Mike Todd
Who was Elizabeth Taylor 's spouse from Feb 1957 to Mar 1958?
Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor ( February 27 , 1932 – March 23 , 2011 ) was an English-American actress , businesswoman , and humanitarian . She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s . She continued her career successfully into the 1960s , remaining a well-known public figure for the rest of her life . In 1999 , the American Film Institute named her the seventh-greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood cinema . Born in London to socially prominent American parents , Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939 . She made her acting debut with a minor role in the Universal Pictures film Theres One Born Every Minute ( 1942 ) , but the studio ended her contract after a year . She was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and became a popular teen star after appearing in National Velvet ( 1944 ) . She transitioned to mature roles in the 1950s , when she starred in the comedy Father of the Bride ( 1950 ) and received critical acclaim for her performance in the drama A Place in the Sun ( 1951 ) . Despite being one of MGMs most bankable stars , Taylor wished to end her career in the early 1950s . She resented the studios control and disliked many of the films to which she was assigned . She began receiving more enjoyable roles in the mid-1950s , beginning with the epic drama Giant ( 1956 ) , and starred in several critically and commercially successful films in the following years . These included two film adaptations of plays by Tennessee Williams : Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ( 1958 ) , and Suddenly , Last Summer ( 1959 ) ; Taylor won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for the latter . Although she disliked her role as a call girl in BUtterfield 8 ( 1960 ) , her last film for MGM , she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance . During the production of the film Cleopatra in 1961 , Taylor and co-star Richard Burton began an extramarital affair , which caused a scandal . Despite public disapproval , they continued their relationship and were married in 1964 . Dubbed Liz and Dick by the media , they starred in 11 films together , including The V.I.P.s ( 1963 ) , The Sandpiper ( 1965 ) , The Taming of the Shrew ( 1967 ) , and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? ( 1966 ) . Taylor received the best reviews of her career for Woolf , winning her second Academy Award and several other awards for her performance . She and Burton divorced in 1974 , but reconciled soon after , and remarried in 1975 . The second marriage ended in divorce in 1976 . Taylors acting career began to decline in the late 1960s , although she continued starring in films until the mid-1970s , after which she focused on supporting the career of her sixth husband , United States Senator John Warner ( R-Virginia ) . In the 1980s , she acted in her first substantial stage roles and in several television films and series . She became the second celebrity to launch a perfume brand , after Sophia Loren . Taylor was one of the first celebrities to take part in HIV/AIDS activism . She co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991 . From the early 1990s until her death , she dedicated her time to philanthropy , for which she received several accolades , including the Presidential Citizens Medal . Throughout her career , Taylors personal life was the subject of constant media attention . She was married eight times to seven men , converted to Judaism , endured several serious illnesses , and led a jet set lifestyle , including assembling one of the most expensive private collections of jewelry in the world . After many years of ill health , Taylor died from congestive heart failure in 2011 , at the age of 79 . Early life . Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born on February 27 , 1932 , at Heathwood , her familys home on 8 Wildwood Road in Hampstead Garden Suburb , London . She received dual British-American citizenship at birth , as her parents , art dealer Francis Lenn Taylor ( 1897–1968 ) and retired stage actress Sara Sothern ( née Sara Viola Warmbrodt , 1895–1994 ) , were United States citizens , both originally from Arkansas City , Kansas . They moved to London in 1929 and opened an art gallery on Bond Street ; their first child , a son named Howard , was born the same year . The family lived in London during Taylors childhood . Their social circle included artists such as Augustus John and Laura Knight , and politicians such as Colonel Victor Cazalet . Cazalet was Taylors unofficial godfather , and an important influence in her early life . She was enrolled in Byron House , a Montessori school in Highgate , and was raised according to the teachings of Christian Science , the religion of her mother and Cazalet . In early 1939 , the Taylors decided to return to the United States due to fear of impending war in Europe . United States ambassador Joseph P . Kennedy contacted her father , urging him to return to the US with his family . Sara and the children left first in April 1939 aboard the ocean liner SS Manhattan , and moved in with Taylors maternal grandfather in Pasadena , California . Francis stayed behind to close the London gallery , and joined them in December . In early 1940 , he opened a new gallery in Los Angeles . After briefly living in Pacific Palisades with the Chapman family , the Taylor family settled in Beverly Hills , where the two children were enrolled in Hawthorne School . Acting career . Early roles and teenage stardom ( 1941–1949 ) . In California , Taylors mother was frequently told that her daughter should audition for films . Taylors eyes in particular drew attention ; they were blue , to the extent of appearing violet , and were rimmed by dark double eyelashes caused by a genetic mutation . Sara was initially opposed to Taylor appearing in films , but after the outbreak of war in Europe made return there unlikely , she began to view the film industry as a way of assimilating to American society . Francis Taylors Beverly Hills gallery had gained clients from the film industry soon after opening , helped by the endorsement of gossip columnist Hedda Hopper , a friend of the Cazalets . Through a client and a school friends father , Taylor auditioned for both Universal Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in early 1941 . Both studios offered Taylor contracts , and Sara Taylor chose to accept Universals offer . Taylor began her contract in April 1941 and was cast in a small role in Theres One Born Every Minute ( 1942 ) . She did not receive other roles , and her contract was terminated after a year . Universals casting director explained her dislike of Taylor , stating that the kid has nothing .. . her eyes are too old , she doesnt have the face of a child . Biographer Alexander Walker agrees that Taylor looked different from the child stars of the era , such as Shirley Temple and Judy Garland . Taylor later said that , apparently , I used to frighten grown ups , because I was totally direct . Taylor received another opportunity in late 1942 , when her fathers acquaintance , MGM producer Samuel Marx , arranged for her to audition for a minor role in Lassie Come Home ( 1943 ) , which required a child actress with an English accent . After a trial contract of three months , she was given a standard seven-year contract in January 1943 . Following Lassie , she appeared in minor uncredited roles in two other films set in England – Jane Eyre ( 1943 ) , and The White Cliffs of Dover ( 1944 ) . As she was deemed too short , filming was pushed back several months to allow her to grow ; she spent the time practicing riding . In developing her into a new star , MGM required her to wear braces to correct her teeth , and had two of her baby teeth pulled out . The studio also wanted to dye her hair and change the shape of her eyebrows , and proposed that she use the screen name Virginia , but Taylor and her parents refused . National Velvet became a box-office success upon its release on Christmas 1944 . Bosley Crowther of The New York Times stated that her whole manner in this picture is one of refreshing grace , while James Agee of The Nation wrote that she is rapturously beautiful.. . I hardly know or care whether she can act or not . Taylor later stated that her childhood ended when she became a star , as MGM started to control every aspect of her life . She described the studio as a big extended factory , where she was required to adhere to a strict daily schedule : days were spent attending school and filming at the studio lot , and evenings in dancing and singing classes , and in practising the following days scenes . Following the success of National Velvet , MGM gave Taylor a new seven-year contract with a weekly salary of $750 , and cast her in a minor role in the third film of the Lassie series , Courage of Lassie ( 1946 ) . The studio also published a book of Taylors writings about her pet chipmunk , Nibbles and Me ( 1946 ) , and had paper dolls and coloring books made after her . They were followed by supporting roles as a teenaged man-stealer who seduces her peers date to a high school dance in the musical A Date with Judy ( 1948 ) , and as a bride in the romantic comedy Julia Misbehaves ( 1948 ) . This became a commercial success , grossing over $4 million in the box office . Taylors last adolescent role was as Amy March in Mervyn LeRoys Little Women ( 1949 ) . While this version did not match the popularity of the previous 1933 film adaptation of Louisa M . Alcotts novel , it was a box-office success . The same year , Time featured Taylor on its cover , and called her the leader among Hollywoods next generation of stars , a jewel of great price , a true sapphire . Transition to adult roles ( 1950–1951 ) . Taylor made the transition to adult roles when she turned 18 in 1950 . In her first mature role , the thriller Conspirator ( 1949 ) , she plays a woman who begins to suspect that her husband is a Soviet spy . Taylor had been only 16 at the time of its filming , but its release was delayed until March 1950 , as MGM disliked it and feared it could cause diplomatic problems . Taylors second film of 1950 was the comedy The Big Hangover ( 1950 ) , co-starring Van Johnson . It was released in May . That same month , Taylor married hotel-chain heir Conrad Hilton Jr . in a highly publicized ceremony . The event was organized by MGM , and used as part of the publicity campaign for Taylors next film , Vincente Minnellis comedy Father of the Bride ( 1950 ) , in which she appeared opposite Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett as a bride preparing for her wedding . The film became a box-office success upon its release in June , grossing $6 million worldwide , and was followed by a successful sequel , Fathers Little Dividend ( 1951 ) , ten months later . Taylors next film release , George Stevens A Place in the Sun ( 1951 ) , marked a departure from her earlier films . According to Taylor , it was the first film in which she had been asked to act , instead of simply being herself , and it brought her critical acclaim for the first time since National Velvet . Based on Theodore Dreisers novel An American Tragedy ( 1925 ) , it featured Taylor as a spoiled socialite who comes between a poor factory worker ( Montgomery Clift ) and his pregnant girlfriend ( Shelley Winters ) . Stevens cast Taylor as she was the only one .. . who could create this illusion of being not so much a real girl as the girl on the candy-box cover , the beautiful girl in the yellow Cadillac convertible that every American boy sometime or other thinks he can marry . A Place in the Sun was a critical and commercial success , grossing $3 million . Herb Golden of Variety said that Taylors histrionics are of a quality so far beyond anything she has done previously , that Stevens skilled hands on the reins must be credited with a minor miracle . A.H . Weiler of The New York Times wrote that she gives a shaded , tender performance , and one in which her passionate and genuine romance avoids the pathos common to young love as it sometimes comes to the screen . Continued success at MGM ( 1952–1955 ) . Taylor next starred in the romantic comedy Love Is Better Than Ever ( 1952 ) . According to Alexander Walker , MGM cast her in the B-picture as a reprimand for divorcing Hilton in January 1951 after only nine months of marriage , which had caused a public scandal that reflected negatively on her . After completing Love Is Better Than Ever , Taylor was sent to Britain to take part in the historical epic Ivanhoe ( 1952 ) , which was one of the most expensive projects in the studios history . She was not happy about the project , finding the story superficial and her role as Rebecca too small . Regardless , Ivanhoe became one of MGMs biggest commercial successes , earning $11 million in worldwide rentals . Taylors last film made under her old contract with MGM was The Girl Who Had Everything ( 1953 ) , a remake of the pre-code drama A Free Soul ( 1931 ) . Despite her grievances with the studio , Taylor signed a new seven-year contract with MGM in the summer of 1952 . Although she wanted more interesting roles , the decisive factor in continuing with the studio was her financial need ; she had recently married British actor Michael Wilding , and was pregnant with her first child . In addition to granting her a weekly salary of $4,700 , MGM agreed to give the couple a loan for a house , and signed her husband for a three-year contract . Due to her financial dependency , the studio now had even more control over her than previously . Taylors first two films made under her new contract were released ten days apart in early 1954 . The first was Rhapsody , a romantic film starring her as a woman caught in a love triangle with two musicians . The second was Elephant Walk , a drama in which she played a British woman struggling to adapt to life on her husbands tea plantation in Ceylon . She had been loaned to Paramount Pictures for the film after its original star , Vivien Leigh , fell ill . In the fall , Taylor starred in two more film releases . Beau Brummell was a Regency era period film , another project in which she was cast against her will . Taylor disliked historical films in general , as their elaborate costumes and make-up required her to wake up earlier than usual to prepare . She later said that she gave one of the worst performances of her career in Beau Brummell . The second film was Richard Brooks The Last Time I Saw Paris , based on F . Scott Fitzgeralds short story . Although she had wanted to be cast in The Barefoot Contessa ( 1954 ) instead , Taylor liked the film , and later stated that it convinced me I wanted to be an actress instead of yawning my way through parts . While The Last Time I Saw Paris was not as profitable as many other MGM films , it garnered positive reviews . Taylor became pregnant again during the production , and had to agree to add another year to her contract to make up for the period spent on maternity leave . Critical acclaim ( 1956–1960 ) . By the mid-1950s , the American film industry was beginning to face serious competition from television , which resulted in studios producing fewer films , and focusing instead on their quality . The change benefited Taylor , who finally found more challenging roles after several years of career disappointments . After lobbying director George Stevens , she won the female lead role in Giant ( 1956 ) , an epic drama about a ranching dynasty , which co-starred Rock Hudson and James Dean . Its filming in Marfa , Texas , was a difficult experience for Taylor , as she clashed with Stevens , who wanted to break her will to make her easier to direct , and was often ill , resulting in delays . To further complicate the production , Dean died in a car accident only days after completing filming ; grieving Taylor still had to film reaction shots to their joint scenes . When Giant was released a year later , it became a box-office success , and was widely praised by critics . Although not nominated for an Academy Award like her co-stars , Taylor garnered positive reviews for her performance , with Variety calling it surprisingly clever , and The Manchester Guardian lauding her acting as an astonishing revelation of unsuspected gifts . It named her one of the films strongest assets . MGM re-united Taylor with Montgomery Clift in Raintree County ( 1957 ) , a Civil War drama which it hoped would replicate the success of Gone with the Wind ( 1939 ) . Taylor found her role as a mentally disturbed Southern belle fascinating , but overall disliked the film . Although the film failed to become the type of success MGM had planned , Taylor was nominated for the first time for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance . Taylor considered her next performance as Maggie the Cat in the screen adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ( 1958 ) a career high point . But it coincided with one of the most difficult periods in her personal life . After completing Raintree Country , she had divorced Wilding and married producer Mike Todd . She had completed only two weeks of filming in March 1958 , when Todd was killed in a plane crash . Although she was devastated , pressure from the studio and the knowledge that Todd had large debts led Taylor to return to work only three weeks later . She later said that in a way .. . [ she ] became Maggie , and that acting was the only time I could function in the weeks after Todds death . During the production , Taylors personal life drew more attention when she began an affair with singer Eddie Fisher , whose marriage to actress Debbie Reynolds had been idealized by the media as the union of Americas sweethearts . The affair – and Fishers subsequent divorce – changed Taylors public image from a grieving widow to a homewrecker . MGM used the scandal to its advantage by featuring an image of Taylor posing on a bed in a slip in the films promotional posters . Cat grossed $10 million in American cinemas alone , and made Taylor the years second-most profitable star . She received positive reviews for her performance , with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times calling her terrific , and Variety praising her for a well-accented , perceptive interpretation . Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA . Taylors next film , Joseph L . Mankiewicz Suddenly , Last Summer ( 1959 ) , was another Tennessee Williams adaptation , and co-starred Montgomery Clift and Katharine Hepburn . The independent production earned Taylor $500,000 for playing the role of a severely traumatized patient in a mental institution . Although the film was a drama about mental illness , childhood traumas , and homosexuality , it was again promoted with Taylors sex appeal ; both its trailer and poster featured her in a white swimsuit . The strategy worked , as the film was a financial success . Taylor received her third Academy Award nomination and her first Golden Globe for Best Actress for her performance . By 1959 , Taylor owed one more film for MGM , which it decided should be BUtterfield 8 ( 1960 ) , a drama about a high-class sex worker , in an adaptation of a John OHara 1935 novel of the same name . The studio correctly calculated that Taylors public image would make it easy for audiences to associate her with the role . She hated the film for the same reason , but had no choice in the matter , although the studio agreed to her demands of filming in New York and casting Eddie Fisher in a sympathetic role . As predicted , BUtterfield 8 was a major commercial success , grossing $18 million in world rentals . Crowther wrote that Taylor looks like a million dollars , in mink or in negligée , while Variety stated that she gives a torrid , stinging portrayal with one or two brilliantly executed passages within . Taylor won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance . Cleopatra and other films with Richard Burton ( 1961–1967 ) . After completing her MGM contract , Taylor starred in 20th Century-Foxs Cleopatra ( 1963 ) . According to film historian Alexander Doty , this historical epic made her more famous than ever before . She became the first actress to be paid $1 million for a role ; Fox also granted her 10% of the films profits , as well as shooting the film in Todd-AO , a widescreen format for which she had inherited the rights from Mike Todd . The films production – characterized by costly sets and costumes , constant delays , and a scandal caused by Taylors extramarital affair with her co-star Richard Burton – was closely followed by the media , with Life proclaiming it the Most Talked About Movie Ever Made . Filming began in England in 1960 , but had to be halted several times because of bad weather and Taylors ill health . In March 1961 , she developed nearly fatal pneumonia , which necessitated a tracheotomy ; one news agency erroneously reported that she had died . Once she had recovered , Fox discarded the already filmed material , and moved the production to Rome , changing its director to Joseph Mankiewicz , and the actor playing Mark Antony to Burton . Filming was finally completed in July 1962 . The films final cost was $62 million , making it the most expensive film made up to that point . Cleopatra became the biggest box-office success of 1963 in the United States ; the film grossed $15.7 million at the box office . Regardless , it took several years for the film to earn back its production costs , which drove Fox near to bankruptcy . The studio publicly blamed Taylor for the productions troubles and unsuccessfully sued Burton and Taylor for allegedly damaging the films commercial prospects with their behavior . The films reviews were mixed to negative , with critics finding Taylor overweight and her voice too thin , and unfavorably comparing her with her classically trained British co-stars . In retrospect , Taylor called Cleopatra a low point in her career , and said that the studio had cut out the scenes which provided the core of the characterization . Taylor intended to follow Cleopatra by headlining an all-star cast in Foxs black comedy What a Way to Go ! ( 1964 ) , but negotiations fell through , and Shirley MacLaine was cast instead . In the meantime , film producers were eager to profit from the scandal surrounding Taylor and Burton , and they next starred together in Anthony Asquiths The V.I.P.s ( 1963 ) , which mirrored the headlines about them . Taylor played a famous model attempting to leave her husband for a lover , and Burton her estranged millionaire husband . Released soon after Cleopatra , it became a box-office success . Taylor was also paid $500,000 to appear in a CBS television special , Elizabeth Taylor in London , in which she visited the citys landmarks and recited passages from the works of famous British writers . After completing The V.I.P.s , Taylor took a two-year hiatus from films , during which Burton and she divorced their spouses and married each other . The supercouple continued starring together in films in the mid-1960s , earning a combined $88 million over the next decade ; Burton once stated , They say we generate more business activity than one of the smaller African nations . Biographer Alexander Walker compared these films to illustrated gossip columns , as their film roles often reflected their public personae , while film historian Alexander Doty has noted that the majority of Taylors films during this period seemed to conform to , and reinforce , the image of an indulgent , raucous , immoral or amoral , and appetitive ( in many senses of the word ) Elizabeth Taylor . Taylor and Burtons first joint project following her hiatus was Vincente Minellis romantic drama The Sandpiper ( 1965 ) , about an illicit love affair between a bohemian artist and a married clergyman in Big Sur , California . Its reviews were largely negative , but it grossed a successful $14 million in the box office . Their next project , Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? ( 1966 ) , an adaptation of a play of the same name by Edward Albee , featured the most critically acclaimed performance of Taylors career . She and Burton starred as Martha and George , a middle-aged couple going through a marital crisis . In order to convincingly play 50-year-old Martha , Taylor gained weight , wore a wig , and used make-up to make herself look older and tired – in stark contrast to her public image as a glamorous film star . At Taylors suggestion , theater director Mike Nichols was hired to direct the project , despite his lack of experience with film . The production differed from anything she had done previously , as Nichols wanted to thoroughly rehearse the play before beginning filming . Woolf was considered ground-breaking for its adult themes and uncensored language , and opened to glorious reviews . Variety wrote that Taylors characterization is at once sensual , spiteful , cynical , pitiable , loathsome , lustful , and tender . Stanley Kauffmann of The New York Times stated that she does the best work of her career , sustained and urgent . The film also became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year . Taylor received her second Academy Award , and BAFTA , National Board of Review , and New York City Film Critics Circle awards for her performance . In 1966 , Taylor and Burton performed Doctor Faustus for a week in Oxford to benefit the Oxford University Dramatic Society ; he starred and she appeared in her first stage role as Helen of Troy , a part which required no speaking . Although it received generally negative reviews , Burton produced it as a film , Doctor Faustus ( 1967 ) , with the same cast . It was also panned by critics and grossed only $600,000 in the box office . Taylor and Burtons next project , Franco Zeffirellis The Taming of the Shrew ( 1967 ) , which they also co-produced , was more successful . It posed another challenge for Taylor , as she was the only actor in the project with no previous experience of performing Shakespeare ; Zeffirelli later stated that this made her performance interesting , as she invented the part from scratch . Critics found the play to be fitting material for the couple , and the film became a box-office success by grossing $12 million . Taylors third film released in 1967 , John Hustons Reflections in a Golden Eye , was her first without Burton since Cleopatra . Based on a novel of the same name by Carson McCullers , it was a drama about a repressed gay military officer and his unfaithful wife . It was originally slated to co-star Taylors old friend Montgomery Clift , whose career had been in decline for several years owing to his substance abuse problems . Determined to secure his involvement in the project , Taylor even offered to pay for his insurance . But Clift died from a heart attack before filming began ; he was replaced in the role by Marlon Brando . Reflections was a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release . Taylor and Burtons last film of the year was the adaptation of Graham Greenes novel , The Comedians , which received mixed reviews and was a box-office disappointment . Career decline ( 1968–1979 ) . Taylors career was in decline by the late 1960s . She had gained weight , was nearing middle age , and did not fit in with New Hollywood stars such as Jane Fonda and Julie Christie . After several years of nearly constant media attention , the public was tiring of Burton and her , and criticized their jet set lifestyle . In 1968 , Taylor starred in two films directed by Joseph Losey – Boom ! and Secret Ceremony – both of which were critical and commercial failures . The former , based on Tennessee Williams The Milk Train Doesnt Stop Here Anymore , features her as an aging , serial-marrying millionaire , and Burton as a younger man who turns up on the Mediterranean island on which she has retired . Secret Ceremony is a psychological drama which also stars Mia Farrow and Robert Mitchum . Taylors third film with George Stevens , The Only Game in Town ( 1970 ) , in which she played a Las Vegas showgirl who has an affair with a compulsive gambler , played by Warren Beatty , was unsuccessful . The three films in which Taylor acted in 1972 were somewhat more successful . Zee and Co. , which portrayed Michael Caine and her as a troubled married couple , won her the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress . She appeared with Burton in the adaptation of Dylan Thomass Under Milk Wood ; although her role was small , the producers decided to give her top-billing to profit from her fame . Her third film role that year was playing a blonde diner waitress in Peter Ustinovs Faust parody Hammersmith Is Out , her tenth collaboration with Burton . Although it was overall not successful , Taylor received some good reviews , with Vincent Canby of The New York Times writing that she has a certain vulgar , ratty charm , and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times saying , The spectacle of Elizabeth Taylor growing older and more beautiful continues to amaze the population . Her performance won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival . Taylor and Burtons last film together was the Harlech Television film Divorce His , Divorce Hers ( 1973 ) , fittingly named as they divorced the following year . Her other films released in 1973 were the British thriller Night Watch ( 1973 ) and the American drama Ash Wednesday ( 1973 ) . For the latter , in which she starred as a woman who undergoes multiple plastic surgeries in an attempt to save her marriage , she received a Golden Globe nomination . Her only film released in 1974 , the Italian Muriel Spark adaptation The Drivers Seat ( 1974 ) , was a failure . Taylor took fewer roles after the mid-1970s , and focused on supporting the career of her sixth husband , Republican politician John Warner , a US senator . In 1976 , she participated in the Soviet-American fantasy film The Blue Bird ( 1976 ) , a critical and box-office failure , and had a small role in the television film Victory at Entebbe ( 1976 ) . In 1977 , she sang in the critically panned film adaptation of Stephen Sondheims musical A Little Night Music ( 1977 ) . Stage and television roles ; retirement ( 1980–2007 ) . After a period of semi-retirement from films , Taylor starred in The Mirror Crackd ( 1980 ) , adapted from an Agatha Christie mystery novel and featuring an ensemble cast of actors from the studio era , such as Angela Lansbury , Kim Novak , Rock Hudson , and Tony Curtis . Wanting to challenge herself , she took on her first substantial stage role , playing Regina Giddens in a Broadway production of Lillian Hellmans The Little Foxes . Instead of portraying Giddens in negative light , as had often been the case in previous productions , Taylors idea was to show her as a victim of circumstance , explaining , Shes a killer , but shes saying , Sorry fellas , you put me in this position . The production premiered in May 1981 , and had a sold-out six-month run despite mixed reviews . Frank Rich of The New York Times wrote that Taylors performance as Regina Giddens , that malignant Southern bitch-goddess .. . begins gingerly , soon gathers steam , and then explodes into a black and thunderous storm that may just knock you out of your seat , while Dan Sullivan of the Los Angeles Times stated , Taylor presents a possible Regina Giddens , as seen through the persona of Elizabeth Taylor . Theres some acting in it , as well as some personal display . She appeared as evil socialite Helena Cassadine in the day-time soap opera General Hospital in November 1981 . The following year , she continued performing The Little Foxes in Londons West End , but received largely negative reviews from the British press . Encouraged by the success of The Little Foxes , Taylor and producer Zev Buffman founded the Elizabeth Taylor Repertory Company . Its first and only production was a revival of Noël Cowards comedy Private Lives , starring Taylor and Burton . It premiered in Boston in early 1983 , and although commercially successful , received generally negative reviews , with critics noting that both stars were in noticeably poor health – Taylor admitted herself to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center after the plays run ended , and Burton died the following year . After the failure of Private Lives , Taylor dissolved her theater company . Her only other project that year was television film Between Friends . From the mid-1980s , Taylor acted mostly in television productions . She made cameos in the soap operas Hotel and All My Children in 1984 , and played a brothel keeper in the historical mini-series North and South in 1985 . She also starred in several television films , playing gossip columnist Louella Parsons in Malice in Wonderland ( 1985 ) , a fading movie star in the drama There Must Be a Pony ( 1986 ) , and a character based on Poker Alice in the eponymous Western ( 1987 ) . She re-united with director Franco Zeffirelli to appear in his French-Italian biopic Young Toscanini ( 1988 ) , and had the last starring role of her career in a television adaptation of Sweet Bird of Youth ( 1989 ) , her fourth Tennessee Williams play . During this time , she also began receiving honorary awards for her career – the Cecil B . DeMille Award in 1985 , and the Film Society of Lincoln Centers Chaplin Award in 1986 . In the 1990s , Taylor focused her time on HIV/AIDS activism . Her few acting roles included characters in the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers ( 1992 ) and The Simpsons ( 1992 , 1993 ) , and cameos in four CBS series – The Nanny , Cant Hurry Love , Murphy Brown , and High Society – in one night in February 1996 to promote her new fragrance . Her last theatrically released film was in the critically panned , but commercially successful , The Flintstones ( 1994 ) , in which she played Pearl Slaghoople in a brief supporting role . Taylor received American and British honors for her career : the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1993 , the Screen Actors Guild honorary award in 1997 , and a BAFTA Fellowship in 1999 . In 2000 , she was appointed a Dame Commander in the chivalric Order of the British Empire in the millennium New Year Honours List by Queen Elizabeth II . After supporting roles in the television film These Old Broads ( 2001 ) and in the animated sitcom God , the Devil and Bob ( 2001 ) , Taylor announced that she was retiring from acting to devote her time to philanthropy . She gave one last public performance in 2007 when , with James Earl Jones , she performed the play Love Letters at an AIDS benefit at the Paramount Studios . Other ventures . HIV/AIDS activism . Taylor was one of the first celebrities to participate in HIV/AIDS activism and helped to raise more than $270 million for the cause . She began her philanthropic work after becoming frustrated with the fact that very little was being done to combat the disease despite the media attention . She later explained for Vanity Fair that she decided that with my name , I could open certain doors , that I was a commodity in myself – and Im not talking as an actress . I could take the fame Id resented and tried to get away from for so many years – but you can never get away from it – and use it to do some good . I wanted to retire , but the tabloids wouldnt let me . So , I thought : If youre going to screw me over , Ill use you . Taylor began her philanthropic efforts in 1984 by helping to organize and by hosting the first AIDS fundraiser to benefit the AIDS Project Los Angeles . In August 1985 , she and Dr . Michael Gottlieb founded the National AIDS Research Foundation after her friend and former co-star Rock Hudson announced that he was dying of the disease . The following month , the foundation merged with Dr . Mathilde Krims AIDS foundation to form the American Foundation for AIDS Research ( amfAR ) . As amfARs focus is on research funding , Taylor founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation ( ETAF ) in 1991 to raise awareness and to provide support services for people with HIV/AIDS , paying for its overhead costs herself . Since her death , her estate has continued to fund ETAFs work , and donates 25% of royalties from the use of her image and likeness to the foundation . In addition to her work for people affected by HIV/AIDS in the United States , Taylor was instrumental in expanding amfARs operations to other countries ; ETAF also operates internationally . Taylor testified before the Senate and House for the Ryan White Care Act in 1986 , 1990 , and 1992 . She persuaded President Ronald Reagan to acknowledge the disease for the first time in a speech in 1987 , and publicly criticized presidents George H.W . Bush and Bill Clinton for lack of interest in combatting the disease . Taylor also founded the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center to offer free HIV/AIDS testing and care at the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington , D . C. , and the Elizabeth Taylor Endowment Fund for the UCLA Clinical AIDS Research and Education Center in Los Angeles . In 2015 , Taylors business partner Kathy Ireland claimed that Taylor ran an illegal underground network that distributed medications to Americans suffering from HIV/AIDS during the 1980s , when the Food and Drug Administration had not yet approved them . The claim was challenged by several people , including amfARs former vice president for development and external affairs , Taylors former publicist , and activists who were involved in the Project Inform in the 1980s and 1990s . Taylor was honored with several awards for her philanthropic work . She was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honour in 1987 , and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1993 , the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award for Humanitarian service in 1997 , the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 2000 , and the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001 . Fragrance and jewelry brands . Taylor was the first celebrity to create her own collection of fragrances . In collaboration with Elizabeth Arden , Inc. , she began by launching two best-selling perfumes – Passion in 1987 , and White Diamonds in 1991 . Taylor personally supervised the creation and production of each of the 11 fragrances marketed in her name . According to biographers Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger , she earned more money through the fragrance collection than during her entire acting career , and upon her death , the British newspaper The Guardian estimated that the majority of her estimated $600 million-$1 billion estate consisted of revenue from fragrances . In 2005 , Taylor also founded a jewelry company , House of Taylor , in collaboration with Kathy Ireland and Jack and Monty Abramov . Personal life . Marriages , relationships , and children . Throughout her adult years , Taylors personal life , especially her eight marriages ( two to the same man ) , drew a large amount of media attention and public disapproval . According to biographer Alexander Walker , Whether she liked it or not .. . marriage is the matrix of the myth that began surrounding Elizabeth Taylor from [ when she was sixteen ] . MGM organized her to date football champion Glenn Davis in 1948 , and the following year , she was briefly engaged to William Pawley Jr. , son of US ambassador William D . Pawley . Film tycoon Howard Hughes also wanted to marry her , and offered to pay her parents a six-figure sum of money if she were to become his wife . Taylor declined the offer , but was otherwise eager to marry young , as her rather puritanical upbringing and beliefs made her believe that love was synonymous with marriage . Taylor later described herself as being emotionally immature during this time due to her sheltered childhood , and believed that she could gain independence from her parents and MGM through marriage . Taylor was 18 when she married Conrad Nicky Hilton Jr. , heir to the Hilton Hotels chain , at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills on May 6 , 1950 . MGM organized the large and expensive wedding , which became a major media event . In the weeks after their wedding , Taylor realized that she had made a mistake ; not only did she and Hilton have few interests in common , but he was also abusive and a heavy drinker . She was granted a divorce in January 1951 , eight months after their wedding . Taylor married her second husband , British actor Michael Wilding – a man 20 years her senior – in a low-key ceremony at Caxton Hall in London on February 21 , 1952 . She had first met him in 1948 while filming The Conspirator in England , and their relationship began when she returned to film Ivanhoe in 1951 . Taylor found their age gap appealing , as she wanted the calm and quiet and security of friendship from their relationship ; he hoped that the marriage would aid his career in Hollywood . They had two sons : Michael Howard ( b . January 6 , 1953 ) and Christopher Edward ( b . February 27 , 1955 ) . As Taylor grew older and more confident in herself , she began to drift apart from Wilding , whose failing career was also a source of marital strife . When she was away filming Giant in 1955 , gossip magazine Confidential caused a scandal by claiming that he had entertained strippers at their home . Taylor and Wilding announced their separation on July 18 , 1956 , and were divorced in January 1957 . Taylor married her third husband , theater and film producer Mike Todd , in Acapulco , Guerrero , Mexico , on February 2 , 1957 . They had one daughter , Elizabeth Liza Frances ( b . August 6 , 1957 ) . Todd , known for publicity stunts , encouraged the media attention to their marriage ; for example , in June 1957 , he threw a birthday party at Madison Square Garden , which was attended by 18,000 guests and broadcast on CBS . His death in a plane crash on March 22 , 1958 , left Taylor devastated . She was comforted by Todds and her friend , singer Eddie Fisher , with whom she soon began an affair . As Fisher was still married to actress Debbie Reynolds , the affair resulted in a public scandal , with Taylor being branded a homewrecker . Taylor and Fisher were married at the Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas on May 12 , 1959 ; she later stated that she married him only due to her grief . While filming Cleopatra in Italy in 1962 , Taylor began an affair with her co-star , Welsh actor Richard Burton , although Burton was also married . Rumors about the affair began to circulate in the press , and were confirmed by a paparazzi shot of them on a yacht in Ischia . According to sociologist Ellis Cashmore , the publication of the photograph was a turning point , beginning a new era in which it became difficult for celebrities to keep their personal lives separate from their public images . The scandal caused Taylor and Burton to be condemned for erotic vagrancy by the Vatican , with calls also in the US Congress to bar them from re-entering the country . Taylor was granted a divorce from Fisher on March 5 , 1964 in Puerto Vallarta , Jalisco , Mexico , and married Burton 10 days later in a private ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Montreal . Burton subsequently adopted Liza Todd and Maria Burton ( b . August 1 , 1961 ) , a German orphan whose adoption process Taylor had begun while married to Fisher . Dubbed Liz and Dick by the media , Taylor and Burton starred together in 11 films , and led a jet-set lifestyle , spending millions on furs , diamonds , paintings , designer clothes , travel , food , liquor , a yacht , and a jet . Sociologist Karen Sternheimer states that they became a cottage industry of speculation about their alleged life of excess . From reports of massive spending [ ... ] affairs , and even an open marriage , the couple came to represent a new era of gotcha celebrity coverage , where the more personal the story , the better . They divorced for the first time in June 1974 , but reconciled , and remarried in Kasane , Botswana , on October 10 , 1975 . The second marriage lasted less than a year , ending in divorce in July 1976 . Taylor and Burtons relationship was often referred to as the marriage of the century by the media , and she later stated , After Richard , the men in my life were just there to hold the coat , to open the door . All the men after Richard were really just company . Soon after her final divorce from Burton , Taylor met her sixth husband , John Warner , a Republican politician from Virginia . They were married on December 4 , 1976 , after which Taylor concentrated on working for his electoral campaign . Once Warner had been elected to the Senate , she started to find her life as a politicians wife in Washington , D.C. , boring and lonely , becoming depressed , overweight , and increasingly addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol . Taylor and Warner separated in December 1981 , and divorced a year later in November 1982 . After the divorce from Warner , Taylor dated actor Anthony Geary , and was engaged to Mexican lawyer Victor Luna in 1983–1984 , and New York businessman Dennis Stein in 1985 . She met her seventh – and last – husband , construction worker Larry Fortensky , at the Betty Ford Center in 1988 . They were married at the Neverland Ranch of her long-time friend Michael Jackson on October 6 , 1991 . The wedding was again subject to intense media attention , with one photographer parachuting to the ranch and Taylor selling the wedding pictures to People for $1 million , which she used to start her AIDS foundation . Taylor and Fortensky divorced in October 1996 , but remained in contact for life . She attributed the split to her painful hip operations and his obsessive-compulsive disorder . In the winter of 1999 , Fortensky underwent brain surgery after falling off a balcony and was comatose for six weeks ; Taylor immediately notified the hospital she would personally guarantee his medical expenses . At the end of 2010 , she wrote him a letter that read : Larry darling , you will always be a big part of my heart ! Ill love you for ever . Taylors last phone call with Fortensky was on February 7 , 2011 , one day before she checked into the hospital for what turned out to be her final stay . He told her she would outlive him . Although they had been divorced for almost 15 years , Taylor left Fortensky $825,000 in her will . Support for Jewish and Zionist causes . Taylor was raised as a Christian Scientist , and converted to Judaism in 1959 . Although two of her husbands – Mike Todd and Eddie Fisher – were Jewish , Taylor stated that she did not convert because of them , but had wanted to do so for a long time , and that there was comfort and dignity and hope for me in this ancient religion that [ has ] survived for four thousand years.. . I feel as if I have been a Jew all my life . Walker believed that Taylor was influenced in her decision by her godfather , Victor Cazalet , and her mother , who were active supporters of Zionism during her childhood . Following her conversion , Taylor became an active supporter of Jewish and Zionist causes . In 1959 , she purchased $100,000 worth of Israeli bonds , which led to her films being banned by Muslim countries throughout the Middle East and Africa . She was also barred from entering Egypt to film Cleopatra in 1962 , but the ban was lifted two years later after the Egyptian officials deemed that the film brought positive publicity for the country . In addition to purchasing bonds , Taylor helped to raise money for organizations such as the Jewish National Fund , and sat on the board of trustees of the Simon Wiesenthal Center . She also advocated for the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel , cancelled a visit to the USSR because of its condemnation of Israel due to the Six-Day War , and signed a letter protesting the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 of 1975 . In 1976 , she offered herself as a replacement hostage after more than 100 Israeli civilians were taken hostage in the Entebbe skyjacking . She had a small role in the television film made about the incident , Victory at Entebbe ( 1976 ) , and narrated Genocide ( 1981 ) , an Academy Award-winning documentary about the Holocaust . Style and jewelry collection . Taylor is considered a fashion icon both for her film costumes and personal style . At MGM , her costumes were mostly designed by Helen Rose and Edith Head , and in the 1960s by Irene Sharaff . Her most famous costumes include a white ball gown in A Place in the Sun ( 1951 ) , a Grecian dress in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ( 1958 ) , a green A-line dress in Suddenly Last Summer ( 1959 ) , and a slip and a fur coat in BUtterfield 8 ( 1960 ) . Her make-up look in Cleopatra ( 1963 ) started a trend for cat-eye make-up done with black eyeliner . Taylor collected jewelry through her life , and owned the Krupp Diamond , the Taylor-Burton Diamond , and the La Peregrina Pearl , all three of which were gifts from husband Richard Burton . She also published a book about her collection , My Love Affair with Jewelry , in 2002 . Taylor helped to popularize the work of fashion designers Valentino Garavani and Halston . She received a Lifetime of Glamour Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America ( CFDA ) in 1997 . After her death , her jewelry and fashion collections were auctioned by Christies to benefit her AIDS foundation , ETAF . The jewelry sold for a record-breaking sum of $156.8 million , and the clothes and accessories for a further $5.5 million . Los Angeles residence . Taylor lived at 700 Nimes Road in the Bel Air district of Los Angeles from 1982 until her death in 2011 . The art photographer Catherine Opie created an eponymous photographic study of the house in 2011 . Health problems and death . Taylor struggled with health problems for most of her life . She was born with scoliosis and broke her back while filming National Velvet in 1944 . The fracture went undetected for several years , although it caused her chronic back problems . In 1956 , she underwent an operation in which some of her spinal discs were removed and replaced with donated bone . Taylor was also prone to other illnesses and injuries , which often necessitated surgery ; in 1961 , she survived a near-fatal bout of pneumonia that required a tracheotomy . She was treated for the pneumonia with a dose of staph bacteriophage . In addition , she was addicted to alcohol and prescription pain killers and tranquilizers . She was treated at the Betty Ford Center for seven weeks from December 1983 to January 1984 , becoming the first celebrity to openly admit herself to the clinic . She relapsed later in the decade , and entered rehabilitation again in 1988 . Taylor also struggled with her weight – she became overweight in the 1970s , especially after her marriage to Senator John Warner , and published a diet book about her experiences , Elizabeth Takes Off ( 1988 ) . Taylor was a heavy smoker until she experienced a severe bout of pneumonia in 1990 . Taylors health increasingly declined during the last two decades of her life , and she rarely attended public events after about 1996 . Taylor had serious bouts of pneumonia in 1990 and 2000 , underwent hip replacement surgery in the mid-1990s , underwent surgery for a benign brain tumor in 1997 , and was successfully treated for skin cancer in 2002 . She used a wheelchair due to her back problems , and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2004 . Six weeks after being hospitalized , she died of the illness at age 79 on March 23 , 2011 , at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles . Her funeral took place the following day at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale , California . The service was a private Jewish ceremony presided over by Rabbi Jerome Cutler . At Taylors request , the ceremony began 15 minutes behind schedule , as , according to her representative , She even wanted to be late for her own funeral . She was entombed in the cemeterys Great Mausoleum . Legacy . Taylor was one of the last stars of classical Hollywood cinema , and one of the first modern celebrities . During the era of the studio system , she exemplified the classic film star . She was portrayed as different from ordinary people , and her public image was carefully crafted and controlled by MGM . When the era of classical Hollywood ended in the 1960s , and paparazzi photography became a normal feature of media culture , Taylor came to define a new type of celebrity , whose real private life was the focus of public interest . According to Adam Bernstein of The Washington Post , [ m ] ore than for any film role , she became famous for being famous , setting a media template for later generations of entertainers , models , and all variety of semi-somebodies . Regardless of the acting awards she won during her career , Taylors film performances were often overlooked by contemporary critics ; according to film historian Jeanine Basinger , No actress ever had a more difficult job in getting critics to accept her onscreen as someone other than Elizabeth Taylor.. . Her persona ate her alive . Her film roles often mirrored her personal life , and many critics continue to regard her as always playing herself , rather than acting . In contrast , Mel Gussow of The New York Times stated that the range of [ Taylors ] acting was surprisingly wide , despite the fact that she never received any professional training . Film critic Peter Bradshaw called her an actress of such sexiness it was an incitement to riot – sultry and queenly at the same time , and a shrewd , intelligent , intuitive acting presence in her later years . David Thomson stated that she had the range , nerve , and instinct that only Bette Davis had had before – and like Davis , Taylor was monster and empress , sweetheart and scold , idiot and wise woman . Five films in which she starred – Lassie Come Home , National Velvet , A Place in the Sun , Giant , and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? – have been preserved in the National Film Registry , and the American Film Institute has named her the seventh greatest female screen legend of classical Hollywood cinema . Taylor has also been discussed by journalists and scholars interested in the role of women in Western society . Camille Paglia writes that Taylor was a pre-feminist woman who wields the sexual power that feminism cannot explain and has tried to destroy . Through stars like Taylor , we sense the world-disordering impact of legendary women like Delilah , Salome , and Helen of Troy . In contrast , cultural critic M.G . Lord calls Taylor an accidental feminist , stating that while she did not identify as a feminist , many of her films had feminist themes and introduced a broad audience to feminist ideas . Similarly , Ben W . Heineman Jr . and Cristine Russell write in The Atlantic that her role in Giant dismantled stereotypes about women and minorities . Taylor is considered a gay icon , and received widespread recognition for her HIV/AIDS activism . After her death , GLAAD issued a statement saying that she was an icon not only in Hollywood , but in the LGBT community , where she worked to ensure that everyone was treated with the respect and dignity we all deserve , and Sir Nick Partridge of the Terrence Higgins Trust called her the first major star to publicly fight fear and prejudice towards AIDS . According to Paul Flynn of The Guardian , she was a new type of gay icon , one whose position is based not on tragedy , but on her work for the LGBTQ community . Speaking of her charity work , former President Bill Clinton said at her death , Elizabeths legacy will live on in many people around the world whose lives will be longer and better because of her work and the ongoing efforts of those she inspired . Sources . - Dye , David ( 1988 ) . Child and Youth Actors : Filmography of Their Entire Careers , 1914-1985 . Jefferson , NC : McFarland & Co. , pp . 226–227 . External links . - Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation ( ETAF )