever seeming to do anything she didn't want to do.

She should go down in history as one of the world's great climbers!

[quote]R83 Did Elizabeth come from a privileged wealthy background? I've always had the impression she came from a prestigious background.

No. Her family was in on thin financial ice when she started working. Her dad ran an art gallery and her mom was a failed stage actress.

The dad was bi, and in England the family didn’t pay rent because they lived in an old hunting lodge (or something) on the property of Liz’s father’s lover/patron. He might have been the one who st him up in a gallery in L. A., too.

I've heard that Jackie kennedy was kinda obsessed with Elizabeth Taylor. Because Elizabeth had her own $$$$$ and could finance her own life of wealth and comfort without needing a man to do it.

While jackie got married to onassis and he paid for everything including her receiving a monthly alliance from him. But in the end jackie ended up with what she wanted, which was lots of $$$$$$.

Her $26 million dollar settlement christina gave her to get rid of her finally gave her the financial independence she craved her entire life.

Burton should've stayed with Claire Bloom. He might still be alive if he had.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Augustus John was a major, MAJOR pussy hound. In addition to his five legitimate offspring, he recognized several of his offspring with several women who he never married. From his Wikipedia:

Early in 1901, he married his first wife, Ida Nettleship (1877–1907); the couple had five children. After her death in 1907, his mistress Dorothy "Dorelia" McNeill, a Bohemian style icon, became his partner; they lived together most of the time from 1904 until his death and had two children, but never married.[24] One of his sons (by his first wife) was the prominent British Admiral and First Sea Lord Sir Caspar John. His daughter Vivien John (1915–1994) was a notable painter.[25]

By Ian Fleming's widowed mother, Evelyn Ste Croix Fleming, née Rose, he had a daughter, Amaryllis Fleming (1925–1999), who became a noted cellist. Another of his sons, by Mavis de Vere Cole, wife of the prankster Horace de Vere Cole, is the television director Tristan de Vere Cole. His son Romilly (1906–1986) was in the RAF, briefly a civil servant, then a poet, author and an amateur physicist. Poppet (1912–1997), John's daughter by Dorothy, married the Dutch painter Willem Jilts Pol (1905–1988). Willem Pol's daughter Talitha (1940–1971) by an earlier marriage (i.e. step-granddaughter of both Augustus and Dorothy), a fashion icon of 1960s London, married John Paul Getty Jr.. His daughter Gwyneth Johnstone (1915–2010), by musician Nora Brownsword, was an artist.[26] Augustus John's promiscuity gave rise to rumours that he had fathered as many as 100 children.[27]

No. He wanted fame and stardom. Stars of the theater believed he could have been a star of the magnitude of Olivier, Geilgud and Redgrave.

R100 = Michael Jackson' ghost

From artnet com

"Taylor’s father, the art dealer Francis Taylor, bought the painting on her behalf at auction in 1963 for £92,000 ($130,000), and it remained in her collection until her death in 2011."

Just wanna draw attention to "on her behalf", which means that painting was bought with Liz's own money. Liz earned her nice things.

What is the big mystery here? He was an alcoholic who worshiped her, she was an alcoholic who was in awe of him, and together they made millions and millions of dollars. OK?

They ruined each other;s careers with such epic turds as BOOM! and THE SANDPIPER. And dragged Joseph Losey and Vincente Minnelli down with them.

"Art Collections" - The term makes it sound as if these wealthy people are madly passionate about art, purchasing these pieces as mere wall decorations. Art is a rich man's game, and there is a necessary value to it. Aside from all the fluff, the main reason these pieces are purchased is the necessity of parking your money somewhere. If you have $75,000,000.00, then you can't just leave it sitting in a bank because it's not safe to do so. You have to find places to put that money with the goal of at least keeping up with the rate of inflation, and hopefully growing that value. Hence, the art game.

Earlier today, I read a rather lengthy article detailing the madhouse that was the production of 1973's "Ash Wednesday." I never knew until then that Dominick Dunne produced it. All the Taylor/Burton shenanigans which went on during the shooting of that film made for a mad-cap comedy movie in and of itself! Their behavior is hilarious and shocking. They had no concern for the messes they made of other's careers when they worked with them. To producer, Dunne, Elizabeth stated "You know, I think this is going to be your last film, luv." And it was. He "never worked in that town again."

Dunne brought about his own producing downfall according to the DailyBeast article. Did he really expect Liz, who was cast, not crew, to grade the script beforehand for him, the producer? And on top of being a drunk and drugged out on the job himself, he also arranged for Liz to meet with Andy Warhol, who was discovered TAPING her while she was drunk. Dunne claimed being innocent of Warhol's mischief but who knows!? Liz did not want to meet Warhol beforehand cause she knew the guy is scum, but Dunne insisted so she deferred and went. And then that happened. Way to ensure Liz never took him seriously again. And not a single mentioned person involved with that film, except maybe Fonder, was in anyway behaving professionally. Ultimately, it was Mengers, not the Burtons, who get Dunne blacklisted.

I meant Henry "Fonda". Sorry for the typo.

The terrible script was by Sue Mengers' husband, Jean-Claude Tramont. No producer could have made it into a good movie.

The script sucked for sure, but I think Liz rose above the material.

She still got a Golden Globe acting nomination for Ash Wednesday, along with the GG World Fav Actress Award.

The finished product, flawed as it is, still shows how beautiful Liz still could be in her 40s.

All of these people we're beautiful glamorous messes with million$ at there disposal.

Was it a case of to much of a good thing? Or we're these people just damaged goods?

Maybe a little of both. Probably more damaged goods then anything. But they win because were all endlessly fascinated by them both with endless threads on this site and beyond.

Endless $$$$$$, fame, glamorous jet-set of a lifestyle, booze, drugs, tabloid drama, jewelry, and hedonism is what they lived for.

What a fun life they lived.

Who wouldn't have wanted that type of life. Minus all of the bad stuff. But the movie stardom and endless wealth glamour and beauty of it all. A long with tabloid status Absolutely!

That's most DL,ers dream life.

I wonder if they were the first actors to be SO famous that the fame ruined their careers.

Or rather, they might have been the first major actors to be SO famous for their private lives, that they totally lost the ability to disappear into the role. Once they hooked up and became the most famous couple of their time, they mostly stopped acting and just delivered star turns. That, and the money and self-indulgence and the boatloads of alcohol cost them the ability to do any real acting, which wasn't much of a loss in Liz's case as she was a better star than she was an actor.

Burton's descent into ham and camp probably would have happened anyway, even without Liz he would have been a depressive alcoholic who hated acting. I doubt he would have fulfilled his highest potential if he'd never met her.

The Burtons certainly took advantage of the perks afforded to them as a condition of appearing in their films. They were such huge star attractions that they could demand their working hours, stipulating them in their contracts. For "AW," Elizabeth agreed to an eight hour work day from 10am to 6pm, and even then she appeared on set whenever it suited her. There were days when the crew got only a half hour of acting from her. That's the very height of audacity! My take? They purposely dragged out the production time of every film they worked on because they lived lavishly on the studio's dime in addition to their huge salaries. Yes, I see that quite clearly. Their only recompense? "Well, you knew how we were before you agreed to get into bed with us, luv."

r 121 Their only recompense? "Well, you knew how we were before you agreed to get into bed with us, luv." In the case of AW almost no one was behaving professionally, especially not the craptastic crew.

Had the production gave Liz a promising script and a professional seeming environment, I think she would have behaved far more professionally. But no, the producer was a drunk, drugged out ham who got her hidden-taped by Warhol, and the rest of those writers, director etc weren't any better. The project came off as a joke, with the only merit of joining it being the million $ + salary. Liz behaved reasonably considering the ridiculous situation.

And professional or not, Liz DID manage to elevate the film with her presence contribution. According to wiki: "The film's critical reception was reasonably favorable, particularly for Taylor, who was nominated for a Golden Globe. " That and she won the Golden Globe World Fav Actress that same year.

They knew how much they were worth to the studios. Had lesser stars behave in this manner they would've been fired and blacklisted.

I always liked their "Taming of the Shrew" from 1967 with Franco Zeffirelli directing.

"They knew how much they were worth to the studios. Had lesser stars behave in this manner they would've been fired and blacklisted. "

The problem with behaving this way, is that once you cease to be worth the big bucks you cost, the studios drop you the instant you become more trouble than you're worth - and the studio numbers crunchers definitely have an algorithm that shows exactly when that point has been reached. When that point is reached, you're not fired and blacklisted, you just don't get the kind of offers that you're used to.

Which is why Liz's career ground to a halt in the seventies, after that her appearances on the screen were no more than occasional. I'm amazed that Burton managed to keep working as long as he did, what with working drunk and being box-office poison and all, he must have dropped his fees considerably to get as much work as he did.

Burton was a closet homosexual

Oh really!???

Wow, it actually took much longer than I thought it would....R125.

He was good looking?

R128 No

Elizabeth Taylor and her 7 gay husbands

r124 "The problem with behaving this way, is that once you cease to be worth the big bucks you cost, the studios drop you the instant you become more trouble than you're worth"

According to Richard's diaries the Burtons' been expecting their mega stardom to wan since the late 60s, due to their ages and the rapid change in acting and glamor standards. Liz in particular saw what happened to her peers like A Hepburn, D Reynolds and the much younger N Wood etc, and estimated that her days as an A-list actress were numbered no matter what she did or did not do. She was no longer serious with acting by the 70s. Instead she was milking vanity projects still available to her for the high pay only. She was also making good money through investments and fame-related endeavors, and would have likely gone that late 70s semi-retirement route with or without the ruinous Warner.

[quote] with or without the ruinous Warner

Huh???

Wasn't John Warner always credited with causing Liz's career derailing obesity?

"Wasn't John Warner always credited with causing Liz's career derailing obesity?"

Oh, come on. He didn't shove the food down the throat. And she was always prone to plumpness. With Burton she was chunky; she just got chunkier with Warner.

The same bad behavior came from lindsay lohan who also got chance after chance. Partaking in the frivolous side of Hollywood with people like paris hilton etc etc etc. But it finally caught up with her.

Look where she is now. No where. With no real money.

Unlike Liz, who got richer and richer into her mid-life and old age.

If you're gonna be bad on movie sets you better have something else to fall back on, like effective publicity-moves and rewarding investments. Liz had everything to fall back on back when she behaved badly, while Linday had nothing when she stank up the Liz Biopic. Is is any wonder how the outcomes are so different?

Did Elizabeth Taylor behave badly on set? I had the impression that she was lazy but professional-- knew her lines, didn't throw tantrums.

Elizabeth could definitely be a hot mess on movie sets, especially in the late sixties and early seventies. But like the above poster stated. Taylor had some serious money and investments to fall back on.

Fire crotch didn't.

r138 "I had the impression that she was lazy but professional-- knew her lines, didn't throw tantrums."

Judging by what shows up on screen in Ash you seem correct. She delivered those lines and even emoted well, which was why she earned the film a nomination. Her Golden Globes World Fav Actress Award the same year has also to do with her performance in this film.

And yes to everything r139 said. Lindsay needs to be far more self-objective to survive the biz.

Was Lauren bacall jealous of Elizabeth Taylor? I mean she lived pretty large too. Living at the dakota is not cheap.

Taylor wrote a book about diamonds. Buying, selling, judging quality. She was very astute, as others has pointed out.

[quote]R140 ...in Ash Wednesday you seem correct. She delivered those lines and even emoted well, which was why she earned the film a nomination.

OMG....can you shut up about that box office BOMB that no one took seriously??? All those later films of hers are blatant embarrassments, and her “acting” is absolute SHIT in them!

R143 Even night watch? That was a good film I just saw last Saturday night for the first time. I enjoyed it. But there's no accounting for taste I suppose.

But then again I really enjoy cinema from the late 60s and early 70s so I guess it's just more my taste then anything else.

Mmmm....well, you suddenly sound like a nice, humble person, so I won’t bee too insistent about it...but Taylor really gets on my nerves especially in those later films where cinema has opened up in its acting and story subjects...but she seems so studied and artificial in the middle of it all. She’s obviously a very, very lovely looking woman but she has practically NO artistic instinct, IMO.

She’s good in about 2 1/2 movies....but if any of us had made something like 100 of them, i’d HOPE we’d be able to hit the target a FEW times.

I never liked her she was a horrible actress and her looks were waaaay overrated

R11 Lauren's talking about Richard's first wife in this clip, not Taylor.

they were both awful and fame whores

Burton and Taylor are both overrated, and Bacall underrated, she didn't need seven husbands, Bogie was more of a man than seven Richard Burtons anyway.

Whatever their faults, Becall has to have and have not, Taylor who's afraid of Virginia Woolf.

I don't think Taylor ruined Burton. I was born in 62, so maybe I just missed it, but I never got the burton hype.

1973's reaction to Ash Wednesday according to wiki:

Critical reception

The film's critical reception was reasonably favorable, particularly for Taylor, who was nominated for a Golden Globe. Rex Reed's review in The New York Observer amounted to a love letter to Taylor: "She's subtle, sensitive, glowing with freshness and beauty, fifty pounds lighter in weight, her hair is coiffed simply, her clothes ravishing, her make-up a symphony of perfection. For those who grew up in love with Elizabeth Taylor, the movie is pure magic. She is once again the kind of star marquees light up for."

Variety agreed: "Taylor, fashionably gowned and bejeweled carries the film almost single-handedly. Fonda is excellent in his climatic appearance, an unusually superb casting idea. Taylor's performance also is very good, and relative to many of her recent roles, this is one of the strongest and most effective in some time. Her Beauty remains sensational."[1]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times added a dissenting voice, saying the film "was directed by Larry Peerce . . . and written by Jean-Claude Tramont with all the fearlessness and perception demanded in the boiling of an egg."[2]

Roger Dooley of the Village Voice disagreed, thinking the film "Elizabeth Taylor's best role in years... Jean-Claude Tramont's screenplay, directed by Larry Peerce, makes one remember why millions of people used to enjoy movies."[3]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times thought "The movie's story is not really very interesting, but we're intrigued because the star is Taylor. She's 40 or 41 now, and yet she looks great. There's a kind of voyeuristic sensuality in watching her look at herself in the mirror (which she spends no end of time doing) . . . Maybe the fundamental problem with the movie is that we can't quite believe any man would leave Elizabeth Taylor. It's a good thing we never see Henry Fonda's bimbo, because if we did, we wouldn't be convinced."[4]

Awards and nominations

Elizabeth Taylor was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama but lost to Marsha Mason in Cinderella Liberty.

I've never seen Ash Wednesday, I hope to get to see it soon. It sounds interesting.

^It's boring as hell. Older woman (Taylor) has husband rarely shown who doesn't pay her any mind. She goes off to some European spa, gets a facelift, recovers, attracts a younger lover, meets up with husband at some point who isn't all that impressed

Elizabeth Taylor had that spark that made her a massive star. She lived a fascinating existence.

My sister, being nearly six years older than me, had control of the only tv in the house after school. I remember Elizabeth Taylor on General Hospital way back when though I had not idea who she was at the time. She was a fan of the show and let it be known that she'd like to appear in it, so the writers wrote a part for her which she played for maybe a month. Anyone else remember this?

So zsa zsa gabor was basically the poor man's Elizabeth Taylor then? But obviously Elizabeth was way more famous and way wealthier than gabor ever was.

Elizabeth was considered more beautiful, and she had superior business skills that's why.

Elizabeth Taylor was the poor man's Vivien Leigh

That, too.

And Burton was considered the poor man's Sir Olivier by some.

This was an interesting program. ET's jewelry collection brought in $130M dollars at auction.

Buying jewels for yourself is a poor investment, but getting other people to buy you diamonds and stuff is a GREAT investment of your time!

In her later years, rumor was that if you wanted an introduction to Liz, you bought her some fabulous piece of diamond jewelry, or asked Harry Winston to send over a tray and let her pick what she wanted. And that, tasteful friends, is how you accumulate $130 million worth of jewels, with very little outlay.

I'd be surprised if her collection was even worth 1/3 of that $130M. The pieces were going for as much as eight times their estimate because of her notoriety.

[quote] In her later years, rumor was that if you wanted an introduction to Liz, you bought her some fabulous piece of diamond jewelry,

This sounds like the role played by Sharon Stone in "The Muse". Albert Brooks stars as the Hollywood screenwriter who asks "The Muse' to help him. She moves into the apartment over his garage. Hilarious.

With a very funny cameo by Martin Scorcese.

Even if her jewel collection was only really worth $10 million dollars, R163, I bet she didn't spend ten million dollars of her own money to acquire it.

I am in awe of her jewel-grubbing skills!

Though she certainly came by a lot of her jewelry as gifts from husbands, friends, professional associates, etc, it was strongly suggested that she bought some of the major pieces in her collection herself. The Krupp diamond and the Cartier diamond for examples. Although the world was told that Burton had gifted them to her, it was actually she who bought them. It was all publicity hype. Chick was one smart cookie, so I wouldn't be surprised if she - with any eye toward future value - framed the acquisitions with a story to add historical value as well: "Richard Burton loved Elizabeth Taylor so much that he spent his entire $1M film salary on this diamond."

r166 has it correct. The Auction of a Lifetime DVD has old associates saying on record that Burton could not have afforded those jewelry. And yes, Elizabeth was very business-savvy.

"Taylor wrote a book about diamonds. Buying, selling, judging quality."

I never heard that she wrote any book like that. She DID come up with a coffee table book entitled "Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair With Jewelry." It's a hilariously superficial trifle, featuring lavish color and black and white photographs of Liz and her obscenely expensive jewels. The photos are frequently accompanied by Liz's airhead commentary on how she got the jewel, how much she loved it, etc. Here's a sample, referring to a "Bell Epoque ruby and diamond bracelet, circa 1895 (by the looks of the photo it doesn't exactly seem inexpensive)" :

"Of all the jewelry he gave me, this little antique diamond and ruby bracelet was Richard's favorite piece. He loved the delicacy of it. After all the huge stuff he'd given me, I think he liked the fairytale smallness of it. Rubies were his favorite stone."

For a small one like this I guess it could possibly be bought with RB's own money, which makes it special to her I guess.

"For a small one like this I guess it could possibly be bought with RB's own money, which makes it special to her I guess."

He bought her a lot of incredibly expensive, famous jewels, you twit. You don't believe me? This is from Liz's own mouth:

"I can't deny that Richard gave me some spectacular gifts on birthdays and at Christmas, but in truth he was so romantic that he'd use any excuse to give me a piece of jewelry. He'd give me "It's Tuesday, I love you" presents. "It's a beautiful day" presents. "Let's go for a walk, I want to buy you something" presents. Over the years I've come to think of these as my "It's Tuesday, I love you" jewelry. And I never knew whey he would come up with the most extraordinary ring or something very sweet and simple."

I tend to believe that even the "sweet and simple" jewelry cost thousands of dollars. Liz would have settled for nothing less.

I'd like to see a really well done documentary on Elizabeth and Richard. I mean a really well done on too. Something visually beautiful to look at and well commented.

What did one of her husbands say...

"Just buy her a $50,000 jewel and everything would be great, for up to three days!".

r170 "He bought her a lot of incredibly expensive, famous jewels, you twit. You don't believe me? This is from Liz's own mouth:"

Liz lied in RB's favor to help prop him up. Watch Auction of a Lifetime on youtube for yourself. See what their acquaintances had to say on this issue, you ignorant fuck.

Seems like she was propping herself too - "See how much this man adores me - he showers me with extravagant gifts so I'm still the shit, suckas!" (while she ballooned up to 180)

And we still have to remind ourselves that the jewels were also a necessary expenditure for the sake of investment. She needed a place to "park" her money, so she also bought the jewels for the same reasons she bought all the art.

"Liz lied in RB's favor to help prop him up. Watch Auction of a Lifetime on youtube for yourself. See what their acquaintances had to say on this issue, you ignorant fuck."

You're a stupid shit if you thought Liz Taylor bought all of that expensive jewelry with her own money. A REALLY stupid shit.

Elizabeth Taylor had hundreds of millions of dollars. She probably brought a lot of what she had. And as far as having somewhere to park her $$$$. I'm sure everything was put away in a trust fund. That would be exhausting trying to buy up a bunch of shit because you don't just want you're $$$$ sitting in the bank. A trust works perfectly.

r177 "She probably brought a lot of what she had." Yup. This is what their old associates say on record in the Auction of a Lifetime Documentary. She didn't necessarily bought all of it herself, but the more expensive pieces that RB could not possibly have afforded are bought with her own money.

r174 " "See how much this man adores me - he showers me with extravagant gifts so I'm still the shit, suckas!" (while she ballooned up to 180)" To be fair she didn't hit that level of morbid obesity until after meeting Warner. There were phrases when her weight was down during the Burton period, most notably in 1973-74 when she was in her early 40s.

Candid from that time.

^Callas and Di Stefano?

Is there anywhere that women still wear their own extravagant jewels?

Even most "royals" borrow their sparklies!

"She probably brought a lot of what she had."

Oh, she must have bought some. But Burton gave her incredibly expensive jewels. To say that he didn't is pure idiocy. She SAID he did. Why would she lie? To make him look "good?" That is so ridiculous.

I can believe that Burton bought some of the jewels with his own money, considering how much he drank during his marriage to Liz.

They were soused together. She was a lively drunk, he was dour and depressive.

R180 Yeah Kim Kardashian on instagram. But she's a showy ostentatious attention seeker.