Earlier this week, we lost a true legend – Elizabeth Taylor. I blogged briefly about her star as a child star then her transition to adult roles. I had just touched on her first four marriages when I mentioned Eddie Fisher.
Oh, the Eddie Fisher thing caused quite a scandal. Fisher was good friends with Todd and when the young producer died in a plane crash, he offered consolation to Taylor, the young widow. Maybe too much consolation considering Eddie was married to Debbie Reynolds at the time.
Although it was a sticky situation at the time, Reynolds and Taylor eventually reconciled. In fact, after her death, Reynolds issued a statement saying that she had spoken to Taylor just two weeks before her death. They spoke about how it was “really hell getting older.” Reynolds also said Taylor was “the most glamorous and sexual star of our generation” but that her friend suffered in her last days and she was “in a better place” and “happy that she’s out of her pain.”
Maybe Reynolds and Taylor were able to reconcile so easily because Taylor’s marriage to Fisher only lasted five years. That’s because while filming Cleopatra Taylor fell in love with the man she called one of the loves of her life (Todd being the other), Richard Burton. Again, a scandal ensued because at the time, Burton too was married.
Taylor and Burton married in 1964 after both their divorces became final, but their marriage wasn’t a bed of roses, despite the massive jewelry collection Taylor acquired during it. The two fought, broke up, got back together, even divorced in 1974 and remarried in 1975, only to divorce again in 1976.
In December 1976, Taylor married Senator John Warner. During this time, Taylor became depressed and put on a lot of weight. She later entered the Betty Ford Clinic. The two remained married until late 1982.
Taylor had another stay in the Betty Ford Clinic and it was during this time that she met her last husband, Larry Fortensky. The unlikely duo (Fortensky was a high school dropout who worked as a construction worker before meeting Taylor) divorced in 1996.
And there you have it, the many loves of Elizabeth Taylor. But, she also had a passion for helping others, which I will talk about in my next blog.