Elizabeth Taylor wasn't just a woman. She was an event. If you grew up in the era of social media, it's kinda hard to grasp just how much real estate she occupied in the collective human brain. Long before the Kardashians or influencers existed, there was Taylor—a woman whose life was so loud, so colorful, and so unapologetically messy that the term "paparazzi" basically had to be invented to keep up with her.
She was the first real global celebrity. People didn't just watch her movies; they lived through her scandals. They counted her diamonds. They tracked her eight marriages like they were watching a high-stakes sport. Honestly, though, if you look past the purple eyes and the headlines, you've got a person who was a much better actress than she got credit for and a much fiercer human than anyone expected.
Who is Elizabeth Taylor, Really?
Born in London in 1932 to American parents, she wasn't exactly a typical kid. Her mother was a former actress who pushed her into the spotlight early. By the time she was 12, she was a massive star thanks to National Velvet. But being a child star at MGM was like being a tiny gear in a very large, very gold-plated factory. They controlled her schedule, her clothes, and even her "dates" as she got older.
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She once said her childhood ended the moment she became a star. It's a sad thought. Imagine having your first kiss on a movie set with cameras rolling and a director yelling "cut."
The Myth of the Violet Eyes
Let’s settle this one because it’s the thing everyone asks. Did she actually have violet eyes?
The short answer is: Sorta. Biologically, her eyes were a very deep, very intense shade of blue. However, thanks to a rare genetic mutation, she was born with a double row of eyelashes (distichiasis). This gave her look an incredible natural depth. When you paired that deep blue with specific studio lighting, purple eyeshadow, or a certain outfit, her eyes looked undeniably violet. It wasn't a contact lens trick—it was just one of those rare genetic wins that looked like a special effect.
The Roles That Defined an Era
You can't talk about Elizabeth Taylor without talking about the work. While the tabloids loved her drama, the Academy loved her talent. She was nominated for five Oscars and won two.
- BUtterfield 8 (1960): She actually hated this movie. She called the character a "slut," but she won her first Best Actress Oscar for it. Many think it was a "sympathy win" because she had almost died of pneumonia shortly before the ceremony.
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966): This is the one. To play Martha, she gained nearly 30 pounds, wore a wig, and used makeup to make herself look older and "haggard." It was a massive risk for a woman known as the most beautiful in the world. It paid off with her second Oscar.
- Cleopatra (1963): This was the film that changed everything. She was the first actress to be paid $1 million for a single role. It was also where she met Richard Burton.
Liz and Dick: The Greatest Show on Earth
The Taylor-Burton romance was the original "Bennifer" but with way more scotch and expensive jewelry. They were both married to other people when they met on the set of Cleopatra. Their affair was so scandalous that even the Vatican issued a statement condemning it as "erotic vagrancy."
They married. They divorced. They remarried. They divorced again. They starred in 11 movies together. They bought diamonds that were so big they had their own names, like the 69-carat Taylor-Burton Diamond. It was toxic, beautiful, and completely exhausting for everyone watching. But through it all, they were genuinely obsessed with each other.
A Legacy of More Than Just Diamonds
When the acting roles started to dry up in the 80s, Taylor did something that surprised the world. She found a new gear. When her close friend Rock Hudson died of AIDS in 1985, the world was largely silent. The stigma was horrifying. People didn't want to talk about it, let alone fund research.
Elizabeth Taylor basically said, "Watch me."
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She used her fame as a weapon. She co-founded amfAR and later started the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF). She wasn't just a figurehead; she was a lobbyist. She went to Congress and demanded money for research. She visited patients in hospices and hugged them when other people were afraid to touch them. To date, her foundation has raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Honestly, this might be the most "Elizabeth Taylor" thing she ever did—refusing to be quiet when everyone else was terrified.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often see the "eight marriages" thing and assume she was flighty or didn't take commitment seriously. But Taylor was actually a traditionalist in a weird way. She once said, "I've only slept with the men I've been married to. How many women can make that claim?" She didn't believe in casual flings. If she fell in love, she got married. Simple as that.
She was also a pioneer in the business of being a celebrity. She was the first star to launch her own successful fragrance line. White Diamonds isn't just a perfume; it’s a billion-dollar empire that basically paved the way for every celebrity beauty brand you see today.
How to Lean Into the Elizabeth Taylor Energy
If you want to take a page out of her book, it’s not about buying a 33-carat diamond (though that would be nice). It’s about her specific brand of resilience.
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- Use your platform: If you have any kind of influence, use it for something that actually matters. Taylor didn't need to get into the messy world of HIV/AIDS activism, but she did because it was the right thing to do.
- Don't apologize for your life: She lived loudly. She made mistakes, she loved hard, and she never tried to pretend she was perfect.
- Invest in yourself: Whether it was negotiating that $1 million paycheck or launching her perfume, she knew her worth.
Today, Elizabeth Taylor is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. True to her sense of humor and her lifelong habit of being fashionably late, she requested that her funeral start 15 minutes after the scheduled time. Even in the end, she was running the show.