Elizabeth Taylor, aged 79, died due to various heart failure problems. The last great Hollywood diva had an enormous artistic talent that gave her three Oscars and a movie life full of romances, seven husbands, a great love, a passion for jewelry, a commitment to charitable causes, and a fragile health that always threatened her
The secret of her eyes: a "poisoned" gift of fate
Three things surprised those who met Elizabeth Taylor in person: how good she smelled -she never left home without perfume-, her short stature (1.57 cm) to be a star, and her mythical "violet" eyes. Whether purple or not, no one doubts that her eyes are the most beautiful or special that Hollywood has ever had.
Her unusual beauty has a scientific explanation. The truth is that they were the result of a natural deformation, a mutation in the FOXC2 gene that caused her to have a double row of eyelashes, which gave her her incomparable look and that deep bluish tone, which together with her black hair should produce the effect 'violet'.
Actor Roddy McDowall recounted that on the first day of shooting Lassie, the producers looked at her and said, "Get that girl off the set, she has a lot of makeup on, a lot of mascara on her eyes." But Elizabeth Taylor replied: "It's not makeup, it's me!".
The mutation that gave Taylor her double eyelashes is something of a "poisoned" gift of fate, as it may also have contributed to her history of heart problems which, coupled with failing health, would lead to her death on March 23, 2011.
Often supernumerary eyelashes can grow inward, damaging the cornea, and some people with this mutation suffer from congenital heart problems.
11-year-old prodigy girl
Although Liz was born in London, her parents were American and soon moved to Los Angeles where her mother tried to make the girl a Hollywood star, taking her to all the castings.
Her angelic girlish appearance and precocious talent for acting led her to make her first film at just 9 years old, There's one born every minute (1942), and at 11, two other unforgettable films, Rebel Soul (1943), and Lassie: The rebellious calm Lassie: The invisible chain
Winner of three Oscars
The following year (1944), Liz already became a star in Youth Fire, a Youth Fire film awarded two Oscars. An unstoppable career that led her to participate in 80 films, including those that gave her two Academy Awards: A Marked Woman (1960) A Marked Woman and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf (1966) Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf. Her third Oscar was the humanitarian award she won in 1994.
The most important interpretation of her and the one that marked her personal and professional life came at the age of 32 when she starred in Cleopatra (1963). During filming she discovered Richard Burton, the great love of her life. Other of her most remembered works are The Cat on the Zinc Roof or Suddenly, Last Summer.
Her rivalry with Marilyn Monroe
They shared a unique power of attraction, which made them "eternal rivals" for the media, even though their physique, lives, and trajectories were very different. Liz always earned much more as an actress than Marylin. The "blonde" lived with the label of beauty and somewhat superficial, while the "violet-eyed" star was recognized for a more innocent beauty and deeper talent in front of the cameras.
In the cliques of the time it was commented that Marilyn hated Liz, because her industry respected her more than her, while others denied that they felt envy for her, but rather admired and respected her as an artist.
First romance with 12 years and record of husbands
According to the latest and controversial biography of Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince on Elizabeth Taylor, the actress had her first romantic relationship at only 12 years old, with the actor and director John Derek, although it was with Peter Lawford with whom she is said to have lost her virginity.
She was married eight times, two of them to her great love Richard Burton, giving her the Hollywood record for the number of husbands, equaled only by Zsa Zsa Gabor.
At the age of 17, she gave her first "I do" to Conrad 'Nicky' Hilton. A marriage that only lasted nine months due to the "gambling, drinking, and abusive character" of the heir to the hotel chain.
Her second husband was Michael Wilding, 20 years her senior, with whom she had two children. Her third husband, movie producer Mike Todd, died in a tragic plane crash just a year after an exotic wedding in Acapulco. Taylor would later refer to him as one of the three loves of her life, along with Burton and the jewels.
Then came Eddie Fisher and Richard Burton; later, John Warner, who led her to depression and alcohol, and finally a construction worker named Larry Fortensky with whom she spent 5 years.
Richard Burton, the stormy great love of his life
They had a crush on the set of Cleopatra (1962) and were married twice (1964 and 1975) with their corresponding turbulent divorce proceedings.
The first wedding took place just a week after the actress divorced her former husband. They separated in 1974 but went 'down the aisle' again in 1975, in a second marriage that lasted 7 weeks.
Burton and Taylor had big arguments that ended with expensive gifts from Burton, almost always jewelry, as reported by the media at the time of their famous and long-awaited reconciliations.
The fame of 'Robamaridos': the scandal with her best friend
Liz Taylor was the protagonist of one of the most notorious sentimental scandals in the history of cinema.
Following the death in a plane crash of Michael Wilding, Liz's second husband, Liz's friend Debbie asked her husband, Eddie Fisher, to wipe her tears away from her. Fisher began comforting Taylor but ended up falling for her. Debbie confirmed her infidelity when she called Liz at the Plaza Hotel in New York, posing as Dean Martin's secretary. Her husband answered the phone and heard Taylor's voice in the background asking, "Who's calling, dear?"
The actress married the husband of her best friend, but later they reconciled and became close again.
Hectic S- life since the age of 15
It is said that at the age of 15, Liz Taylor had affairs with Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, and later with Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Raniero de Monaco, Tony Curtis, Paul Newman, and Frank Sinatra, from whom it was published that she became pregnant. and the singer forced her to have an abortion.
Her obsession with jewelry since she was young
Liz Taylor owned one of the largest jewelry collections in the world. Her interest in high jewelry began when she met Burton, who gave her expensive pieces such as the Krupp yellow diamond and the Pilgrim Pearl, from the 16th century, belonging to the Spanish Crown and sold for 11.8 million dollars.
After her death, her collection was valued at 100 million euros and was auctioned at Christie's in New York, partly to raise funds against AIDS, as the actress said in her memoirs.
"My mother says that she did not open her eyes until eight days after she was born and that when she did she was to hook me to her wedding ring," Liz herself recounted. She also said that "you can never find comfort in a diamond, nor will diamonds tuck you in at night, but they are spectacular when the sun shines."
A woman committed to the fight against AIDS
Throughout her life, she carried out a multitude of charitable actions, especially in the fight against AIDS, and at a time when Hollywood stars were not so committed.
She also supported a feeding program for people with terminal illnesses and another in defense of animals.
Her poor health accompanied her throughout her life until her death.
The last years of her life, until she died in 2011, were marked by addictions and continuous health problems.
She was hospitalized more than 70 times and had at least 20 operations. Obesity was also a problem for her, considering that she lived by the image of her and that she was only 1.57 cm tall, gaining and losing a large amount of weight in a short time.
Her tobacco addiction that she had taken since she was 20 years old was also a threat to her, who always feared developing lung cancer. Her other addictions to alcohol and various drugs of hers led her to be admitted several times.
She broke her back five times, had two hip replacements, had a hysterectomy, suffered from dysentery and phlebitis, had a perforation in her esophagus, she survived a benign brain tumor and skin cancer. She also had two life-threatening bouts of pneumonia. In 1983 she admitted to having been addicted to sleeping pills and painkillers for 35 years.
In 2011, already suffering from heart failure, she was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for treatment, where she remained until she died in 2011 at the age of 79, surrounded by her four children. The actress also left a dozen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
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