From child star to Hollywood icon, her romances captivated the world! Join us as we explore the passionate, scandalous, and headline-making love life of Elizabeth Taylor. Through eight marriages, countless controversies, and unparalleled fame, she transformed celebrity culture forever while creating an enduring legacy both on and off screen.
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00:00Oh, but you're something different.
00:01Sure. I got the world by the tail.
00:04Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're taking a look at the drama-filled, scandalous,
00:08and industry-shifting romantic life of Elizabeth Taylor.
00:13Mmm, you've got a nice smell about you.
00:17Actress, star, icon, wife.
00:20As a movie star, she was a luminous presence on the screen.
00:23From the time she was a teen, Elizabeth Taylor was being fashioned into a public persona,
00:28responsible for upholding the reputation of a multi-million dollar studio.
00:33However, her active and tumultuous love life generated more attention
00:36than even classic Hollywood's tireless publicity departments could handle.
00:41Did you ever think in your career of marrying a comedian?
00:45They were most of them comedians.
00:48Her career survived scandals that would have toppled a star of less magnitude.
00:52Somehow she was able to use that publicity to her advantage.
00:55But after eight marriages, that intense attention and worldwide notoriety
01:00came at the expense of her privacy.
01:03I've had extreme happiness.
01:06I've had addictions.
01:07I'm like a living example of what people can go through and survive.
01:13Early stardom and first husband.
01:15By the end of the 1940s, Elizabeth Taylor was barely 18.
01:19But she was already one of MGM's biggest stars.
01:22She began working in more mature fare in the 1950s,
01:25and she entered that decade with her first of seven husbands.
01:28I didn't marry your mother until I was 25.
01:30Oh, I know, Pops, but that was millions of years ago.
01:34Look at all the men in Ben's class at college.
01:36Loads of them are married and have children.
01:38G.I.'s.
01:41Buckley says everyone should marry young.
01:43The national velvet star wanted to settle down quickly,
01:46citing some traditional beliefs about love, marriage and sex.
01:49While she entertained proposals from some esteemed gentleman,
01:53she eventually chose hotel heir Nicky Hilton.
01:56To Elizabeth, he was Prince Charming,
01:58and she ignored friends' warnings about Hilton's rumoured temper and womanising.
02:03Her home studio had a heavy hand in their opulent nuptials,
02:06as it paired nicely with Taylor's new film, Father of the Bride.
02:09But Hilton's abuse had a calamitous effect on her life.
02:13She had a miscarriage as a result of his mistreatment,
02:15and the two divorced several months later.
02:17She was in despair.
02:20Tremendous self-doubts.
02:22You can imagine how she felt that here she had made this plunge into adulthood,
02:27and it had turned into nothing but pain.
02:31Hollywood husbands.
02:32For her next two marriages, Taylor chose men who were familiar with her industry.
02:36British actor Michael Wilding caught her eye,
02:38and the two tied the knot in 1952.
02:41She was about to turn 20, and Wilding was pushing 40.
02:44Elizabeth was rediscovering her self-confidence,
02:47and Wilding was happy to let his movie star wife take charge of their future.
02:51The union lasted five years,
02:53and saw the birth of Taylor's first two children, Michael and Christopher.
02:56Her third husband, Mike Todd, was also much older than her.
02:59Todd, he was 25 years older than you.
03:02You were 24.
03:03He was 49.
03:05But that was a kind of storybook marriage.
03:08That was like a movie.
03:09Interestingly, the Oscar-winning producer had a flair for manipulating the news media.
03:13Their well-publicized marriage was to the benefit of both their careers,
03:17and Taylor reportedly admired Todd deeply.
03:20He had more energy and knowledge and excitement, a sense of wonder about him,
03:27and he made everything he touched wondrous.
03:30Sadly, their storybook romance ended with his death in a 1958 plane crash.
03:34He left Taylor behind with their infant daughter, Liza.
03:37I just started screaming.
03:39How did you survive?
03:41I have no idea.
03:43I really don't know.
03:44And a fair to forget.
03:46In the aftermath of Todd's death,
03:48Elizabeth Taylor was hounded by the same publicity machine they had enjoyed as a couple.
03:52She was soon accompanied by Eddie Fisher.
03:54She was living with the ghost of Mike Todd,
03:57and the closest thing to him that she could find
04:00to keep that ghost alive
04:03was Eddie Fisher.
04:05The actor and singer was a dear friend of her late love,
04:09and the spouse of her MGM colleague, Debbie Reynolds.
04:12However, as Fisher's daughter Carrie put it,
04:14he found an unconventional way to console her.
04:17Naturally, my father flew to Elizabeth's side,
04:24gradually making his way slowly to her front.
04:27As you can imagine,
04:28their affair fuelled a public frenzy.
04:31Reynolds and Fisher divorced,
04:33Taylor took Fisher as her fourth husband,
04:35and the ensuing scandal saw her painted as the homewrecker
04:38of a squeaky clean celebrity couple.
04:41This was the late 50s after all.
04:43Divorce was still taboo,
04:45and that's to say nothing of adultery.
04:47Hedda Hopper reproached Elizabeth.
04:49She was then the leading gossip columnist in Hollywood.
04:53And Elizabeth's reply was brutal and frank.
04:56She said,
04:56Mike is dead and I am alive.
04:58What do you expect me to do, sleep alone?
05:00Scandal, superstardom, and struggle.
05:02Eddie Fisher once said that Liz Taylor
05:04was the love of his life.
05:06Conversely, Taylor considered their marriage a huge mistake,
05:09a byproduct of her grief over Todd's death.
05:12Sunday morning and scotch on your breath?
05:14Well, it's good scotch.
05:1620 years old.
05:16And cigar smoke?
05:18I always said I'd try anything once.
05:20Mm-hmm.
05:21Ever try common sense?
05:22Only in desperation.
05:24Despite the negative publicity,
05:26this was an intensely successful period of Taylor's career.
05:29Between 1958 and 1961,
05:31she earned four Oscar nominations.
05:33But there were health troubles amid her success.
05:36In March 1961,
05:38she was enduring a bout with pneumonia
05:40that nearly killed her.
05:41It was so severe,
05:42she underwent a tracheotomy.
05:44In April,
05:45she was collecting her first Oscar for Butterfield 8.
05:48Taylor shared the common view
05:49she only won the award out of sympathy.
05:51You know that Latin motto,
05:53sick transit, Gloria?
05:56I'm the Gloria.
05:57And in my case,
05:58the sick is for real sick.
06:00I'm not too sure about the transit.
06:01I think it has something to do with my car.
06:02Ironically,
06:03her reputation and operatic struggles
06:05only made her more famous.
06:07In 1961,
06:08she was also working on Cleopatra.
06:11That film's behind-the-scenes dramas
06:12would become the stuff of legend.
06:15To have waited so long,
06:17to know so suddenly,
06:19it's late.
06:21Oh, it hurts.
06:23Our love can stab the heart.
06:25Love on the Nile.
06:26Months of delays,
06:27production woes,
06:28and illness plagued Cleopatra.
06:30Taylor's only solace
06:32may have been her co-star,
06:33British actor,
06:34Richard Burton.
06:35Everyone could see
06:36their chemistry immediately.
06:38One thing that happened
06:40was in one of their first love scenes,
06:43it ended and Joe Mankiewicz said,
06:45cut.
06:46And he said,
06:47cut.
06:48And then he finally had to go,
06:50cut.
06:52And then they got up
06:53and everybody,
06:53of course,
06:54laughed.
06:54And, you know,
06:55everybody knew by then
06:56what was going on.
06:57Before she knew it,
06:58Taylor was once again
06:59locked in an adulterous affair.
07:01The news media were tripping
07:02over themselves
07:03to cover this burgeoning
07:04Hollywood romance.
07:05Gossip was bought,
07:07sold,
07:07and published everywhere.
07:09And any photo of the two lovers
07:11was worth a small fortune.
07:13Even the mainstream news outlets
07:15began to print the story.
07:17Hordes of paparazzi
07:18got in on the action,
07:19snapping and selling shots of them
07:20from every possible angle.
07:22Taylor married Burton
07:23just days after divorcing
07:25Eddie Fisher.
07:26When Cleopatra was finally released,
07:28they couldn't go anywhere,
07:29together or apart,
07:31without inviting a spectacle.
07:33Anthony,
07:33how will I live?
07:35Same as I.
07:38One breath upon the other.
07:41Each bringing us
07:42one breath
07:43closer.
07:45The Legend of Liz and Dick
07:47The sensation of their relationship
07:48was unlike anything
07:49even their Hollywood friends
07:51had seen.
07:51Coverage of this power couple
07:53heralded a new and invasive era
07:55of celebrity journalism.
07:56The public was ready
07:57for the 60s revolution
07:59and Elizabeth Taylor
08:00and Richard Burton
08:00just symbolized
08:01adulterous love
08:03that was celebrated.
08:04Taylor and Burton
08:04didn't do much
08:05to quell the public's interest either.
08:07They played out facsimiles
08:09of their relationship
08:09in the movies,
08:11fueling and fusing
08:12their public personas
08:13with the people
08:13they played on the screen.
08:15You can sit around
08:15with a gin running
08:16out of your mouth,
08:17you can humiliate me,
08:18you can tear me to pieces
08:19all night,
08:20that's perfectly okay,
08:21that's alright.
08:21You can stand it.
08:22I cannot stand it.
08:24You can stand it,
08:25you married me for it.
08:27Taylor won her second
08:28Oscar co-starring
08:29with Burton
08:29in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,
08:32a movie with a profoundly
08:33dysfunctional marriage
08:34at its centre.
08:35However,
08:35theirs was a union
08:36marked by passion.
08:38It could be as romantic
08:39as it was contentious.
08:40I think having a fight,
08:42an out and out,
08:43outrageous,
08:44ridiculous fight
08:46is one of the greatest
08:47exercises
08:48in marital togetherness.
08:52So nice,
08:53they did it twice.
08:54Inevitably,
08:55all that fighting
08:55and spending
08:56and tabloid interference
08:57led to a divorce
08:58in 1974.
09:00Their wild tempers
09:01and mercurial personalities
09:02led them to remarry
09:04in 1975,
09:05but only for a very brief time.
09:07Do you suppose they
09:07ever met again?
09:11Everything that I shall
09:12ever want to hold
09:13or look upon
09:14or have or be
09:15is here now
09:17with you.
09:18Their romance
09:18is still considered
09:19one of the most iconic
09:20in all of show business.
09:22In fact,
09:22Taylor said their flame
09:23never really went out.
09:24If Richard Burton
09:25hadn't passed away
09:26in 1984,
09:27she claimed they might
09:28have got hitched again.
09:29In between marriages
09:30and stuff,
09:31we'd flirt with each other
09:33and if we were sitting
09:34next to each other,
09:35we'd feel each other
09:36under the table
09:37and it was very hard
09:39for me to accept his death.
09:41According to her,
09:42the men she married
09:43after him
09:43were just placeholders.
09:45In the 1980s,
09:46Taylor flirted
09:46with becoming
09:47a politician's wife
09:48and tied the knot
09:49with Virginia Republican
09:50John Warner.
09:51This period of her life
09:52was marked
09:53by a massive career slowdown
09:54and scandal-shaped coverage
09:56about her personal troubles.
09:58I think Washington
09:59for women
09:59is a desperately lonely city,
10:02especially if you've been active
10:04all your life
10:06because if you're
10:07a politician's wife
10:09and don't have
10:10your own role,
10:11there's nothing for you to do.
10:12Last marriages
10:13and devotion to activism.
10:15Taylor divorced Warner
10:16in the early 1980s.
10:18She got married once more
10:19to her seventh husband,
10:20Larry Fortensky,
10:21a construction worker.
10:23We give each other
10:24great support
10:25in our sobriety
10:29and there is a kind
10:31of closeness
10:32that is like nothing
10:35show business-y.
10:36It's very private
10:37and very profound.
10:39She also pursued
10:40her passion for philanthropy
10:41during this time.
10:43Spurred on by the illness
10:44and passing of her friend,
10:45actor Rock Hudson,
10:47Taylor threw her time,
10:48money and energy
10:49into the fight
10:50against HIV and AIDS.
10:52And though Taylor
10:52and Fortensky split
10:53in 96,
10:55they remained friends
10:55until her death.
10:56Larry is a very sweet,
10:59kind, funny man
11:01and I was so proud
11:02when he kept on working.
11:03In the last years
11:04of her life,
11:05the icon wrote off questions
11:06about ever getting married again,
11:08instead devoting
11:09her status and stardom
11:10to foundations
11:11dedicated to eradicating
11:12HIV and AIDS.
11:14She continued this work
11:15up until her death
11:16in 2011
11:17at the age of 79.
11:19Well, I won't give in
11:20and I won't give up
11:22because the world
11:24needs you to live.
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11:42A legacy
11:43Elizabeth Taylor's
11:44romantic history
11:45changed the way
11:46the public interacted
11:47with the personal lives
11:48of its stars.
11:49Much of modern celebrity culture
11:51and the way we engage with it
11:52is a direct result
11:54of her immense popularity
11:55and the coverage
11:56of her eight marriages.
11:57But that notoriety
11:58also gave way
11:59to something else.
12:00Those against gay marriages
12:02say marriage
12:03should only be between
12:05a man and a woman.
12:07God, I of all people
12:09know that that doesn't
12:10always work.
12:11Taylor demonstrated
12:12the value of using
12:13a platform for good.
12:15With decades of learning
12:16how to craft a public image
12:17and get attention,
12:18her later life
12:19and career was about
12:20engaging her fame
12:21in service of humanity.
12:22Actors do have opinions
12:24and why not express them
12:27if it's for something
12:28that's really worthy.
12:30That legacy lives on
12:31in her children
12:32and grandchildren,
12:33many of whom
12:34are still heavily involved
12:35in the Elizabeth Taylor
12:36AIDS Foundation.
12:37Today, over 40 million people
12:42live healthy, powerful lives
12:48with HIV.
12:50What's your favorite
12:51Elizabeth Taylor performance?
12:52Tell us in the comments.
12:54You're all alike, aren't you?
12:56Play tough.
12:57I'm not like anyone.
12:59I'm me.
12:59Check out this other
13:02recent clip from Ms. Mojo
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