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Do you have your frickin' machine on?

Yeah.

Let's ease into it a little.

Okey dokey.

Let me think now. Wait a minute.

Would you like another drink?

Yeah. You?

Scotch and soda.

One for my friend, Jack Daniels and Sandy.

Got a half bottle?

Tonight we invented champagne.

- Excuse me. - What's the matter?

I'm just fascinated

by the phenomenon of Elizabeth Taylor.

What do you think your public image is?

- My public image? - Yeah.

I would think it was an untrustworthy lady.

Completely superficial.

Not too pretty.

Not too pretty?

I mean, inside. Not too pretty a picture.

Maybe because of my personal life.

I suggest something illicit.

But I am not illicit.

And I am not immoral.

I made mistakes.

And I have paid for them.

But still, it doesn't make up.

I know that I will never be able to pay the bill.

But that is not something you can put in the story.

I'd like to ask a little bit about, you know, your career.

Do you feel that you sort of created your career

or that it just happened to you?

What do you mean by created my career?

I don't know what kind of a career you mean.

Your movie?

I really...

My career has been kind of odd.

I've been in film since I was ten.

I really had the most idyllic childhood

and then going to a public school in California right after we moved.

And everybody's kid

is a producer's daughter, a director's son.

It's such a small community.

And we've gone to the studio to have a look around.

Rolling... How are the cameras?

All right. Bob, how are your lights?

All good.

I was very impressed.

It's so huge in all the studio stages.

And at that time, you know

they would do, maybe, thirty films at once

so it was teeming with life.

All right, cut it. Print it.

People dressed up in Greek clothes. People dressed up in cowboy clothes.

People dressed up as apes

and movie stars who's everybody, even extras were a movie star.

Yeah.

And then I decided I'd like to be an actress.

And you were not pushed by your parents at all?

The absolute opposite.

Now, if anything, they didn't want me to be an actress.

My father, particularly. My mother was more understanding

because she'd been an actress herself.

But I was the one that pushed.

Poor Lassie.

Poor Lassie.

Poor girl.

I was a producer at MGM

starting a film called

Lassie Come Home

and in it was a charming little girl part.

Francis Taylor

who ran the little art gallery in the Beverly Hills Hotel

began talking to me about his beautiful daughter

which is the sort of thing producers hear often.

So I wasn't paying a lot of attention.

And she walked in.

It was truly like an eclipse of the sun.

It blotted out everybody that was in the office.

I took her by the hand. I walked over to wardrobe.

We never even tested her in the part. We just took the chance.

Oh, my Lassie, come home.

Elizabeth and I have been friends

since we were in Lassie Come Home.

That's a very long time.

So we've shared a lot of life together, happily.

What was your first impression

the first time you ever saw Elizabeth on the set of Lassie?

- Truthfully? - At last, yeah.

I was absolutely floored by her.

She has the most exquisite face.

Please, Joe.

What do you want?

I hope you won't worry too much about Lassie.

Her eyes were so astounding that the cameraman asked

if her mother would please have the mascara removed.

And she said, "I'm not wearing any."

I mean, those top lashes.

She's the most beautiful thing I ever saw in my life.

The idea of being in films

was like the most magical extension of make believe.

Country's going to pot.

- Nonsense. - What's that?

I said nonsense.

I didn't know that it was a career.

Didn't occur to me that I was working for money.

It just seemed like a more concrete extension of make believe.

Isn't he beautiful?

He's new. I've never seen him before.

How did you get the part

of Velvet Brown?

Well, I was under contract

to MGM at the time

and I desperately wanted the part because it was me.

It was my whole life, my relationship and love for horses.

And the producer saw me, and he said, "I'm very sorry, Elizabeth.

You're just too small. You know, no one would believe it."

But I mean, I was swinging from doors to make myself grow.

I did forty jumps every morning.

I ate steak for breakfast, lunch, dinner.

I literally stretched myself and I grew three inches in three months.

And Pandro Berman, the producer

he said, "With that kind of tenacity, honey, you've got the part."

Velvet, you're too young to understand something.

Have you ever really felt keen about anything?

Oh, yeah.

Horses.

Steady now.

Elizabeth is about the best looking 15-year-old girl

known to the public at large.

I christen thee, the MGM mayorship.

She will soon be appearing in Cynthia and Life with Father.

Elizabeth is under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood

and receives her education at the MGM Studio School.

Did you like school?

I hated it.

I mean, it was really so grim...

It was a studio school?

Which used to be Irving Thalberg's bungalow

that they converted into a school.

I don't know. There was something so false

about trying to pack in your education.

All it took was three hours a day

but you could be on the set eight hours.

- Well, how's my big girl? - Hello, Dad.

And during that eight hours

you had to cram in ten minutes here

- fifteen minutes. - Yeah.

And in between times you would have to go out and act.

So your memory was split between being the character

and then being hauled back into school

and trying to snap your brain back into place

and become a student.

And the real business today is the acting.

You bet yours.

I admire you

but I'm afraid you're a little too noble for me.

Something funny happened to me.

I was like a child actress.

And then all of a sudden, I was playing at the age of 16

but looking 24

I was playing in the film Robert Taylor's wife.

The awful thing is I received my own real life kiss

one week before I received my first film kiss.

I must say that the film kiss was better than my real life kiss.

But it was sort of like I was thrown into the adult world

when I have to behave like a sophisticated woman.

And in my own world, I was a terrified little girl.

Have you ever seen a dream walking?

I have. A dream with peaches and cream complexion

flowing raven locks, and big blue eyes that literally talk.

She's five foot five and 110 pounds.

A glorious 16-year-old CoverGirl beauty.

You'll see her soon

in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's gay Technicolor musical comedy

A Date with Judy.

You're the prettiest girl in Santa Barbara.

That's obvious.

Thank you very much.

And you know it. That's also obvious.

I mean, you know, from a very, very early age

you represented one of the most potent sex symbols in the world.

Because I played with that horse when I was twelve years old.

May I have a cigarette, please?

Good evening, Carol. Good evening.

You look lovely tonight, Carol. You really do.

And you've grown, too. You certainly have.

When you weren't in school

there was someone with you all the time looking after you.

During my teenage years

my mother and a tutor were with me all the time.

But you can imagine when you're almost eighteen

having, like, a nanny take you in tow.

You weren't even supposed to go into the commissary alone.

And it was only when I was almost eighteen

that I was allowed to go any place by myself.

Elizabeth, what do you like to do

when you're not making movies?

Dances and parties on Friday

and Saturday nights, for instance.

Baseball, football games

on Saturday afternoons

long horseback rides with friends like Jane Powell.

All those things are a lot of fun.

When I was at MGM

and very young people in the press department

would suggest that I would date somebody.

For publicity.

Publicity.

It was all pure fabrication.

We would go out on dates so virginal

and we kissed on the cheek, you know.

I mean, that's how serious it was.

You really wanted to get married.

Yes, I did. Because I was in love with love.

I was infatuated with love.

I was playing parts that were so highly romantic.

The impression I get is that you really wanted your freedom.

Absolutely. But I was so naive.

I met Nick Hilton at the age of eighteen.

I was a virgin.

And not only a virgin physically, but mentally.

I was not prepared to be an adult.

I'd been sheltered and protected.

The repercussions were that I made horrendous mistakes.

Hollywood's wedding of the year at the Beverly Hills Catholic Church

as lovely British born screen star, Elizabeth Taylor

arrives with her father for her marriage to Conrad Hilton Jr.

Crowning a romance everybody's been interested in.

The 23-year-old bridegroom is heir to one of America's richest men.

Elizabeth at eighteen, is famous for her loveliness and charm.

Her striking gown, a gift from her studio friends

simply stagger the enormous crowds at the wedding.

The ceremony was like a fairytale.

It was perfect.

With this ring, I thee wed.

With this ring, I thee wed.

I felt something would automatically happen to me inside.

I thought I would obtain maturity

just because I was a Mrs. Instead of a Miss.

Of course, it had nothing to do with it.

Then we drove away and it was a big reception.

For the first time in my life, I'd had two glasses of champagne.

Then I had three glasses of champagne.

And the time came to leave

and I became more and more petrified.

Because I really had no idea what was coming.

Conrad Hilton Jr.

And Elizabeth Taylor

sail on the Queen Mary

for three months in Europe.

And then to the place where we spent our wedding night.

And I locked myself in the bathroom and changed and...

I didn't want to unlock the door, I was so petrified.

Finally, I did unlock the door.

And I guess Nick saw that I was so terrified.

Anyway. Nothing happened for three days.

Okay. Stop.

It was just wonderful. We had such a gay time.

We love Europe.

Hello, everybody. I'd like you to meet my new dog, Bonko.

He's three months old. He's a true Frenchman.

Won't you say hello in French?

Bonko. Bonko.

Dark blue.

Not violet, or...

No, that's some sort of romantic journalist idea.

Are there relatively few opportunities

for a good actress to be good?

I fought against the studio to get a good role for a film.

Look, come with me.

I couldn't.

It was like walking in molasses.

No matter how hard I tried.

They were going to keep me stuck as an ingénue.

Why are you so quiet?

I wanted a challenge, something with meaning.

I make you nervous?

Yes.

You look like an Eastman. Are you one?

Nephew. My name's George.

I'm Angela.

The first time I played a so-called adult role

was in A Place in the Sun

with Montgomery Clift.

And I was absolutely terrified

because Monty, first of all, was, you know, the New York stage actor.

And I felt very much the inadequate teenage Hollywood

sort of, puppet that had just worn pretty clothes.

And I hadn't really acted except with horses and dogs.

I'm getting on pretty well here, Mama.

I'm happy here, too.

Who's there with you, George?

It's me, Mama.

George encouraged me so

because he didn't make me feel

like a puppet.

He gave indications of what he wanted

but didn't tell you specifically what to do.

This is nice. I don't want to spoil it.

When we were doing the dance scene

and Monty

- says, "I love you," - I love you.

And my instinct was to look up into his eyes.

And George said, "No, just have some expression on your face"

whatever it is you're feeling."

You're the fellow who wondered why I invited you here tonight.

I'll tell you why.

I love...

Are they watching us?

I love you, too. It scares me.

I loved doing that film

and I think I was bitten.

I loved the possibility of acting.

I loved being given the chance of maybe becoming an actress.

And I took it.

I took it between my teeth like a horse does.

And I ran.

And it seemed to work.

Eager fans see Elizabeth Taylor with Montgomery Clift.

Elizabeth, haven't seen you in a long time.

Thank you. How are you?

We talked about making horrendous errors.

What sort of things were those?

Well, I think trying to rush things. Trying to force things.

I mean nothing's to be said about my first marriage.

Okay.

This is a delicate area

and I don't know how to... how it should be handled, but...

I don't want to talk about Nick Hilton

about his kicking me in the stomach and causing me to have a miscarriage.

That's the kind of thing nobody in the world knows of.

I think the great interest in this

is to find out what you have to say about all these things.

Yeah.

The wedding was lovely.

Then came disillusionment.

Also, a few split lips.

I had left because Nick was always in a temper or stoned or something.

I couldn't really go back to that life of...

such mental and physical abuse.

And our marriage

was over and done with.

Anyway, after the whole thing

I stayed at the Plaza Hotel in New York.

The first kind of free, independent time

I'd ever had in my life.

I was a divorcee and I was nineteen.

Roddy was there with me, and Monty.

Just having fun with my chums, doing all kinds of crazy things.

If I wanted to go ice skating at nine o'clock at night, we would.

I would just have hot dogs all day long.

Completely irresponsible sort of behavior.

I didn't have to keep proper hours.

I didn't have to do anything properly.

And I had a ball.

And, of course, Roddy and Monty were such marvelous friends

and they just took great care of me.

Elizabeth surrounded herself with gay men.

She worshipped Montgomery Clift. She loved Rock Hudson.

She just cherished

those relationships.

They were never going to

come on to her

and I think she really appreciated that.

She saw people around her

particularly her closest friends, Monty Clift, I think, and Rock Hudson

who were hidden in this kind of Hollywood facade.

But they weren't willing to come out at that stage

because we lived in such a different world then.

It was just not possible.

Roddy has been, I guess, my most consistent friend.

My longest friend.

He makes you feel cherished.

Just as you really are.

A lot of my friends, they've always been, kind of, a sanctuary.

A traditional way of greeting

the new year in London

is the Chelsea Arts Ball at the Royal Albert Hall.

Clad in very fancy dress, they dance the old year out

without much regret, I should imagine.

All cameras at London airports

are focused on two people very much in love.

Britain's Michael Wilding and Elizabeth Taylor.

I'm very glad.

Glad to see you, too.

Then, of course, you know, I met Michael

and he was a great stabilizer.

Is there anything I can do?

Look, I don't know your trouble, but you don't look very well to me.

Kind of going from one extreme to another.

Oh yes, quite clearly.

I mean, Michael is twenty years older than I am

so it was a bit of the father figure thing.

He represented tranquility, security, maturity.

He represented all the things that I needed in myself.

No Hollywood premiere could ever compete with this.

The siege of Paxton Hall

as thousands of fans fought for just a glimpse of these glamorous stars

on their wedding day.

Normally staid Londoners mobbed the newlyweds

as the well-wishers surged forward to get a better look at the Wildings.

I was dying to have children

but I was at least realistic enough

to know that I was not ready.

I was twenty years old

and I was so inexperienced

and brought up in a world of such protection

that people did things for me.

But I wanted to be a good wife.

I really wanted to be a splendid mother.

A new personality makes

his film debut in Hollywood

with his lovely mother, MGM star Elizabeth Taylor

directing the performance.

Michael Howard Wilding makes his bow to the great movie audience.

And I went back to MGM

and was forced to do things that I hated.

I was given such shit that you should choke on.

Elizabeth Taylor

as the beautiful young girl

who recklessly loved a man she hardly knew.

The dark depths within him, a mystery she had still to discover.

And then it kind of made me sick.

I died inside.

Because year after year of reading reviews

that said I was a vacuous but pretty face

and quite clearly couldn't read a line upside down.

I can't just turn it on when you want it, like a light switch

and turn it off when you don't.

There was a kind of rebellion that started within me.

I thought maybe I'd start to fight them.

And then I did start to fight.

Out of the special chartered plane stepped Elizabeth Taylor

Rock Hudson, director George Stevens.

Why hello.

Why, Leslie.

- Good morning. - Good morning.

The opportunity is marvelous

because the character starts from 18

and ends up very manicured, well-coiffed 50.

And that is difficult to portray if you are 22, which I was.

How you doing?

Tired, huh?

Now don't you worry about me.

I'm a tough Texian.

I started the film and again all the method actors

that still give me an inferiority complex

Jimmy Dean, Carroll Baker.

Now, Luz.

She was a character.

She played my daughter and she's two years older than I am.

Eat it while it's hot.

George and I had gotten on so well on A Place in the Sun

but I don't know, unless it's like... it's hard to say.

We got off on a bad start.

Just difference of opinion to do with the character

and in front of the whole crew, everyone.

He said clearly, I would never become an actress

because I was so concerned about being pretty.

He constantly reminded me that I was a movie star, not an actress.

He constantly misinterpreted ideas of mine

that did not gel with his.

Please do go on talking, I'd love it.

This is men's stuff.

Leslie, how about a cup of coffee or a drink or something?

Men stuff?

Lord have mercy.

And did you ever think of taking acting lessons or...

- No. - Never. You never thought...

Have you ever taken acting?

No. I believe

that any technique or talent that I might have

is not technique. It's instinct.

It's very impolite, I know.

But in principle, I was absolutely right.

If I am feeling something emotional in a scene

I sweat real sweat and I shake real shakes.

A great deal of effort goes into making it seem effortless.

When are you going to settle down and behave like everybody else?

Never.

Rock Hudson and Elizabeth became very close

when they were filming Giant.

Rock had had a very public marriage to

sort of, put the nail in the coffin

of this rumor that he was gay.

Of course it was all a sham. Elizabeth knew it was a sham.

Rock trusted her. And she protected him.

It was 120 in the shade.

It was boiling, but we were like a very tightly knit family.

Marfa, Texas had a population of 2,000, I think.

So we were like the real Martians.

We all had a little tiny house.

It was sort of sit across the road from each other.

And sometimes Jimmy and I would sit up

until like three o'clock in the morning talking.

He would tell me about some of the grief and unhappiness in his life

and some of his loves and tragedies.

And the next day on the set, I'd say, hi, Jimmy.

And it was almost as if he didn't want to sort of recognize

that he had revealed so much of himself the night before.

And it would just be a cursory nod of the head

and it would take maybe a day or two for him to become my friend again.

One lump, or do you like two?

The night that Jimmy was killed

we were in the projection room watching the rushes

and George turned the sound off

and he said, ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make.

Jimmy Dean is dead.

It occurred on US 466.

It was a sideswipe, head on collision.

The dead was James Byron Dean

D.O.A., or dead on arrival at the hospital.

He's only 24, and it seemed impossible.

I'd just been with him that day

driving around the studio in his Porsche.

He was so alive, he was so vital.

I couldn't believe that he was dead.

Okay.

Then after that I went into a whole, kind of, period of examining.

My own life.

It was Michael. We were married five years and for three

it was just sort of...

I mean, it just wasn't working out.

I'm afraid I gave him a rather rough time.

I tended to be a bit stronger than he was.

Our divorce was friendly.

If you can call a divorce being friendly.

Did you have any worries about the children?

You said, "My children are very remarkable people."

- What did you mean? - I love my kids.

But I absolutely cannot talk about them.

I feel terribly protective.

They have the right to privacy.

What kind of a woman

did you say she was?

How many kinds are there?

Elizabeth?

She never had all these boyfriends, you know, like other people.

She fell in love, got married and then got divorced.

I once said to Elizabeth, "Then why do you have to marry all these fellas"

why can't you just be a mistress or whatever?"

And she said to me, "Because I want to be a bride."

And then came the love of her life, Mike Todd.

Mr. Todd, are you planning to star Elizabeth Taylor

in any of your forthcoming films?

I didn't get the name.

Elizabeth Taylor.

You mean the cinema actress.

- Yes. - Oh, yes. Yes.

Well, I read that

Elizabeth Taylor is not going to make like an actress very much longer.

She's going to marry you, I'm told.

- Huh? - Marry you, Mr. Todd.

I didn't hear you very well. The acoustics, the airplanes.

Producer Michael Todd led a rich career

most of it on Broadway.

But it was his first movie, Around the World in 80 Days

that made his name an international byword.

Are you formally challenging me to

undertake a journey around the world

in 80 days?

What kind of a man is Mike Todd?

Mike was one of the most flamboyant characters I've ever known.

There was a joy about being alive and a vitality

and he was a real con artist.

He could con the gold out of your teeth.

Hello? Yes. What?

I don't want orchestras for the boats.

I want bands and in uniform.

It was during the period that Mike was producing 80 Days

that I became part of his life.

I'd seen Mike, and knew him. It was fun being with him.

I was attracted to him, but not overly.

The day after my separation from Michael Wilding

Mike called me and said he had to see me right away.

He said I was to meet him at MGM.

And Mike charged in. We went into a deserted office.

He sort of plopped me down, pulled a chair around

started in on a spiel, saying that he loved me

and that there was no question about it

that we were going to be married.

I looked at him like a rabbit I imagine looks at a mongoose.

And I thought, "You know something?"

I think he's right." He talked me into it.

That's what I mean, con the gold out of your teeth.

When she married Mike, I was her matron of honor

and I was married to Eddie Fisher.

I greet the dawn when I awaken

Mike Todd was Eddie's best friend

and the four of us had a lot of fun together.

Elizabeth, she just was madly in love with Mike Todd

who was really a charismatic guy.

When Mike bought me my engagement ring

he said it was 29 and 7/8 carats

because thirty would have been vulgar.

I call it my ice skating rink.

What do you want to ask me?

I talked to some of the presents you've given Ms. Taylor.

I wouldn't want to discuss that

but I can hear you loud and clear when you talk about...

Did you say Ms. Taylor? You mean, Mrs. Todd?

- I beg your pardon. - Oh, yes.

Well, Mrs. Todd is my favorite person in the whole world

and there's no secret about it. And I'm very fortunate

and have to get my hands on a few dollars occasionally.

And I think there's no better way in the world of spending it

than trying to spoil Elizabeth. You can't let that be...

Somebody once said, is Elizabeth spoiled?

And I said, I know nothing more pleasant than trying to spoil her.

I won't be able to, I don't think.

We traveled all over the world together

to promote Around the World in 80 Days

and we couldn't have had more of a ball.

Mike, some of your critics say that much of your success is due to luck.

You agree?

It proves that it's much better to be lucky than smart

which I am a living example of.

And ending that sentence with a preposition proves it.

Around the World in 80 Days.

The Best Picture producer Mike Todd receives his Oscar.

Mike was self-educated

not really out of books, but by out of listening.

Curiosity.

For me, I always had a feeling of inadequacy

as a student and as a human being.

With Mike, I learned to enjoy life much more

and not to feel ashamed

because you don't know about something which I had before.

Not to be ashamed of being curious.

The curiosity was a marvelous thing.

One time I was teasing him unmercifully

and some photographer got a picture.

Mike, there's been a lot of publicity about your public spat.

- What? Bite your tongue. - Is that thing...

Would you suggest a good fight now and then?

We're not introverts. We have... we have something to say.

I say, hey, Liz, she hollers, hey, Mike.

You make a case out of that, then it's too bad.

We're very... Well, we're so happy.

It doesn't matter. I don't really care what anybody thinks anyway.

Because we know.

I used to try sometimes to deliberately drive Mike mad.

And I loved it when he then would lose his temper and dominate me

and I'd start to purr inside because he had won and I hadn't.

What sort of things would you do?

Oh, be late.

Be deliberately... Just fiddle around and be late.

I suppose it was like testing my strength.

Each time hoping and praying that I would lose.

It's really very important to you, isn't it? The strength.

Oh, I need it.

I need that quality, and that with any other quality

because I know myself

and I know that I will try and get away with murder.

When are you expecting the baby?

I'm not actually quite sure. I haven't been to see the doctor yet.

I'm going this afternoon.

But sometime around October, I think.

Liz, I'm quoting you now. You once said

you had the mind of a child in a woman's body. Am I right?

That was when I was fifteen. Yeah.

Oh, I see. I was wondering

since you've been married to such a more mature man of the world

as Mr. Todd, you feel you've matured somewhat now.

I hope so. Otherwise, I'd be slightly retarded, wouldn't I?

Thanks very much, Mike and Liz, and best of luck with the baby.

See you're not playing with children. That was a pretty good comeback.

Yes, it was. Yeah.

That was for me, not for your camera.

When Liza was born, she looked like all premature babies

a bit like Methuselah.

But to Mike, she was a total miracle.

He's quite convinced she was the most brilliant child

and certainly going to be the first female president of the United States

and, of course, the first Jewish president of the United States.

Evening, Liz.

- Hello, Ed. How are you? - Good.

Are you going to continue making movies

or just be a housewife?

I couldn't really...

care less about making movies, to tell you the truth.

I consider it much more important

to be a good woman than a great actor or any kind of actor.

I was going to quit

and I had one more film to do on the studio contract.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

It was a weird experience for me.

And I don't remember too much about it

because I was on the film for two weeks before Mike was killed.

Michael Todd died today at the height of his career.

Today his plane crashed and exploded

in mountains thirty miles southwest of Grants, New Mexico.

Mr. Todd was on his way to New York

to accept an award as Showman of the Year.

His wife, Elizabeth Taylor, might have gone with him

but she had a cold and stayed behind.

It's funny, I... I had a feeling

so did Mike, all during our marriage

that something was going to happen.

It was the first time that I had been happy.

And he was almost fifty years old and he had never

he told me, been that happy before.

And it was like something was going to happen.

It was too good to be true.

And when it did happen...

I was so unprepared.

I was unprepared for the death...

of the person that I put all my trust in.

It was really more than I could handle.

Eddie and I both went to Elizabeth's house

and she was screaming, and it was just awful.

And so I said to Eddie, you should stay.

I'll take the children and take them home

because now the press is swarming all over her house.

I was absolutely in...

I mean, really almost incoherent state.

I didn't ever want to work again

but I was so dead

that I thought the only way I could regain my sanity at all

was to go back and finish the film.

I had to finish it.

One of those no neck monsters hit me with some ice cream.

Now, why did you call Goober's kiddies no neck monsters?

Because your brother's children got necks, that's why.

I went back to work after two weeks

and I was more or less like a robot

until I became Maggie.

And when I was Maggie, I could talk and I could function

until they said cut.

I get so lonely.

Everybody gets that.

Living with somebody you love can be lonely as living entirely alone.

When the one you love doesn't love you.

It was a trance-like thing about me after Mike's death.

I think I really did have a strong urge to...

just lay down. Quit.

It seemed almost certain that I was heading to disaster

and I could not stop myself.

So now you're going to enjoy a pause that really refreshes

as we bring you Eddie Fisher singing his newest RCA Victor recording

of Without You.

There'll never be a love for me

Without you

After Mike's plane crash

my husband, he was great comfort for Elizabeth.

And then she had to go to New York.

And then he said he had to go for work.

And, but he really went to be with Elizabeth, which I found out

and realized that there was something going on seriously there.

Eddie Fisher in New York had taken me out

I think, two or three times.

And then all the shit hit the fan.

A short time ago, one of the Hollywood columnist

broke a story about you and Debbie breaking up.

There's nothing to it, but I would prefer not going into it at all.

Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds seem to have a storybook marriage.

The crooner's hits drew thousands of adoring fans

while the starlet's roles in films such as Singin' in the Rain

earned her the title America's Sweetheart.

As a couple, they appeared to adore each other.

Yes. Where is she? Debbie.

She's a very, very wonderful girl.

She's a funny cook.

You mean a lousy cook. That's what he really means.

- Wait a minute. - Yeah.

I was still in love with the memory of Mike.

I was keeping Mike alive.

By talking about him.

Just Eddie was a great friend of Mike's.

That was the only thing we had in common. It was Mike.

I never loved Eddie. I liked him. I felt sorry for him

and I like talking with him about Mike.

I was sick.

But I trapped myself into that, and I did that myself.

I can't say anything against Debbie

but she put on such an act

with the pigtails and the diaper pins.

And, you know, as the whole thing coming as a big shock.

I mean, the public didn't know any of the...

personal unhappinesses of Debbie and Eddie

that Mike and I knew about.

As far as they were concerned

I had broken up a perfectly happy marriage.

In the capper to Hollywood's biggest scandal

a radiant Elizabeth Taylor marries Eddie Fisher

just three hours after his divorce from Debbie Reynolds.

Am I right in thinking that after you married Eddie Fisher that

you encountered terrific public animosity?

Oh, sure.

Hostility in people's faces, and letters, and looks.

Did the public animosity bother you a lot?

Well, sure.

It was more or less justified as far as they were concerned.

Matter of fact, I don't remember too much about my marriage

except that it was one big friggin' awful mistake.

And that I knew it before we got married

and didn't know how to get out of it.

You're going to honeymoon in Europe.

Whereabouts?

Some place around Spain.

You happy?

Very happy. Thank you.

Eddie, this is probably the most publicized wedding in a long time.

How do you two feel about all the publicity?

The... About what?

About all the publicity attending the wedding?

I don't think that's a...

We're more concerned about each other right now.

I see.

Eddie, are you are a little bit dizzy by the pace of this thing?

- We're a little weary. - It's true.

Very tired, but we feel wonderful.

Can she cook?

She doesn't have to.

I question whether you ever thought at the time

perhaps it would have been marvelous

if I had never been a movie star and never been in a success.

Oh, yes.

I think that some part of me is sorry that I became...

a public utility.

I know I should be grateful, I know.

I don't like fame.

I don't like the sense of belonging to the public.

I like being an actress, or trying to be an actress.

I had done some films

and by all kind of rules of the business I shouldn't have done

and that I was advised not to do.

For instance, Suddenly Last Summer.

This generation's

greatest author and poet

writer of A Streetcar Named Desire

and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

unashamedly writes of a woman's strong wants

and a man's strange needs.

What did really happen?

I failed him. I wasn't able to keep the web from breaking.

I saw it breaking, but I couldn't save it or repair it.

There now. The truth's coming out.

Everyone advised me not to do it.

Because of the theme?

Oh. Only the theme. Because the theme was so controversial.

Elizabeth was never afraid

of controversial things.

Suddenly Last Summer dealt with a troubled gay man

who was deeply closeted.

Of course, because of the production code at the time

the underlying homosexuality was whitewashed.

People said, "Don't do it, it'll be the end of your career."

So if I've been really ambitious about my career

I would have done Ben-Hur.

Oscar Night, the 32nd Annual Academy Awards.

Charlton Heston, the star of Ben-Hur. Keeping his fingers crossed.

Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher.

I did get nominated for Suddenly Last Summer.

You really wanted an Academy Award.

Sure.

What does it represent?

Well, I suppose to me it...

was finally being considered by my own industry

an actress, not a movie star.

And that was terribly important to me.

Best actress, Simone Signoret, for her performance in the British...

And I think probably without being a good girl

I probably would have won.

Didn't you think so, Roddy?

- Ms. Taylor? - Yes. Mr. McDowell, darling.

Yes. Randy McNutt.

How about a movie, like, that you really hated?

Like Butterfield, for instance.

I hated it so much.

I thought, fuck them. They made me do the film.

I didn't want to. I did it with a pistol to my head.

Butterfield Eight.

With Laurence Harvey is one of Elizabeth Taylor's major films

after the death of Mike Todd

and a storm of her next marriage to Eddie Fisher.

To the three of us.

Who also stars in the movie.

One for all and all for one.

The question is which one?

Most critics think the picture is a bomb.

But as a model and freelance call girl

she does, as usual, dominate the screen.

We both know what kind of a girl I've been.

- We both know when... - No, I don't want to hear about it.

Mama, you have to.

Mama, I am different.

Yesterday it was men, a whole world full of men.

- But to... - Let me go, you're hurting me.

Mama, face it. I was the slut of all time.

You're very good in it.

- I tried. I mean, I was... - I mean very, very good in it.

The lines was so diabolical.

It was such a piece of shit that it made me angry.

And out of the anger, it kind of gave me an incentive.

That character is one of the most potent things

that I've seen you play.

You were marvelous and tragic and wild and passionate.

Well, it was done out of anger.

We did have a drink together last night.

One?

Dozen, maybe.

And this morning, you stagger out of his apartment. Charming.

Funny thing, I don't even remember going there.

Better than sleeping pills.

Married to Eddie Fisher, did you feel very lonely? Was that...

Yes. And he made sure that I felt lonely.

We never went out.

No.

It was like he didn't like me to mingle with other people.

And it was like being locked up.

I started to sleep 14 or 15 hours at once.

I was trying to avoid everything. I was trying to avoid life.

But I was so desperate at one time

that I did take some sleeping pills.

I did it deliberately, calmly, and...

in front of Eddie.

I was fed up with living

and couldn't then face the thought of divorce.

I'd rather have been dead than face going through a divorce.

Did you get... Were you taken to the hospital?

No, a doctor came to the hotel.

And thank, God. I'm so deeply ashamed of that.

It's the most self-indulgent kind of behavior.

Because the consequences to the children was so horrific.

I wasn't thinking of anybody but myself.

That's why I say it's so selfish.

- Hey, what time is it, boy? - It's not very late.

- What is it? - 11:30.

- Is the machine on? - Yes, the machine is on.

Okay.

I want to push on.

The motion picture casting achievement of the year

is about to become a recorded fact.

The occasion? The Hollywood signing of the exotic Elizabeth

for the most exotic role in her career.

Cleopatra, of whom Shakespeare wrote

age cannot weather her

nor customs stale of her infinite variety.

Elizabeth was the first movie star

man or woman

to be paid a million dollars

for a part in a film.

And she asked for 10% of the absolute gross.

When it came to business, she was ruthless.

I finally got away from MGM

and was one of the first ones to make my own deals

and I enjoyed dealing with the studios.

And I was quite a good businesswoman.

Are you ever made to feel by the movie industry like so much meat?

I was.

But when you, very coolly

ask for a million dollars for a film and get it

you don't feel like a piece of meat.

You feel like a big steak.

Well, all I can do is to ask the same question.

Why do you think that you're paid a million dollars for a movie?

What do you think is your salable goods?

I really haven't thought about it.

Come on now. You were offered a million dollars.

Now, what was that based on?

Have you never thought of yourself to be a sex symbol?

Sex symbol... What the hell is a sex symbol? What is it?

Marilyn Monroe is a good example.

Yeah, but I don't think I am. I really don't.

You don't think your public image is that of a sex symbol?

I don't want to be a sex symbol.

A man.

It's you.

I summoned you yesterday to an audience in my throne room.

Because I am a woman

and I am in the prime of my life.

Sex, of course, must enter into any role that I play.

Am I to understand that you feel free to do with me whatever you want?

Whenever you want.

Yes, I want that understood.

This is one of the reasons I have a problem

over your not feeling like a sex goddess

is how can you be built that way

and not be aware of what this must be doing to people?

You two put so bloody much emphasis on this sex goddess thing...

I swear to God, before you, I never thought about being a sex goddess.

I know I'm an actress and I know I'm female

and I'm very proud of being a woman. I love being a woman.

And I think sex is absolutely gorgeous.

And as far as being a sex goddess is concerned

I've never thought of myself that way.

I'm a broad. I'm a woman.

- Well... - I really don't think it's unique.

You seem sort of excited about it.

Because it's about the 19th time it's come up in the conversation.

It won't come up again.

Okay.

Listen, we have to go, you know

because you have to leave by the side door.

What?

There're a great many photographers. I'm going to arrange about the car.

Your machine's off, isn't it?

No, it isn't.

When I was doing Cleopatra in England

location work can be terribly monotonous

because you have to rely and wait for the weather.

You wait for the gods. And you can sit there for days.

We started out in September

and they got, I don't know, three weeks done

and they had to abandon it for eight months or something

because there was not a dry day.

And I was sick in bed

with what I thought, you know, the 24-hour-flu.

Hollywood's epic production of Cleopatra grinds to a halt

after its leading lady, Elizabeth Taylor

is rushed to the London clinic with life threatening pneumonia.

And I was on the operating table for eighteen hours.

And actually four times, I was called dead

and stopped breathing.

And they had pipes going into my lungs

pouring gook out and shoving oxygen in.

And when I came to on the table, the operating table

that when I tried to scream

no sound came out.

There was only just air coming in a big hole in my throat

with its lever open.

Well, as you know, Ms. Taylor has not been well.

So we've been trying

to get everything we can

that does not include her...

You're now basically waiting on her.

Yes. Basically waiting on Ms. Taylor.

Good news from the London clinic, Eddie Fisher arriving

to escort his beautiful wife as she left the hospital.

There has been widespread sympathy for Liz Taylor over her illness.

Now interest in her recovery reached a climax.

Stand back! Back!

Glad to see you, Ms. Taylor, how are you? How do you feel?

I feel a little weak. Thank you.

You're going for a nice long rest now, are you?

- Yes. - How long?

About six months.

And after that, back to Cleopatra, is it?

- I hope so. - Okay.

Jolly good luck, then.

- Thank you. - Okay.

Okay. Alright.

I must say, after I recovered, I was so consumed with life.

Everything became a miracle.

Elizabeth Taylor...

On the rise from her recent grave illness

Elizabeth Taylor receives a prolonged accolade

from the audience. It's a popular choice.

Butterfield Eight was my fourth nomination in a row.

And I won the award from my tracheotomy.

You really feel that?

Yes, I do.

There must have been some kind of sympathy thing

because I think the film is so embarrassing.

It's just dreadful.

I don't really know how to express my gratitude

for this and for everything.

I guess what I can do is say thank you.

Thank you. With all my heart.

- Are you feeling alright now? - Yes, fine.

You're the second director who's been on this film.

Is this a rescue operation?

No, I wouldn't call it

a rescue operation.

I'm starting a film called Cleopatra, and we are starting from scratch.

When they started up production in Rome

the film was hugely over budget.

Constantly behind schedule.

One of the most troubled productions ever.

It almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox.

And of course, because the film was re-shot

most of the original cast had to be recast.

That's how Richard became part of the film.

You remember the very first time you ever met Richard?

Richard came on the set

and I've never seen a gentleman so hung over in my whole life.

But he was kind of quivering from head to foot.

Mark Anthony, how prompt you are.

If I had not been, it would be unforgivable of me.

First time I ever came on set, it was a very distinct moment.

I... every so often, I go to a real bender.

I drink everything I can.

Drinks that people leave behind, anything.

And I was on one of my benders not knowing that I would have to work.

And they suddenly called me. And so I arrived at the studio

and I was in a shocking state.

I don't think I slept for two nights, so I was a real mess.

He ordered a cup of coffee to sort of still his trembling fist.

So I got some coffee, but I couldn't get it to my mouth.

So I said to Elizabeth, "Hold this love for me, will you?"

And I fed him coffee

and he was terribly nervous and sweet and shaky.

And that just endeared me so much.

My heart just sort of went out to him.

She was very friendly to me.

The first time I ever met her, she burped.

Richard, what'd you think about her press as the bad girl?

I don't really read the entertainment sections of newspapers

so I don't know what they wrote about her

except I remember being furious before we started Cleopatra

for a totally different reason.

Because I was only getting $300,000 and Elizabeth was getting a million.

I will never be free of you.

I've never seen her in a movie except when she was a tiny girl.

And I thought she was just, in quotation marks, "a star"

and I didn't think she could act at all.

You will kneel.

I will what?

On your knees.

And then I watched Elizabeth do a scene

in which she appeared to be doing nothing.

Then you go and see the rushes. And Elizabeth, she was hair-raising.

So brilliant. And you can't learn it, I don't think.

You have not been dismissed.

You are now dismissed.

Elizabeth is royal.

She's queen-like.

It's distant.

Like, don't touch.

It's the inaccessibility of Elizabeth that makes her exciting.

The dance, I take it, is over.

I remember going to Rome and there was a dinner.

Richard was there and

the whole room just felt this heat between the two of them.

And I think the only person that didn't get it was Eddie.

Elizabeth came over. She was still married to Eddie.

And she said to me

"Pussycat, I've got something to tell you."

And she told me about Richard.

And she was really so madly in love with Richard.

I'd never seen her like that before.

Eddie left. Back to California.

Richard and I, we tried to be what is considered good

but it didn't work.

There is still time.

If someone asked me what I want

to live with you in peace and love.

It's very difficult to talk about because I loved Richard.

I didn't want his marriage to break up.

Sybil was a wonderful woman.

I couldn't help loving him.

It was a fact.

I think Sybil always thought he would come back

because Richard had had past affairs

and he'd always come back.

Anthony.

But they were totally obsessed with each other.

It was a very, very, very, very intense relationship.

People would say, we don't care what they do in private life

but why do they have to air their dirty laundry in public?

But when the press photographers chase you for miles

get a photograph of you in the car going to the studio or something.

Photographers dressed up as priests would come to the door.

Photographers would get inside the house

dressed up as workmen or plumbers.

It's affected my children.

They don't like journalists.

I mean, the only way out for them, was to make a big game of it.

So when the paparazzi would climb over the wall

we'd turn the hose on them.

And the kids would help, and they had a ball.

It was the only way

otherwise I think they would've felt like hunted little animals.

So it became Cops and Robbers instead.

The press had gotten very nasty.

I remember when the word paparazzi came along

and it just meant a bunch of guys who were all photographers

looking for Elizabeth Taylor.

Desperately looking for Elizabeth Taylor.

And that was the beginning of paparazzi.

They were not going for glamor anymore.

They were going for the destruction of glamor.

All the Elizabeth, Richard, Eddie, saga

in Rome during Cleopatra

it was a nightmare.

Nobody had ever seen anything like this.

It was a huge wordless gamble.

I think even the Pope got involved at some point.

The Vatican newspaper had come out

with an item saying that I was so despicable a woman.

That my own children should be taken away from me.

An attack that really... It made me vomit.

The day after that

somebody was out at the studio trying to blow me up with a bomb.

So the Italian FBI were out there for five days

and it was really a horrendous week.

In Cleopatra's entrance to Rome

I had to sit on top of the Sphinx with a little boy.

We shot on the backlot with 10,000 irate Italians, I thought

who'd read the Vatican newspaper about this vicious woman.

And as the Sphinx came through the archway

the crowd had been told, you know, "Cleopatra. Wave."

And they were all silent.

Nobody was waving and I really was trembling

that they might run up and tear me to shreds.

And all of a sudden

they ran to the Sphinx and broke the line

and started yelling, "Bacia, Liz".

And they started blowing kisses.

And they started screaming and cheering.

And I sat there with the tears just pouring down my face.

And everybody, Richard, my mother, and everybody was dissolved in tears.

There wasn't one unfriendly word.

The Queen has conquered the people of Rome.

This spring, Revlon brings you the new Cleopatra look.

Brilliantly translated into the most exciting and wearable look today.

Sphinx Pink makes all other pinks look positively pallid.

Our turnout, over 10,000 New Yorkers

jammed Broadway for the world premiere

- of Cleopatra... - The world premiere of Cleopatra

the biggest and most publicized ever known.

And is that surprising?

It's the most talked about and the most expensive film ever made.

Cleopatra was notorious when it was released.

Absolutely notorious.

Good, bad or indifferent

it had become a film of such character and notoriety

that I don't think anybody could see the forest for the trees.

How about it? You and I'll take that night boat on the Nile.

Just the two of us.

Sure, just the two of us.

And a thousand slaves rowing.

Just my luck. One of them will be Eddie Fisher.

I knew what I was doing by loving Richard was wrong.

There was only one thing I could do, and that was to leave him.

Eddie and I were back together and I told him I would try.

And Eddie at nighttime would sit up. He had a gun.

Every time I start to close my eyes or nod off

he would, like, stroke my arm and say, "I'm not going to kill you."

I wouldn't shoot you. You're much too pretty."

All night long.

I finally ran from the house and stayed at an apartment.

I was so scared.

And Richard and I did another film together

and we both did the film really

in all honesty, so we could be together.

That was the only reason. We didn't admit it then.

And it was then

really that the situation was so...

desperate, I think, for everybody concerned.

So Richard started talking about marriage.

I met such opposition from everyone.

Roddy, my mother and father. My father called me a whore.

Do you still have attacks of guilt about it?

Oh, yes.

Especially about Richard's children.

We both do.

For having inflicted such awful pain.

Do you have any religious worries about all this?

You mean, do I think I'm going to be punished in hell?

I don't think we can plan

on being rewarded or being punished afterwards.

I think we must pay on this earth.

We should do our penance now.

There will be no press conference, There will be no questions to be had.

When the two lovers arrived

this was the barrage of reporters and cameramen

that met them at the airport.

Do you have any comment at all, Liz?

Ms. Taylor, do you have no comment whatsoever?

How do we get out? Please.

They sought sanctuary in an airport baggage tunnel.

Finally a refuge, but only temporarily

in a nearby bar with Ms. Taylor and Burton still tight lipped

still refusing to answer questions.

At the hotel, Burton eluded photographers.

Ms. Taylor headed for a police protected hotel suite.

Do you have any statement

about your wife's statement that she will not buy a divorce?

I don't understand it.

Liz's lawyers say that you are asking for $1,000,000

as your price for a divorce.

I said before that I don't...

They have been saying a lot of things.

Things are being twisted and turned and made to appear as a...

It's very confusing to me.

Do you have any plans or any plans to meet with Mr. Fisher

when you're in town here?

- No. - No, we didn't know he was here

until you guys informed us last night, you know.

In what way is he being unpleasant about this?

Do you read the papers, love?

- Well, I see different things. - I suggest you do.

- Different days. - Yeah.

- Am I bitter? - Yes.

Not at all. I am not bitter.

This part of it that I'm in right now is like walking to a bad dream and...

I just don't belong in it, so...

I want to get out.

- You have no... - Now.

You have a lot of what I would call bad publicity.

Do you care?

I gave up a long time ago

and, you know, probably I could hire a press agent to fix my image.

I could probably even try and fix it myself

by doing a lot of justifying and all that.

I'm not going to.

It's a losing game. You can't.

People already have a set image.

They want to believe either the good or the bad.

And if you try and explain

then you lose yourself along the way.

Richard Burton and his bride, Elizabeth Taylor

have returned to Toronto after being married in Montreal.

Newsmen who greeted the couple at Toronto's International airport

congratulated Ms. Taylor on her fifth marriage

and she thanked them.

I think she's finally found her true love.

I think she's ready to settle down now.

I don't think she's as attractive as she used to be.

So she'll have a harder time finding another one.

I'm looking forward to getting fat, obese, wrinkled, gray haired...

And with liver spots.

Sagging, everything's going to sag in about two years.

One of your shorter marriages, then.

You told me you loved every ton.

You did so.

After we were married

it was really as if we had been bonded together with bands of steel.

There was finally a relaxation.

Like a golden flood of warmth.

The children, they worshipped Richard

'cause he's so wonderful with them.

He becomes the same age as the kids.

Sometimes I think they're older than he is.

What did you worry about in terms of the children?

I mean, the obvious.

I've been married too many times.

Have you ever tried to explain to them about the divorces?

Oh sure, of course I have.

I mean, they are no fools. They're very sensitive children.

They knew that Eddie and I were not happy.

Yeah.

It's funny, that animal instinct.

They absolutely know

that Richard and I are going to be alright.

And our marriage will be here fifty years from now.

I love, sort of, not being me, but being Richard's wife.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf

Who's Afraid of Virginia...

Movie audiences will soon be seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

in what quite likely will be one of the most talked about films of 1966.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

I was 32 years old playing a woman of 50.

I gained 20 pounds.

I wore rubber under my eyes, under my neck.

I wore a gray wig.

What a dump.

Hey, what's that from? What a dump.

How would I know?

Come on. What's it from? You know.

From...

It's the most difficult part that I've ever done.

But because it's such a complete change from anything I've ever done

in a sense, it's one of the easiest things I've ever done.

I have Martha to hide behind.

So I've lost Elizabeth Taylor.

I feel much freer and much more experimental.

Things just kind of seem to come like the walk, the voice.

It's like my Martha's skin.

You still look like you have a pretty good body now, too.

Is that right, have you?

- Martha. Decency... - Shut up.

Martha is bawdy, sloppy, snarly.

But there are moments when all of a sudden

the facade will crack and you will see the hurt.

The infinite kind of pain of this woman.

There's an intimacy between George and Martha

that I think is really so strange and strong.

Do you want to know what's happened, George?

Do you want to know what's really happened?

It snapped.

Finally. Not me, it. The whole arrangement.

Or you can go on forever. And everything is manageable.

You make all sorts of excuses to yourself. To hell with it.

This is life. Maybe tomorrow he'll be dead.

Maybe tomorrow you'll be dead.

All sorts of excuses that one day, one night

something happens and snap.

It breaks and you just don't give a damn anymore.

I tried with you, baby. I really tried.

Come off it, Martha.

I really tried.

You're a monster. You are.

I'm loud and I'm vulgar and I wear the pants in the house

because somebody's got to.

But I am not a monster.

I'm not!

I think at the end...

they'll never be happy. They'll always be slobs.

They'll always be drunk.

They'll always be picking at each other, destroying each other.

I can see the attraction of this full time professional partnership

but I'm wondering if at times it gets a bit maritally claustrophobic.

Maritally? No.

We had a lot of people thought that in the last picture, we did.

You know, that the two central characters are

forever at each other, and...

scratching each other and tearing, and creating...

Many people who didn't know us very well said

"It's going to be very difficult for you both"

you know, doing this film, which is quite clearly

you know, both people have very high temperament

and indeed the film may carry over after six o'clock at night.

We ignored them and survived.

Elizabeth dominated the film.

She won an Oscar for it. He said bitterly.

And I didn't. He said, equally bitterly.

The Elizabeth Taylor Burton was her husband's greatest press agent.

Crowds had lined the sidewalks outside the theater

where Burton was previewing his starring role in Equus.

They were waiting for Liz.

I'm still astounded by the phenomenon of the crowds.

It's something that I thought would cease

once Elizabeth and myself were married.

But they get bigger and bigger instead of less and less.

I think that somewhere around

a mysterious third personality came about

which was the combination two of us together.

You're a major industry, you two.

I suppose so.

A horrible way to look at it.

When you are too much in the public eye for too long

there's so much, it is performance.

When I first saw Elizabeth act

I thought that was very clear she's not doing anything.

A lot of people have said that.

But when I saw the rushes

I realized that something extraordinary was going on.

When I first worked with Elizabeth, I thought, she's not doing anything.

- And then I saw the rushes... - A lot of people have said that

sweetheart.

Then I saw the rushes...

I mean, she's not doing anything.

And then, then I saw the rushes

and I realized she was doing a great many things.

I think what I have done is deliberately make a dividing line.

The person that my family know

is real.

The other Elizabeth Taylor, the famous one

really has no depth or meaning to me.

It's a commodity that makes money.

One is flesh and blood, and one is cellophane.

In a world where glamor is out and reality is in

two remnants of the glitter age, not only hang on, but thrive.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

What about all these rouse?

You can't pick up a movie magazine or anything

about Liz and Dick battling?

I think that fighting is one of the greatest exercises

in marital togetherness.

I do not attack that soft spot in the underbelly.

- My double chin? - When she attacks me...

Double chins.

You bloody well have.

She's got a slightly fat belly.

- I never got that... - I got his pockmarks, you know.

You think he dominates you?

- You must be joking. - In your real life?

Charles? You've got to be kidding.

He sure does.

Do you think that you dominate now?

I think that if there is a henpecked around the place, it's me.

Oh, mamma mia.

Did anything, do you think, come out coherent the other night?

Yes.

Things weren't going well.

I saw it the first time on their yacht.

They were drinking champagne and cognac.

And I saw this emotional pit that she fell into.

I saw the physical deterioration...

It turned dark. It turned out of Virginia Woolf.

My god, so is he.

You come back here.

Come back here, you. I haven't dismissed you yet.

But just the fact that we love each other is a haven.

And I terribly kind of, I don't know

I don't think I've ever really tried to be alone.

If I say to you, Elizabeth Taylor

do you think you could tell me exactly who that is?

I know

that so far all I have achieved is being a movie star

that once or twice has managed

to do a fairly capable job of acting.

I am not satisfied with what I am.

I am not satisfied with what I've done.

I want to improve.

God, I think I...

I think I finished my list.

I think I finished my list.

Good job.

Would you like a drink now?

Did you turn your little machine off?

Yeah.

Cut here. Stop transcribing. Stop transcribing.

Today the word was out.

Liz Taylor was leaving town following her breakup with Richard Burton.

Reporters and cameramen staked out the only two possible exits.

It was probably one of the most public occurrences

since Anthony first met Cleopatra.

The couple are now staying...

Miss Taylor and Mr. Burton, celebrating their re-engagement

convened a presidential star press conference.

Asked to be left to their new lives...

The Burton's raised all this attention

because they fulfill a sacred Hollywood formula.

They must have done something wicked that we can forgive them for.

He succinctly confirmed the split.

Is it true that you're separated from Liz Taylor?

- Yes. - Will you be getting a divorce?

Mr. and Mrs. John Warner, otherwise known as Elizabeth Taylor

and her sixth husband of seven marriages

were having such a good time that they extended the visit...

This is... I'm in Beverly Hills, California. The Beverly Hills Hotel.

About to interview Miss Elizabeth Taylor.

You know, once you said to me

something I've never forgotten, Elizabeth.

It was one of those late nights, and you said to me

"You know, sometimes I can't remember when I wasn't famous."

It's very frightening.

I thought it would decrease when I sort of retired.

Now, let me just ask you something about Betty Ford...

Now how did that come about?

I had a family intervention, and I don't know if you know...

I do. I'm one of the group.

- Oh, okay. - I know all about it.

It's amazing, isn't it? It's terrifying.

Humiliating.

Did you feel betrayed?

No. I realized that they must really love me.

And I didn't resent it.

- You didn't? - No.

I was riddled with guilt and shame.

See, I'd taken sleeping pills every night of my life for 35 years.

I was, at the point, going to take one or two Percodan

mixed with booze before I could go out.

You must have caused a sensation with them.

They'd never had a celebrity go.

- You were the first? - Yeah.

Was it hard for you to talk in front of those people?

In the beginning, yes.

In the beginning, I felt like I was giving interviews.

And then I broke all those barriers down and told the truth

and like the onion always peeled down to the absolute core.

I get this just the sense of contentment

or something that's like a new phase...

- I hope it's not a phase. - Of life.

It's a new beginning.

This is one of the first extended period in your life

when you are...

Yeah.

That's a tremendous growth step

- isn't it? - It is.

Yeah.

It's for getting to know yourself

- isn't it? - Yeah, and...

quite liking myself.

And not being afraid to be with yourself.

And I think that's why I can give more.

Fight back! Fight AIDS! Act up! Fight back! Fight AIDS!

Fifty-nine year old, Rock Hudson, revealed

that he is seriously ill from AIDS.

You know, when Rock went public, you know, that was very brave.

I saw Rock just before he died.

He had no idea where he was.

And when I asked him if he was in pain

he didn't really know what I was talking about.

AIDS was this terrible stigma.

It was like, it's their problem.

Let them handle it. They, meaning the homosexual community.

There would have been no Hollywood without the homosexual community.

And just as human beings

we owe our fellow man a certain responsibility.

No one wanted to talk about it. No one wanted to become involved.

And it so angered me

that I finally thought to myself

"Bitch, do something yourself."

Last night in Hollywood

more than one million dollars was raised to benefit AIDS victims.

Elizabeth Taylor organized the star-studded gala

as a tribute to her longtime friend, Rock Hudson.

You're very much involved now working for AIDS research

what is the name of the organization that you're the Chair?

- AMFAR. - AMFAR. And what does that mean?

American Foundation for AIDS Research.

Elizabeth gave away

her entire career

to focus on AIDS.

She helped found AMFAR.

Then she founded The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

I think there is a reason for having fame.

A reason that can be turned into constructive uses

because fame can be a very negative thing.

And unless you turn it around and make it work for you

what is the point of having it?

How strangely awake, I feel.

There's just something...

There's a calmness about you that is beautiful.

Now, I mean, I find life so exciting.

There's so many things to do.

There's so many things to learn.

And I'm doing that now. If I want to go someplace, I go

if there's something I want to study, I'll study it now.

I'm not under any obligation to anyone

but myself.

And to thine own self to be true. That's all I have to do.