Elizabeth Taylor's 1956 Continental Mark II, car was made with custom paint that reflected her violet eyes and given to her as a gift by Warner Bros. for her role in the film Giant(1956). The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean.
As with every Continental Mark II, this Lincoln was handmade with the goal of creating the most luxurious, well-produced car of that time in America.
The 25-year-old actress is going to play Elizabeth Taylor, in a Lifetime movie Sunday Nov. 25th at 9/8c: ‘Elizabeth and Richard: A Love Story’ produced by Larry Thompson and written by Christopher Monger.
What they do have in common? Well... They both had domineering stage mothers and fame from a young age and a drama filled life.
In my opinion..Elizabeth Taylor, was truly a better actress. In this picture Lohan, was styled(love the hair) like Elizabeth Taylor, circa Butterfield 8. I'm not sure that they look-a like, but... Liz was never as troubled.
The Sandpiper(1965). Cast: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Directed by Vincente Minnelli.
Laura Reynolds, is living a wonderful life as single, bohemian artist/model, with Danny her 9-year-old son (Morgan Mason, James Mason's son), in a run down beach house. Until one day Danny, shoots and kills a deer which gets him in trouble with the law and Laura is ordered by the court, to enroll him in the private school, headed by clergyman Edward Hewitt and his wife. Even though she is resentful at first, she is surprised, at how quickly Danny accepts the schools routine.
Laura and Hewitt, fall into into a passionate love affair after he walks in on her modeling nude for her artist friend. They spend many long afternoons together, along the beautiful surf and sand. Things are going well until, a jealous colleague of Hewitt, blows the whistle on the couple.
Tormented by guilt, Hewitt tells his wife, Claire about the affair, who is brokenhearted. He then makes a public admission. Laura furious that he exposed their private relationship never wants to see him again. How will Hewitt confront is problems?
This movie is filmed at the height of the Burton/Taylor popularity. We get to see a side of Liz Taylor, that is so different from past silver screen performances… here she plays a "new woman of the 60s," who believes in free love, which turns out to be the film's theme...
Richard Burton, character once again pays the price for his actions..
Fun Facts:
Then unknown Raquel Welch doubled (uncredited) for Elizabeth Taylor in some of Taylor's beach scenes on location at Big Sur, California.
The third of eleven films that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred in together.
Script was originally envisioned as a Kim Novak vehicle, until she had a falling out with producer.
Love Is Better Than Ever(1952). A romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen from a screenplay by Ruth Brooks Flippen. Cast: Larry Parks and Elizabeth Taylor.
The story begins when Broadway agent Jud Parker, who travels to New Haven, to represent the dancing team, The Dean Brothers. While in New Haven Jud meets, Anastasia Macaboy and her mother, who own a dancing school, come to inquire about buying one of the Deans's brothers dance routines.
Later, Staci travels alone to New York, to attend a dance instructors conference. Staci, also wants to keep a close eye on Mrs. Levoy and her daughter, Pattie Marie, who are planning to start a competing dancing school of their own.
When, Staci runs into Jud in the elevator of the Astor, he invites her to lunch, and she then agrees to miss the convention to watch her first baseball game.
After a wonderful dinner at 21 and a night of dancing, Staci spends the rest of the week spending time with Jud, instead of attending the convention. During Staci's last night in New York, she confesses to Jud that she is in love with him and tries to convince him to keep seeing her. Things seem to be going along well until.. her mother Mrs. Macaboy, is waiting in Staci's room and sends Jud on his way.
Back home in New Haven, Staci cannot stop thinking about Jud and her father tells her that she needs to find his weakness, to win him over.
Later, Jud's reads in the New Haven newspaper that he is engaged to Staci. Wanting to put a stop to the story, Jud travels to New Haven to confront her, along with his friend, Hamlet, who pretends to be his lawyer. Staci, admits she only wanted to stop the gossip being spread about her by the Levoys by announcing her engagement. She then would tell people that she broke the engagement because Jud did not want her to continue working. Having been charmed by Staci, he promises to help with the plan.
That evening, while Staci massages his shoulders, they start to kiss, Jud says that she is trying to trap him and spoils the mood. Staci, angrily calls him a "flesh peddler," and he walks out.
After a New York columnist makes claims that the broken engagement was faked, many of the parents take their children out of her dance school.
Not knowing what to do to save her school, Staci goes to see Jud at Smittie's bar, where he has been drinking alone. Jud, tells her that he is now "stuck" on her and wants to get "unstuck". Staci, then wants to make a bet.. that if Giants, lose the game, he will come with her to the school's recital and stage their breakup fight.. if the Giants win, she will never see him again. They watch the game on television, and the Giants win in the ninth inning. Staci then quietly goes home. On the day of the recital, will Jud shows up to help Staci save her dance school?
I'm writing this review as I'm watching it. In this film Elizabeth Taylor, is young, talented, funny and was better than I thought it would be. I hope that Turner Classic Movies to show it once in a while. If you get a chance to watch it, you will not be disappointed.
Ann Doran, performed in hundreds of silent films under assumed names to keep her father's family from finding out about her work.
Rarely in a featured role (with the exceptions of Jean Andrews in Rio Grande (1938) and James Dean's dominating mother in Rebel Without a Cause (1955).
Doran performed in more than 500 films and 1,000 episodes of television shows, including the American Civil War drama Gray Ghost.
By 1938 she was under contract to Columbia Pictures, where the company policy was to use the members of its stock company as often as possible.
Doran appears in Columbia's serials (such as The Spider's Web and Flying G-Men), short subjects (including those of The Three Stooges, Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, and Harry Langdon), B features (including the Blondie, Five Little Peppers, and Ellery Queen series), and major feature films.
She became a favorite of Columbia director Frank Capra and appears in many of his productions. Most of these appearances were supporting roles, although she did play leads in Columbia's Charley Chase comedies of 1938-40.
When Columbia launched the boy-and-his-dog Rusty series in 1945, Doran was cast and prominently featured. Although the actor playing the boy's father changed several times, Doran continued constant as the boy's mother.
Her steady, sensible maternal roles led to her being cast as James Dean's mother in Rebel Without a Cause.
Doran also guest starred on many television programs, including three appearances in the role of Bonnie Landis in the CBS legal drama The Public Defender, starring with fellow Texan Reed Hadley.
She performed in the western My Friend Flicka, the story of a boy and his horse on a Wyoming ranch.
She also guest-starred in Ray Milland's sitcom Meet Mr. McNutley.
In 1960, she was cast as Martha Brown, the mother of horse rider Velvet Brown (played by Lori Martin) in the family drama National Velvet.
She also made one appearance on McHale's Navy as Mrs. Martha "Pumpkin" Binghampton, wife of Captain Binghampton (Joe Flynn).
Three years later, she appeared in the 1965-66 season of the 34-episode western series, The Legend of Jesse James as Zerelda James Samuel, the mother of Jesse and Frank James.
Cynthia (1947). Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, George Murphy, S.Z. Sakall, Mary Astor.
Louise Bishop, now a grown woman remembers back in time, when she was a freshman studying music at Wyandott College and when she fell in love with baseball player, Larry Bishop. Louise shares with Larry, her dreams of continuing her studies at the Vienna Conservatory. Larry, tells her that he too plans to go to Vienna to study medicine.
The following summer, Louise goes to Michigan, while Larry returns to home, to work at J. M. Dingle's hardware store. When Larry and Louise return to school in the fall, they are married. Louise discovers that she is pregnant they and they both move to Napoleon, to raise their beautiful daughter Cynthia, who is born frail. When, the doctor bills begin to pile up, Louise and Larry realize that they may never be able to return to their studies.
Cynthia, who is now fifteen years old and still frail, is unaware that her parents made many sacrifices for her. Goes to see her voice instructor, Professor Rosenkrantz, who suggests that she audition for the next school opera.
Larry, is still working for Dingle's hardware store and now wants to buy the house that they are renting. Fred, however, refuses to give his endorsement for Larry's bank loan, and Louise is not too happy about the idea, because of her dreams of continuing her studies at the Vienna Conservatory.
Unable, to participate in most of the school activities because of her health, Cynthia begins to feel like an outcast, until her singing attracts the attention of popular, Ricky Latham. Cynthia, lands the leading role in the school play, but Louise and Larry are concerned that she does not have the physical strength to perform in the show. Their fears come true, when Cynthia, comes down with the flu and has to drop out of the play.
After, Cynthia returns to school, Ricky asks her to be his date for the spring dance. Louise secretly allows Cynthia, to attend the dance against her husbands wishes. While, Cynthia has a wonderful time at the ball, Larry learns that he was tricked and gets into an argument with Louise.
The next morning, Larry oversleeps and is late for work, the first time in fifteen years. When Dingle confronts him, he quits his job and plans to move his family to Chicago. Louise, is happy to see that her husband has finally stood up for himself, but Cynthia does not want to move. Will the family decide to stay in Napoleon or follow their dreams?
I just finished watching Cynthia, for the first time. I think Elizabeth Taylor fans, will love this fluffy classic film. Here, at fifteen, she still has got a lot of her girlish charm.
The teenage Taylor, did not really want to continue making films, but her stage mother forced Taylor to practice until she could cry on cue. Her mother watched her during filming, signaling to change her delivery or a mistake.
Taylor, was so poorly educated that she needed to use her fingers to do basic arithmetic. When at age 16 Taylor told her parents that she wanted to quit acting for a normal childhood, however, Sara Taylor told her that she was ungrateful: "You have a responsibility, Elizabeth. Not just to this family, but to the country now, the whole world".
These are my top 10 movie actresses of the 60's and the films that they performed in:
Katharine Hepburn:
1962 Long Day's Journey Into Night
1967 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (video below).
1968 The Lion in Winter
1969 The Madwoman of Chaillot
By the 1960′s Katherine Hepburn had been making films for over 30 years, with 8 Academy Award Nominations and one win. In 1960 she was nominated a 9th time for Best Actress in the film, Suddenly Last Summer, opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. In 1963, she again was nominated for a tenth Oscar as Mary Tyrone in the film, Long Day’s Journey Into Night(1962). Then in 1968 and 1969, Kathrine won her second and third Oscar for Best Actress in, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and The Lion in Winter. The 1960′s introduced her to a whole new group of fans.
Fay Dunaway:
1969 The Extraordinary Seaman
1969 The Arrangement
1968 A Place for Lovers
1968 The Thomas Crown Affair
1967 Bonnie and Clyde
1967 The Happening
1967 Hurry Sundown
Her first film was in 1967 in, Hurry Sundown, but that same year, she got the leading female role in, Bonnie and Clyde (opposite Warren Beatty) which won her an Oscar nomination. Very few actresses started off their Hollywood careers with Oscar nominated roles.
It would be another ten years before she won her Oscar, but in my opinion her greatest role was that of Bonnie Parker in, Bonnie and Clyde.
Audrey Hepburn:
1967 Wait Until Dark
1967 Two for the Road
1966 How to Steal a Million
1964 My Fair Lady
1964 Paris When It Sizzles
1963 Charade
1961 The Children's Hour
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's
1960 The Unforgiven
Audrey Hepburn, best work may have been in the 1960′s with one of her best known roles as Holly Golightly in, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or Eliza Doolitle in, My Fair Lady (even though her voice was dubbed in the singing parts). Beautiful, elegant, Hollywood.. had very few actresses like, Audrey.
Audrey's work with UNICEF, made the organization a household name.
Elizabeth Taylor:
1969 Anne of the Thousand Days
1968 Secret Ceremony
1968 Boom!
1967 The Comedians
1967 Reflections in a Golden Eye
1967 Doctor Faustus
1967 The Taming of the Shrew
1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1965 The Sandpiper
1964 Becket
1963 The V.I.P.s
1963 Cleopatra
1960 BUtterfield 8
1960 Scent of Mystery
In the 1960′s Taylor was known for her beauty, but she also was very talented. She was the winner of the 1960 Best Actress award in the film, Butterfield8 as a prostitute and in 1963′s Cleopatra and in 1966 she won the Best Actress award for the second time for her performance in, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe. Based on the controversial play by Edward Albee, this noir-ish 1966 drama stars former real-life couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, which maybe their best performances.
Jane Fonda:
1969 They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1968 Barbarella
1968 Spirits of the Dead
1967 Barefoot in the Park
1967 Hurry Sundown
1966 Any Wednesday
1966 The Game Is Over
1966 The Chase
1965 Cat Ballou
1964 Circle of Love
1964 Joy House
1963 Sunday in New York
1963 In the Cool of the Day
1962 Period of Adjustment
1962 The Chapman Report
1962 Walk on the Wild Side
1960 Tall Story
Her stage work in the late 1950's help prepared her for her film career in the 1960s. She averaged almost two movies a year throughout the decade, starting in 1960 with Tall Story, in which she recreated one of her Broadway roles as a college cheerleader pursuing a basketball star, played by Anthony Perkins. Period of Adjustment and Walk on the Wild Side followed in 1962. In Walk on the Wild Side Fonda played a prostitute, and earned a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer.
Fonda's breakthrough came with the film, Cat Ballou (1965), in which she played a schoolmarm turned outlaw. This comedy Western received five Oscar nominations. Soon after she performed in the comedies, Any Wednesday (1966) and Barefoot in the Park (1967).
In 1968 she played the lead role in, Barbarella, directed by her French film director husband Roger Vadim. The film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) earned her first Oscar nomination. Fonda was very selective by the end of the 1960s, turning down lead roles in Rosemary's Baby and Bonnie and Clyde.
Video from: Barefoot in the Park.
Marilyn Monroe:
1960 Let's Make Love
1961 Misfits
1962 Something's Got to Give
Marilyn, had no real acting techniques. It was only Marilyn, a "star" and "sex symbol" of the "60's".
Her last completed film, The Misfits, was directed by John Huston and costarring Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter. Shooting taking place in the hot Northern Nevada desert. Monroe was frequently ill and unable to perform. Making the film was a difficult experience for all the actors; in addition to Monroe's illness, Montgomery Clift had frequently been unable to perform and by the final day of shooting, Thelma Ritter was in hospital suffering from exhaustion. Gable, commenting that he did not fell well, left the set without attending the wrap party. Within ten days Gable had died from a heart attack. Gable's widow, Kay, commented to Louella Parsons that it had been the "eternal waiting" on the set of The Misfits that had contributed to his death.
In 1962 Monroe began filming Something's Got to Give. It was to be directed by George Cukor, and co-starred Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse.
On May 19, 1962, she attended a birthday celebration of President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, at the suggestion of Kennedy's brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford. Where Monroe performed "Happy Birthday".
Monroe returned to the set of, Something's Got to Give and filmed a scene in which she performed nude in a swimming pool. Commenting that she wanted to "push Liz Taylor off the magazine covers", she gave permission for several partially nude photographs to be published by Life. Monroe was dismissed and was replaced by Lee Remick, and Dean Martin refused to work with any other actress.
Following her dismissal, she gave an interview to Cosmopolitan and was photographed at Peter Lawford's beach house sipping champagne and walking on the beach. She next posed for Vogue in a series of photographs that included several nudes. Published after her death, they became known as "The Last Sitting".
In the final weeks of her life, Monroe was planning future film projects, and to continue negotiations on the film, Something's Got to Give.. Among the projects was a biography of Jean Harlow filmed two years later with, Carroll Baker. Starring roles in, Irma la Douce and What a Way to Go! were also discussed. A film version of the Broadway musical, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, and an unnamed World War I–themed musical co-starring Gene Kelly were also discussed, but the projects were never to be.
Brigitte Bardot:
1969 Les femmes
1968 Shalako
1968 Spirits of the Dead
1967 Two Weeks in September
1965 Dear Brigitte
1965 Viva Maria!
1964 Agent 38-24-36
1963 Contempt
1962 Love on a Pillow
1962 A Very Private Affair
1961 Famous Love Affairs
1961 Please, Not Now!
1960 The Truth
1960 It Happened All Night
Brigitte's, "sex kitten" beauty took the US by storm. In 1965 she performed as herself in, "Dear Brigitte" (1965) with James Steward (she only appeared in one scene).
She prefers life outside of stardom. The Paparazzi constantly hounded her with their cameras. After her life in the spotlight, Brigitte went on to become a leading spokesperson for animal rights and started the "Foundation Brigitte Bardot".
Goldie Hawn:
1969 Cactus Flower
1969 Five the Hard Way (unconfirmed)
1968 The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.
Hawn, began her acting career as a cast member of the comedy Good Morning, World during 1967-1968, her role was the girlfriend of a radio disc jockey, with a stereotype "dumb blonde" personality. Her next role, was as one of the regular cast members on the 1968-1973 comedy show, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. On the show, she would break out into giggles in the middle of a joke, and deliver a perfect performance a minute later. Hawn, was known as the "60s It" girl.
Hawn's Laugh-In personaiity was used in the film, Cactus Flower. Hawn had made her feature film debut in a bit role as a giggling dancer in the 1968 film, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, in which she was billed as "Goldie Jeanne", but in her first major film role, in Cactus Flower (1969), she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Walter Matthau's suicidal fiancée.
Sharon Tate:
Sharon Tate had performed only bit parts, but was considered a beautiful and rising actress. Tate met film director Roman Polanski then starred in Valley of the Dolls, followed by, The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin.
1969 The Wrecking Crew
1967 Valley of the Dolls
1967 The Fearless Vampire Killers
1967 Don't Make Waves
1966 Eye of the Devil
Ava Gardner:
1968 Mayerling
1966 The Bible: In the Beginning...
1964 The Night of the Iguana
1964 Seven Days in May
1963 55 Days at Peking
1960 The Angel Wore Red
Ava Gardner, is thought of as one of the most beautiful actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. In 1966, Gardner tried out for the role of Mrs. Robinson in the film, The Graduate (1967).
In 1968, she made what some consider to be one of her best films, Mayerling, in which she played the Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Austria opposite James Mason as Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Giant(1956). Directed by George Stevens from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from the novel by Edna Ferber. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean and features Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor and Earl Holliman. Giant, was the last of James Dean's three films as a leading actor and earned him his second and last Academy Award nomination.
The epic begins when, Jordan "Bick" Benedict, travels from Texas to Maryland, to buy a stud horse, named War Winds. There he meets and marries southern belle, Leslie Lynnton. They return to his Texas family ranch, Reata, which is run by Luz, Bick's sister, who does not care much for Leslie. Jett Rink, works for Luz and he also falls in love with Leslie from a far.
Luz takes out her hate for Leslie, by digging her spurs into Leslie's beloved horse, War Winds, while riding him home one afternoon. Luz, dies after War Winds bucks her off and as part of her will, Jett is given some land on the Benedict ranch. Bick tries to buy back the land, but Jett refuses.
Later Leslie, gives birth to twins, Jordan Benedict III and Judy Benedict, named after his sister.
Jett discovers oil in a footprint left by Leslie. He drives to the Benedict home promising to the family, that he will be richer than the Benedicts. After which Jett makes sexual advances towards Leslie, Bick and Jett get into a fight.
The trouble really begins, when Bick, insists that Jordy must grow up to run the ranch, but Jordy wants to become a doctor. Leslie, wants Judy to attend school in Switzerland, but Judy loves the ranch and wants to stay in Texas. After war breaks out, Jett visits the Benedicts and tries to convince Bick to allow oil production to help the war effort. Bick realizes that there is nobody to take over the ranch after him, agrees.
Years later ... The Benedict/Rink feud comes to a head when the Benedicts learn that Luz Jr. and the much older Jett Rink are dating. At a huge dinner party that Jett is holding in his own honor, an angry Jordy goes gunning for him, after his Mexican American wife, Juana, was turned away at the beauty parlor.
Bick, steps in and is about to fight him, but .. soon realizes that Jett is a drunk. He tells him, "You're not even worth hitting...You're all through," and leaves, but not before pushing over many shelves of wine.
The party ends when Jett, is falling down drunk in front of everyone before his big speech. Luz Jr. sees him and does not like what she sees..
I loved: the beautiful Texas landscapes, which couldn't have been more dramatic. The beautiful Benedict victorian mansion that changes with the times..
This heartwarming epic covers two generations of family and many issues: marriage, family life and racism.
Elizabeth Taylor, gives a wonderful performance playing a strong willed Southern belle.
Fun Facts:
The hat that Mercedes McCambridge wore in her exterior scenes was given to her by the wardrobe department. It was then "aged" by actor Gary Cooper so that it would look authentic. Mercedes McCambridge wrote in her memoirs that James Dean threatened to steal it.
Before Elizabeth Taylor accepted it, the role of Leslie was offered to Grace Kelly.
The start date of the film was delayed a few months so that Elizabeth Taylor could give birth to a son. Link
Elizabeth Taylor was said to be so upset the day after James Dean was killed in a road accident that she was excused from working on the picture for the day.
Audrey Hepburn was one of first choices for the part later played by Elizabeth Taylor, while John Wayne was considered for the Rock Hudson part. William Holden, Forrest Tucker and Sterling Hayden were also considered for the part of Bick Benedict.
Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor went for get-to-know-you drinks one night at the very start of the production. They both got exceedingly drunk, finishing the evening at 3:00 am. Their call-time was 5:30 am. Fortunately the scene being shot that morning was a wedding scene with no dialog, so instead of talking, all they had to do was look lovingly at each other. The two actors were concentrating so hard on not being sick that they were quite surprised when some of the people on-set started to cry, so convinced were they of their supposed looks of adoration at each other.
Carroll Baker, who plays Elizabeth Taylor's daughter, was older in real life than Taylor.
When Rock Hudson was cast, director George Stevens asked him whom he preferred as his leading lady, 'Grace Kelly' or Elizabeth Taylor. Hudson picked Elizabeth Taylor, who was cast in the film and ended up becoming lifelong friends with Hudson.
Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931), began her film career in 1953, with a small part in the film, Easy to Love.
While she was performing in the role of the Broadway production, All Summer Long. That roll caught the attention of director Elia Kazan, who cast her in the film, Baby Doll. Baby Doll would remain the film for which she is best remembered she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role. Two months prior to Baby Doll's release, she performed in the supporting role of Luz Benedict II in the film, Giant.
She would go on to work in films throughout the late fifties and early sixties, performing in a many films: The Miracle, But Not for Me (both 1959),The Big Country (1958), How the West Was Won (1962), Something Wild (1961), directed by her then-husband Jack Garfein, and Station Six-Sahara (1962).
While Baker was on location in Africa for the 1965 movie Mister Moses, story has it that a Maasai chief offered 150 cows, 200 goats, sheep, and $750 for her hand in marriage. She then appeared with Masai warriors on the cover of Life's 1964 issue.
Based on her Carpetbaggers performance, Levine began to develop Baker as a movie sex symbol, casting her in the title roles of two 1965 films, Sylvia and Harlow.
Following a legal battle with Paramount Pictures and divorce from her second husband, Jack Garfein, Baker moved to Europe.
Settling in Italy, performing in the films: Her Harem (1967), The Sweet Body of Deborah (1968), Paranoia (1969), and Baba Yaga (1973).
A lead role in Andy Warhol's Bad (1977) brought her back to America.
By the eighties, Baker moved into character work, playing the mother of Dorothy Stratten in the film, Star 80 (1983) and Jack Nicholson's wife in, Ironweed (1987).
In 1990, she played a villainess in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Kindergarten Cop.
Baker has also been featured in documentaries on several of her co-stars, including Clark Gable, Roger Moore, Sal Mineo, and James Dean, including the 1975 James Dean: The First American Teenager.
Also, she appeared in the documentary, Cinerama Adventure released along with How the West was Won (2008).
Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor, the film goddess whose life was often upstaged by her stormy personal life, died Wednesday at age 79. Taylor was considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood's golden age. She was one of my favorite film actresses.
Elizabeth Taylor was born in London, England, on February 27, 1932. Her father was a art dealer who had his own gallery in a fashionable part of London. Her mother was an actress under the stage name, Sara Sothern. In 1939 the family moved to Los Angeles, CA, where Elizabeth was encouraged by her mother to become an actress. It did not take long for Elizabeth to be signed on by Universal in 1941.
The following year, Elizabeth Taylor signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and landed a part in the film, Lassie Come Home. In 1943 Taylor was cast opposite Mickey Rooney in the film, National Velvet, the story of a young girl who wins a horse in the lottery and rides it in England's Grand National Steeplechase.
Elizabeth Taylor loved the costumes, the make-up, and the attention while making films such as: Little Women, Father of the Bride, Cynthia and A Place in the Sun (1951), based on the novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. It tells the story of a young man who is involved with two women. One who works in his wealthy uncle's factory and the other a beautiful socialite, with tragic results. Cliff and Taylor are wonderful together, in romance that will not be soon forgotten. If you are looking for a film with a good example of method acting this film is for you.
In 1956 she played opposite James Dean in the film, in a couple more of my of my favorite Elizabeth films, Giant, followed by Raintree County (1957), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination. She also performed in the film, Suddenly Last Summer (1959)for which she received her third Academy Award nomination. A melodrama/mystery. Based on the play of the same title by Tennessee Williams. The film is about a psychiatric doctor treating a female patient who, with the help of her wealthy aunt, is now a lobotomy candidate after witnessing the death of her male cousin while traveling in Spain. Hepburn and Taylor, are both at the top of their game in roles that seemed to be made especially for them. It's rare treat to see Hepburn play the villain.
While struggling with personal problems, she played the emotional part of Maggie in a wonderful film, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof(1958). Her portrayal of Maggie won her a second Academy Award nomination. The film is based on the play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. The story takes place on the plantation home of wealthy cotton tycoon that goes by the name Big Daddy Pollitt and his relationships with his son Brick, Brick's wife Maggie the Cat, as well as Brick and his father and other family members. Even though this is a Elizabeth Taylor tribute, I would like to mention Jack Carter, who gives what I think one of his best performances. He seems to have a good heart even after years of jumping through Big Daddy's hoops and his scheming, wife plans.
In 1960 Taylor performed in one of her best screen performances as a call-girl in the film, Butterfield 8, for which she won an Oscar as Best Actress. A few months later, in 1961, she signed with 20th Century-Fox to perform in the film, Cleopatra, with Richard Burton. Which I saw for the first time not to long ago. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall and Joseph L. Mankiewicz, from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The music score was by Alex North. Cleopatra, is about the struggles of Cleopatra VII, the young Queen of Egypt, to fight off Rome.
Two films, The VIPs (1963) and The Sandpiper (1965), preceded Elizabeth Taylor's screen triumph, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for which she won another Oscar. Set on the campus of a small New England college, the film focuses on the challenging relationship of history professor George and his hard-drinking wife Martha, the daughter of the college president.
My favorite Elizabeth Taylor films:
1948 A Date with Judy
1949 Little Women
1950 Father of the Bride
1951 Father's Little Dividend
1951 A Place in the Sun
1954 Elephant Walk
1954 The Last Time I Saw Paris
1956 Giant
1957 Raintree
1958 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1959 Suddenly, Last Summer
1960 Butterfield 8
1994 The Flintstones
As I write this post, I just learned Liz has been admitted to a hospital for congestive heart failure, so I may get a little emotional as I write. I pray everything turns out fine for her and she will be home soon. Now onto my post about her and Richard Burton, one of the most well known and fiery couples both onscreen and off. They were married and divorced...twice! And they made 11 films together, some of them being instant classics. Their relationship was turbulent to say the least but they were magic on camera, producing some of the best acting on film ever. Their performances in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? should be shown in acting school as a primer to show how it's done. Liz and Dick put on quite the show in real life and on film. It's ironic their film together was the massive and troubled Cleopatra, which turned out to be one disaster after another. Production delays, Liz getting sick, directors being fired then rehired, etc. But it's where Liz and Dick met and fell in love and married 2 years later, and their history would go on for the next 15 years. While Cleopatra may have been a financial disaster and almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox, the pair would go on to make 10 more films, including the star-studded drama The V.I.P.s (1963) co-starring Maggie Smith, Orson Welles, Rod Taylor, and Margaret Rutherford. It's ironic because Liz and Dick play an unhappily married couple. Shades of things to come maybe?
The two would reunite the following year for the gorgeously filmed The Sandpiper. It's noted that the cinematography stands out more than the couple. It is a very beautiful film, that had Big Sur, California as it's setting. And while The Sandpiper is not one of their best films, it is still engaging to watch Liz as a single mom falling in love with a married headmaster of an Episcopal school (Burton).
Their masterpiece Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? came out the following year and brought Liz her second Best Actress Oscar. She gives one of the best film performances I have ever seen as Martha, the frumpy wife of a New England college professor (Burton). Liz gained 30 pounds and used no make-up to turn herself into a 50ish housewife who tends to drink a lot and scream at her husband. Dick gets to deliver some of his best acting as well and the pair's volatile on screen relationship on full display brought more attention to their off screen relationship.
Another volatile on screen relationship beckoned with 1967's The Taming Of The Shrew with Liz and Dick playing Shakespeare's Kate and Petruchio. A perfect fit for this combustible pair. It would be one of their last great films. They would make several more films including Boom!, The Comedians, and Hammersmith Is Out, but their best work had already came and went. Still 11 films, 2 marriages, and so much drama that could fill a dozen novels and several soap operas assures us we will never forget Liz and Dick.
Below are my top 5 Liz and Dick movies:
1. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf (1963)
2. The Taming Of The Shrew (1967)
3. The Sandpiper (1965)
4. The V.I.P.s (1963)
5. Cleopatra (1963)