If we were to select a "half-wife queen" in Hollywood, the crown of the queen would belong to Elizabeth Taylor," no matter what era.
The world likes to move out of her shocking eight marriages and the priceless jewelry collection to ridicule her as "rich and willful and immoral", but people who have really understood her emotional situation will easily find that most of her family, close friends, and loved ones are, or have been, gay.
The world's number one beauty who has come and gone to love many men is a curved pier without compromise.
Elizabeth Taylor's relationship with homosexuality began when she was not born — she herself was a descendant of a lavender marriage.
Liz and her mother (left); Liz and her brother and father (right)
Her parents fell in love briefly, but after separating, they both happily threw themselves into the arms of the same sex. Later, under the pressure of the family's urging marriage, the two people who reunited by chance hit it off, quickly decided to get married, and gave birth to a man and a woman after marriage, and the girl was Elizabeth Taylor.
Their family relationship is now incredible: Liz's godfather, Victor, is her mother's gay honey for many years, and she is also her father's lover, and she is also an informal patron of the Taylor family, helping the couple break into the snobbish British upper social scene.
Liz knew from an early age that her father loved her godfather, and when she grew up, she recalled: "I know he loves Victor deeply." He gave all his love to Victor and was a little silent about his mother and me. ”
She said these words without the slightest contempt, she understood her father and godfather from the bottom of her heart. Although this understanding was not profound, she had always looked at this kind of thing with an inclusive attitude, and this attitude continued to last the day she died in the future.
The first boy at The Crooked Quay
In 1939, when World War II was on the verge of breaking out, the Taylor family moved from london with a strong atmosphere of war to Beverly Hills, California, where celebrities gathered, and Liz could meet many stars, and the stars praised her as beautiful and cute.
Soon, her mother began to frequently take her to audition at major Hollywood studios.
Many people know that Liz became famous for "Lacey the Greyhound", but in this film, Liz is actually a supporting role, and the real child star is Roddy. Roddy McDowell, Liz's first gay honey in her life.
Roddy seems to be the representative of hollywood's male stars who have struggled with their sexuality all their lives, and compared to most deep-cabinet male stars, he can't pretend not to know that he is a gay.
Junior Roddy McDowell and Ritz
Years later, during the filming of Cleopatra, Roddy's relationship with Ritz had a delicate phase: Liz and the actor Richard Burton had a scandal (more on that later); but Burton called Roddy "my lover", and even his participation was conditional on Roddy playing Octavian.
And when Liz and Richard's scandal was flying, Roddy and Richard's wife at the time stood on the united front and criticized their former friends.
This may be the legendary four-corner love...
The second cub at Crooked Quay
Liz's appearance in Little Women
After Little Women, Liz took over her first adult image as Robert Taylor's wife in The Conspirator. At the same time, she was given the task of "seducing" Robert Taylor by the company to create a scandal.
Two Taylors
But she failed, and the answer was obvious – Robert Taylor liked men.
Robert Taylor successfully established his masculine image in the 30s, but he didn't like delicate women, he liked rough men.
Barbara Stanwick
Forced by the company's arrangement, he and Lara actress Barbara Stanwick signed a lavender marriage, but after the marriage, the two continued to play separately.
When liz and Liz filmed "The Conspirator", the print media kept rumoring that the two Taylor fake scenes came true, and the truth was that Robert was tired of the marriage game with Barbara and was ready to file for divorce.
The third cub at Crooked Pier
In 1949, during the filming of the movie "Heart like Iron", seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Taylor fell in love with the male protagonist Montgomery Clifford (Monty) at first sight. The latter has been described by the media as "the most photogenic face after Greta Garbo".
She once recalled her throbbing: at the first sight on the set, I fell in love with Monty and faked the first kiss to him.
However, she is enthusiastic and has taken the initiative to propose, but Monty's attitude is really like the title of the movie - Lang's heart is like iron.
He even sent Liz a nice guy card – "You're the cutest and my favorite of all women, but I can't give you the feelings you want." ”
Did this give her a little hope in her ears? Just when Liz was not going to give up and was about to go to the door to confess again, she bumped into Monty, who was kissing a man in the garden and discussing where to go on vacation in the summer.
Liz was momentarily frustrated, turned and ran.
He had a fatal attraction to her, and he had the security she wanted, but sadly, Monty was clearly a very pure gay man.
Monty caught up with her in the garden and asked her sadly, "Do you hate me?" "
Even in today's America, where same-sex feelings could not gain public acceptance and were taboo at the time, Elizabeth shook his hand and asked, "Hate you?" No, Monty, I love you! "
Her natural optimism and tolerance make her happy again - since she can't be a lover, she will be a friend for a lifetime. She was going to stick to him like a sticky cake, and no one should try to take her off!
Liz did what she said.
In the decades since, every time her marriage has taken a rock, she is alone, and when the tide of loss rises, montgomery is always by her side.
This friendship that has accompanied decades is undoubtedly a two-way street.
When Montgomery fainted in a car accident while drunk, she was the first to lift the wave, rushed to his side, and without hesitation, pulled out his teeth that had been smashed with blood in his mouth so as not to choke his throat; in order not to let people send out the photos of Monty's disfigurement, she shouted and threatened the reporters present: "I know every one of you who is here, who dares to take a picture, I will do everything I can to make him unable to mix in American show business!" ”
After the disfigurement of the car accident, Monty has no drama to play, so Liz and Catherine Hepburn threaten the director: without him, we will not act!
When Montgomery died of a heart attack at the age of 45, Elizabeth cried bitterly. After his death, Liz told reporters: "I love him deeply, he is like my brother, my most precious friend."
Privately, she told her friends that even many years after Monty's death, every time she saw his name, she would still be devastated.
She once said: the men who really make you move, but don't love women.
I think that when she said this, the first person in her mind should be Monty who first met on the set of "Lang Heart Like Iron", right?
The fourth cub at Crooked Quay
Although she unsuccessfully proposed to Montgomery, she was still a half-wife in Liz's first marriage.
Her first husband, Nikki Hilton, was the heir to the Hilton Hotels Group and "a recognized deranged, unsympathetic villain."
Their wedding was like a real Hollywood movie, expensive and cheap, clamoring for lies that "they will live happily ever after," and Liz even promised her mother: I will grow old with him.
But before the honeymoon was over, the marriage had broken down, and the two had a big quarrel. As soon as Nicky returned to New York, he began to pursue a famous actor.
January 29, 1951: This short marriage, which lasted only 8 months and could be included in any "history of the blood and tears of the same wife", was officially declared closed.
The fifth cub at Crooked Pier
After divorcing Hilton, Liz set off for the UK to participate in the filming of Ivan He.
At the same time, she launched the offensive to become a "half-wife" again – she launched a fierce pursuit of British actor Michael Wilding.
Liz, newly divorced for the first time (left); Michael Wildin (right)
Michael is said to have been in love with actor Stuart Granger since the early 1930s. At the beginning of World War II, the two shared an apartment in London. During a large-scale air raid in the night, the two had a relationship in this "no tomorrow" atmosphere.
This Stewart is also quite peculiar, let's put aside the plot of his participation in the movie, just look at the body language, the sexual tension he exudes when facing male and female actors is not a grade at all.
with male actors
with actresses
Not to mention this delicate sitting posture.
After their separation, Stewart went to Hollywood, became a red star at MGM, and married Jane Simmons, an actor also from the United Kingdom.
Stuart Granger and wife Jane Simmons
Liz didn't care about Wilding's past, she bought herself a sapphire ring to wear on her hand, and joyfully told others: "He and I are already engaged." ”
At that time, Hollywood also circulated Wilding's history of same-sex affair. Hollywood writer Haida Hopper, believing her responsibility to prevent Liz from marrying the wrong person again, asks Liz in front of Michael, "You know he's gay, right?" ”
Haida Hopper
Liz is certainly not ignorant of the relationship, but she has always been obedient to Haida," and she vigorously defended Michael: "No matter what you and others think, I am going to marry him." 」 I love him I love him I love him! ”
When they got home, the two told Stewart about it, and Stewart then called Haida to have a big fight. Not to be outdone, Heida pulls out a small book and takes revenge, clearly implying in the column that Michael and Stewart are lovers.
So Michael approached Stewart to discuss countermeasures, intending to sue Haida for slander in the name of the two of them. This ended up enraged and categorically rejected by Stewart, who became angry with the hypocritical old lover: "Don't count me!" You might as well sue God together. Also, next time in public, remember to remind me not to hold your hand! ”
At the risk of exposing his sexuality, Michael took Haida to court. In the end, the lawsuit was settled out of court, and Haida lost $100,000 and apologized. Apparently MGM had put pressure on Haida – and all at once michael, Granger, Liz, and Jane Simmons were involved in the big cash cows, and the loss was too great.
Liz and Michael Wilding
After clearing this psychological barrier, on February 21, 1952, Elizabeth Taylor became a "half-wife" for the second time.
In this marriage, from the beginning, she knew that she was not only responsible for being beautiful, but also responsible for earning money to support her family. Whether it's the honeymoon, Michael's huge debts, or his job in Hollywood, she's all up to her.
Rao is that she has paid a lot, and this marriage between a strong woman and a weak man has not lasted long.
After the divorce, Michael claimed in an interview that he had never loved Elizabeth Taylor and that marrying her was "just a stopgap measure for him to break into Hollywood."
After all, it is a mistake to pay a true heart.
The sixth and seventh cubs of The Bend Tsai Pier
In 1955, "The Legend of the Giants" made Liz soar to become a Hollywood star. In the film, she was working with two of Hollywood's most popular fried chickens at the time, Rock Hudson and James Dean.
Top: Locke Hudson; Bottom: James Dean
Hudson is a Golden Globe winner, 1.9 meters tall, and is the perfect handsome man on the Hollywood screen. He was sometimes shy, sometimes warm, sometimes rough, sometimes tough, undisputed love classic, undisputed idol male actor, the female audience at that time loved him miserably.
Such a person who has been selected by the audience as "the most manly actor" for 7 consecutive years is an out-and-out homosexual. Hudson is like a two-faced man, a superstar who is dashing during the day and a comrade hiding in a cupboard at night, afraid of being discovered and afraid of being disturbed
Hudson is a popular hollywood agent Henry Wilson, who is said to be a sexually hungry gay man, and all the male actors under the age of 50 cannot escape his clutches.
Left: Henry Wilson
Hudson, who has been in the film for many years, is married, divorced, and has a series of scandals with female stars according to the arrangements of the film company; while constantly participating in various same-sex sexual fornications with his agent.
Ang Lee has a lesser-known film, Making Woodstock, which is an autobiography of gay writer Ilya Tiber, which depicts his party at a mansion on New York's Upper East Side, where he witnesses Hudson lying unconscious on the ground, with five or six people lined up to ride on him in turn...
This picture is simply unbearable to look at.
As for the other male protagonist, James Dean, his influence is even more profound, even more than sixty years after his death, there are singers like Thales singing - You got that James Dean day dream look in your eye.
I think he and Montgomery are the same handsome guy, they both have a sensitive and fragile and decadent and gloomy temperament, but he is more literary, this kind of smoking a cigarette wearing a black coat walking in the cold rain photo style, it is easy to think of the great French writer Camus.
But beneath his intellectual-like exterior is a wild boy's heart. Dean was expelled from the army for being gay when he joined the army, and then he went to Hollywood, starting with a gay bar in Hollywood, and then upgrading to the SM club.
Dean had also idolized Montgomery, and he had called Monty to ask out, but Dean was not famous at the time and was ignored by Monty. When he became famous, he hooked up with Marlon Brando to play SM together (Brando is really a brick, everywhere there is him).
As the head of Warner at that time, Dean only made three movies in his lifetime, but these three movies had a huge influence in the United States, and the decadence and decay he played represented the "Beat Generation" teenagers in the United States, which was sought after by superstars at that time.
As a representative of rebellious youth, Dean's life is also full of legends - he died in a sports car accident at the peak of 24 years old, because he never had the opportunity to grow old, so he will always be the handsome and young beautiful rebel.
If you were to say that even if these two were gay, what connection would there be with Liz?
I would say it's a big deal. First, there was an obvious competitive hostility between Hudson and Dean in the "Legend of the Giants" crew at the time, but this mutual disgust was intertwined with mutual sexual attraction.
So Liz consciously played the role of peacemaker between the two. Some biographers believe that "it is almost certain that under Elizabeth's planning, the two male actors maintained a sexual relationship for a relatively short period of time."
Second, "The Legend of the Giants" opens up a friendship between Hudson and Liz, which changed the lives of many people.
In 1985, Hudson was critically ill with AIDS, and he bravely announced that he was gay and suffering from AIDS.
Accompanied by "What?! Locke Hudson is actually gay??? Surprised, Americans recognized the new term AIDS for the first time. In the same year, Hudson died, becoming the first celebrity in the United States to die of AIDS, and AIDS began to gain widespread attention in the United States.
Triggered by Hudson's death, Liz began to participate in the AIDS campaign. She set up her own foundation to raise funds for the AIDS epidemic, and she loved jewelry more than life, but she was able to auction off her treasures as a charitable fund to help AIDS patients.
At the same time, she used her connections to go to the White House and demanded in person that President Reagan change the U.S. government's policy of ignoring AIDS.
It is no exaggeration to say that her influence has advanced humanity's response to AIDS by at least a decade. On this basis alone, she is enough to afford the five words "great woman".
After finishing the filming of "The Legend of the Giants" and a second career as a half-wife, Elizabeth Taylor began two marriages with absolutely straight men. Interestingly, the two straight men, Mike Todd and Eddie Fisher, have an intimate friendship that is almost platonic love.
In 1958, Mike Todd, then Liz's husband, died in a plane crash, causing great emotional damage to both Liz and Eddie.
Who would have thought that, sad and sad, five months later, these two sad people actually came together... You know, Eddie's wife is Liz's closest friend. She had just lost her husband on the front foot, and the man who robbed her girlfriend on the back foot was a huge scandal at the time, and the public accused her of losing her sense of morality, and the resistance to her could be compared to today's "XXX out of the entertainment circle".
In the face of accusations, she once again gave her famous remarks about human lust: "Mike is dead, I am still alive, what do you want me to do, sleep alone?" ”
Fantastic Trio: Mike Todd, Elizabeth Taylor, and Eddie Fisher (left to right)
Thankfully, the scandal didn't last long before it was covered up — during the filming of Cleopatra, Liz made another, bigger scandal herself.
The eighth cub at The Crooked Pier
By the time Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton finally met on location on Cleopatra, Richard Burton had "become a complete heterosexual."
Richard Burton was poor in his early years and was adopted by Philip Burton, the principal of the local secondary school. If the latter were to be put to this day, he would definitely be discredited for "sexually abusing minors", and one of his previous lovers also had an affair with him when he was a minor. When he adopted Richard, who was 17 years old, he gave him his last name and sent him to study acting.
He then met Emlyn Williams, a prominent figure in the Welsh theatre scene at the time, became his lover, and was promoted.
Years later Burton explained the history this way: "Yes, I was a homosexual, but not for a long time. It didn't feel very good, so I gave up on the idea. ”
In fact, his history of homosexuality cannot be regarded as a shallow taste.
As mentioned earlier, Richard Burton's most important homosexual affair occurred when he came to the Old Vic Theatre Company in London as a rookie with Vivien Leigh's later husband, Sir Lawrence Oliver, the King of Theatre.
Richard Burton (left) and Sir Lawrence Oliver (right)
Although the status of the two was very different, the members of the old Vic troupe at that time believed that they were truly in love, and their enthusiasm was no less than that of their respective male protagonists in "the greatest love myth of the 20th century".
Probably the people in the troupe did not expect that the original love affair of the thunderous fire was actually "that feeling not very good" in Richard's own eyes.
Left: The premiere of Cleopatra at the Rivoli Theater in New York in 1963; Right: Liz and Richard were in the film
Sincerely, although he is a little duplicitous about his past, the part between him and Liz is indeed a hot love.
They both cheated on "Cleopatra" (here @ Vivien Leigh, Oliver), when Liz was 30 years old and had 3 children. Soon after, her travel photos with Burton were exposed by tabloids, causing an uproar. The Vatican convicted them of "yeyou", and the US Congress even banned the two from entering the country, and in the end, they had to complete their marriage in Canada. ▼
At the wedding, Liz wore the yellow dress she wore when she first saw Bolton
They hugged each other, kissed, cried, quarreled, and fell in love in every way that tore at each other's hearts and lungs. During this period, Burton was generous enough to satisfy Taylor's desire for luxury.
On their good days, Bolton always gave Liz jewelry for various reasons. Many of the jewelry Bought by Bolton have extraordinary historical and cultural value.
Colombian emerald necklace and earrings
The Bvlgari pair of earrings, given away by Bolton in 1960, are the most commonly worn ornaments by Liz. ▼
Bulgari emerald diamond flower headdress, ring, brooch
Bulgari emeralds, diamond flower brooches/headdresses, given to Ritz by Bolton in 1960. ▼
"I taught Liz to enjoy a beer, and she taught me to appreciate Bulgari." Burton said so.
Bulgari emerald, diamond ring, given to Ritz by Bolton in 1962. ▼
When the two became engaged two years later, he again gave Liz a 23-carat emerald brooch. The brooch can also be used as a necklace pendant for $6.57 million, the highest price emerald ever sold. ▼
This brooch can turn any costume into magic. In 1964, when Burton and Liz were married in Montreal, Canada, she used it in a long yellow chiffon dress. ▼
Iguana brooch
In 1964, Bolton gave Lizler's Tiffany iguana brooch. At that time, Liz lived with Bolton in Malta, where he filmed the movie "Iguana Night". To celebrate the boot, Bolton gave her the brooch. ▼
Krupp square drill
This 33-carat all-American Krupp square diamond was designed by Richard S. Burton bought and gave Liz for $300,000 in 1968 and became Liz's favorite everyday accessory for 30 years.
Today the diamond bears Taylor's name. Bid $8.81 million. ▼
La Peregrina pearl necklace
La Peregrina is the world's most famous pearl, this teardrop-shaped natural pearl weighing 223 grams, was the largest pearl in the world when it was found. La Peregrina is Spanish for "wandering pilgrim". ▼
In 1969, Bolton auctioned it off for $3.7w as a Valentine's Day gift to Liz. In 2011, it had an auction price of $1180W.
Van Cleef & Arpels ruby ring
On Christmas Day 1968, Bolton gave Liz an 8.24 ct Van Cleef & Arpels ruby ring. Prior to this, Burton promised his wife that he would buy her a special ruby, which must be pure red.
After 4 years, he finally found the gem to fulfill his promise. Burton put it in a small box at the bottom of Liz's Christmas stockings, which Liz didn't even notice when she started to unpack the present. ▼
Lion collar
Van Cleef & Arpels lion collar from Bolton in 1971. This year, at the age of 38, Liz was promoted to grandmother, and Bolton gave her this gold diamond collar. ▼
Taj · Mahal Diamonds
It is a pendant necklace made of Cartier, made of Indian diamonds and jade, strung with a gold chain. The middle heart-shaped diamond is from the 17th century and was given to his wife, Mutazhi Maha, the owner of the Taj Mahal, by Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire.
In 1972, Burton gave the necklace to Ritz as a 40th birthday gift.
In 2001, the auction bid for the necklace was $8.81 million. It is the highest price ever auctioned for Indian jewelry. ▼
Bulgari sapphire necklace
The oversized polished cone sapphires are designed in the art Dego geometric style popular in the early 20th century, and the necklace pendant can be removed as a brooch.
This string of tough, tough necklaces is another birthday gift that Bolton gave to Liz in 1972
Another piece of jewelry of a similar style is a colored gemstone bracelet that Bolton gave to Liz, originally owned by King Farouk of Egypt. ▼
Gold bracelet
It was Liz's sweetest piece of jewelry, with pendants from friends and loved ones engraved with whispers and proverbs. Among them is a 16th-century, Henry VIII gold coin, and a pendant with the names of children engraved on it. ▼
The above is just an incomplete statistic of what Bolton gave to Ritz Jewelry. He once joked: If it weren't for the expensive freight, I would even want to give her the Taj Mahal.
This pearlescent marriage was the longest in Liz's life and lasted 10 years.
In 1974, she divorced Burton and remarried the following year. At the remarriage, they cried and swore never to be apart again. But the more the two love each other, the more accustomed they are to hurting each other, and in the end, It is Lao Yan who separates. ▼
Since then, they have remarried to others several times, but they have not stopped thinking about each other for a moment.
In 1984, before Burton's death, Liz received a letter from Burton saying that the time spent with Liz was the happiest time of his life. Burton also said he would be willing to try to reunite with her again if given the chance.
For years, she kept the letter by her bedside and regarded it as her most precious treasure.
Bend the pier, bend yourself
In addition to having love-hate entanglements with many gay actors, Liz herself has had the experience of entanglement with the same sex.
Gao Xiaosong once mentioned Elizabeth Taylor, in his memory, the walls of his home when he was a teenager were plastered with posters of Hollywood movie stars, and among the many bright actresses, seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Taylor was the most eye-catching. He also referred to her plump figure, saying that she was "wearing a small golden skirt, slightly sideways, more sexy than Marilyn Monroe next to her." ”
But what he didn't know was that Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, who had pasted next to her, had had a physical relationship.
In Liz's diary, it is recorded: "When she (Monroe) touched me, I could feel a strong electric current. I wanted to see what this bitch would do, and she did it all. ”
No wonder she couldn't refuse to deliberately seduce her Monroe, I think no one in the world can do it. This vignette also confirms Liz's "inclusion" from another aspect.
As for Marilyn Monroe's sexual orientation, that's another story.
Elizabeth Taylor with friend David Bowie
Elizabeth Taylor's emotional history, of course, can not be reduced to a history of the marriage of a same wife, she can not represent other same wives - she can not even represent other women, such a legend as her, should be the only existence in the history of film.
Even though her gay icon identity is related to these men, she is not accomplished by them, it is she herself who has made her legend, not her own fall.
In her several failed desires, she hides the image of a perfect man, who has the fierceness of a plumber and truck driver, the fortitude and handsomeness of a popular idol, the hypocrisy and profundity of politicians and rich men, both the kindness and warmth of her father, the flattery and ironing of her lover, and even the ruthlessness and ferocity of sm man. She is actually a mirror that reflects the sexy dreams of a male of an era.
Her life trajectory has many similarities with Vivien Leigh, but unlike Vivien Leigh, who ends lonely and tragically, Liz's willfulness, selfishness and tolerance have resolved many of the sufferings she should have had.
She's not attached to every gay man who has loved her and left her or doesn't love her at all, and she's sometimes more naïve than a child in dealing with love—she tries to tap into the highest potential of her emotions before asking for others, and if the other person doesn't live up to her expectations, it doesn't matter, I'll change it.
People whose lust is prematurely developed have this vigour. They taste the sweetness early on, often setting their lifelong goal to make this sweetness come back. In Hollywood's Golden Age, more stars were ruined by lust than wool, but the only one who was nourished by exuberant lust rather than destroyed was Elizabeth Taylor. A variety of different men rushed by like a cloud of smoke, and she was the perfect protagonist on the stage from beginning to end.
This may be in line with the saying that once people have had the opportunity to love intensely, they will spend their lives pursuing that passion and that light.
Finally, I would like to conclude with a passage that Elizabeth Taylor loved in her life, Richard Burton, said:
"What I admire most about Taylor is that she never pretends to be high. She wants chinese jewelry, fame and fortune, diamonds she wants, and she wants the biggest ones, but what's wrong with that? She can adopt children to help cancer patients, and she can swear at reporters she doesn't like. This is a man of flesh and blood. She is such a cold woman, so cold that people feel real. ”
How precious is the truth?
We are all citizens of the same kingdom, which is called desire. In this country, some people can't even be real for a moment, and she is real all her life.
References for this article:
Screen Superstar Series: Elizabeth Taylor
The Golden Age of Hollywood: The Memoirs of David Nevan
Capoti's Most Authentic Elizabeth Taylor
"Elizabeth Taylor's Emotional History Strings The Gay Man Who Ended in Golden Hollywood"