# RIP Elizabeth Taylor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714 "2011-03-23T13:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/21 "2011-03-23T16:12:54Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > A raucous, bawdy, alcoholic, 8 times married queen. About which Taylor herself is supposed to have said, “I don’t have affairs. I have marriages.” ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/22 "2011-03-23T16:19:59Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I’ve been on these boards since 1999 (actually before, since I was an AOL follower) and I’m always amazed at how fast news gets posted. When I found out about Liz Taylor, I did like I always do and checked here first to see if someone had posted it already. Invariably the answer is “yes someone already posted it hours ago!” This time I was shocked that I didn’t see anything, so I checked the other forums. Nope nothing there either. I made the post and continued to check online for a cite; but could only find retweets. I was getting worried that I was going to have to find a mod to close my erroneously open thread.! Sorry, but **Fear Itself** beat you by 4 minutes over in the [Celebrity Death Pool 2011](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13604580&postcount=969) thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/23 "2011-03-23T16:35:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have to admit I never thought she was a great beauty myself, not even when she was a young lady. There was always something odd about her looks, I thought. The _great_ beauties _all_ have a little quirkiness to their looks. It’s what distinguishes them from Stepford Wives the movie industry churns out. > [@Duckster](#): > > Sorry, but **Fear Itself** beat you by 4 minutes over in the [Celebrity Death Pool 2011](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13604580&postcount=969) thread. Dammit! The only thing we had to fear… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/24 "2011-03-23T18:35:29Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > As was posted above she was beautiful in her day. Married 7 times (twice to Richard Burton). Won 2 Oscars. Good friends with Michael Jackson of all things. Not to nitpick, since Liz was a hugely talented actress and beloved by millions, but shouldn’t each marriage to Burton be counted separately? There was a year’s separation between the two marriages: Conrad Hilton, Jr. (1950–1951) Michael Wilding (1952–1957) Mike Todd (1957–1958) Eddie Fisher (1959–1964) Richard Burton (1964–1974, 1975–1976) John Warner (1976–1982) Larry Fortensky (1991–1996) So, eight marriages, but to seven spouses. I also thought that it was wonderful that all four of her children were at her bedside. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/25 "2011-03-23T19:01:37Z")
With her passing, once one of the most beautiful of the Hollywood stars, very few of the old A-List stars are left. This is the short list I came up with: **Maureen O’Hara – The last of the great stars?** \* born August 17, 1920 \*\*\* Still Alive after all these years:\*\* Luise Rainer 101 01/12/1910 Mickey Rooney (born September 23, 1920) Shirley Temple (born April 23, 1928) Olivia de Havilland 94 born 07/01/1916 Joan Fontaine 92 born 10/22/1917 \*(BTW, Olivia and Joan are sisters) \* Esther Williams 89 08/08/1921 **Borderline** Nanette Fabray 90 10/27/1920 Entertainment Eva Marie Saint 86 07/04/1924 Many of the other A-Listers I found here a [handy list of the Grand Old Stars of the studio days](http://www.classicfilmstars.com/). Ingrid Bergman - Died: August 29, 1982 (aged 67) in London, England Humphrey Bogart - Died: January 14, 1957 in San Francisco, California Charles Boyer - Died: 26 August 1978 Gary Cooper - Died: May 13, 1961 Linda Darnell - Died: April 10, 1965 Marlene Dietrich - Died: May 6, 1992 in Paris Errol Flynn - Died: 14 October 1959 Clark Gable - Died: November 16, 1960 Los Angeles, California, USA Greta Garbo - Died: April 15, 1990 (aged 84) in New York City, New York Ava Gardner - Died: January 25, 1990 Paulette Goddard - Died: April 23, 1990 Cary Grant - Died: November 29, 1986 Jean Harlow - Died: June 7, 1937 Rita Hayworth – Died: May 14, 1987 Audrey Hepburn - Died: January 20, 1993, (aged 63) in Tolochenaz, Switzerland Kate Hepburn - Died: June 29, 2003, (aged 96) in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, USA Grace Kelly - Died: September 14, 1982, age 52 in Monte Carlo, Monaco Hedy Lamarr - Died: January 19, 2000 Vivien Leigh - Died: 7 July 1967 Carole Lombard - Died: August 3, 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA Ida Lupino - Died: 3 August 1995 Marilyn Monroe - Died: August 5, 1962 (aged 36) **Maureen O’Hara – The last of the great stars?** \* born August 17, 1920 Laurence Olivier - Died: 11 July 1989 (aged 82) Gregory Peck - Died: June 12, 2003 Barbara Stanwyck - Died: January 20, 1990 Jimmy Stewart - Died: July 2, 1997 Elizabeth Taylor - Died: Today Gene Tierney - Died: November 6, 1991 **Ones I added** William Powell - Died: March 5, 1984 Myrna Loy - Died: December 14, 1993 John Wayne – Died: June 11, 1979 Gene Kelly – Died: February 2, 1996 Fred Astair – Died: June 22, 1987 Judy Garland – Died: June 22, 1969 Robinson, Edward G. 01/26/1973 Rogers, Ginger 04/25/1995 Cyd Charisse 06/17/2008 Henry Fonda 08/12/1982 James Cagney 03/30/1986 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/26 "2011-03-23T19:53:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > FYI, her obituary in the New York Times is bylined by Mel Gussow. But a note at the end mentions that he died in 2005 and that it was updated by someone else and AP reporting. The same thing happened when Bob Hope died in 2003; the obit was bylined by Vincent Canby, who died in 2000. I assume by this that the death was one of those things anticipated for some time, and that the former noted obit person wrote an obit to have ready, and then preceded their subject. So someone had to take the existing obit out of the file and add the finishing touches. That certainly fits in both these cases. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/27 "2011-03-23T20:07:37Z")
Yes, I agree that’s what happened in both cases. I just think it’s a little funny to have outlived the person who wrote your obit. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/28 "2011-03-23T21:36:51Z")
Joan Rivers has never struck anyone as a class act I suppose, but does anybody else find her tweet exceptionally tacky? > [@](#): > > “Sad to hear of Elizabeth Taylor’s death. She was the 1st major celebrity to join me in the fight against AIDS when it wasn’t a popular cause.” I’m not sure how much Rivers did for AIDS but if she was a groundbreaker then all props due her, but she has to take Taylor’s death and makes it about herself. (For those too young to remember, fat jokes about Liz Taylor were the mainstay of Joan’s act at one time.) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/29 "2011-03-23T22:20:57Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Joan Rivers has never struck anyone as a class act I suppose, but does anybody else find her tweet exceptionally tacky? > > I’m not sure how much Rivers did for AIDS but if she was a groundbreaker then all props due her, but she has to take Taylor’s death and makes it about herself. (For those too young to remember, fat jokes about Liz Taylor were the mainstay of Joan’s act at one time.) Liz was a frequent subject of her Rivers’ scathingly bitter “comedy” back in the day. Given some of the bitchy comments Rivers has made about Liz (mostly about her weight gain), she’s seems to be showing some restraint. For any of you young’uns who only know Liz as “Michael’s old lady friend”, put these flicks on your netflix cue NOW: Butterfield 8 Giant A Place In the Sun Suddenly, Last Sumimer (a bit campy, but still fun) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? You can skip “Cleopatra”, which is as big a disaster as its’ reputed to be. Also “National Velvet”, it’s too goody-twoshoes. RIP, Liz. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/30 "2011-03-23T22:25:19Z")
Actually I rather love “Ivanhoe” and “Taming of the Shrew” ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/31 "2011-03-23T22:36:29Z")
I really liked Liz. She was a great actress (and very much underrated, I think, in spite of her Oscars) and a great beauty. She had some weird choices for friends, but I have to admire her loyalty to them. She clearly had a good heart, at least in the figurative sense. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/32 "2011-03-23T23:10:03Z")
[QUOTE=kelly5078] She had some weird choices for friends, but I have to admire her loyalty to them. [/QUOTE] She and Roddy McDowell were best friends for more than 40 years and she said she missed him more than any of her husbands. He used to give intimate dinner parties famous for their odd-strange-and-curious guest list, which might include (not making it up- these are actual attendees) Johnny Depp, Leni Riefenstahl, a visiting titled aristocrat, a Spice Girl, a Mexican janitor he met on the set of his latest film, a Catholic priest and Vidal Sassoon. The less famous weren’t there for a “Dinner for Schmucks” thing but people chosen because he thought they were interesting. Even in her reclusive and bad health ridden phase (that lasted for many many years- how many _decades_ have the tabloids been running “Liz Taylor on her deathbed” stories?) she was a fixture at these. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/33 "2011-03-23T23:12:35Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Joan Rivers has never struck anyone as a class act I suppose, but does anybody else find her tweet exceptionally tacky? > > I’m not sure how much Rivers did for AIDS but if she was a groundbreaker then all props due her, but she has to take Taylor’s death and makes it about herself. (For those too young to remember, fat jokes about Liz Taylor were the mainstay of Joan’s act at one time.) “But enough about me - what do YOU think about me?” Yeah, tacky. It could easily have been phrased in a way to not be tooting Joan Rivers’ horn. RIP, Ms. Taylor. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/34 "2011-03-23T23:22:29Z")
The odd thing about Liz Taylor is how long she remained a superstar after she stopped working. I’m 44 and even _ **I** _ don’t recall ever having seen her on the big screen, yet people half my age- who probably aren’t familiar with Ava Gardner or Lana Turner except as names- know Liz Taylor. What do you think Liz’s secret was for remaining such a superstar a generation after her last starring role in a major motion picture? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/35 "2011-03-23T23:25:24Z")
Lots of cameos all over. Starting up the first major aides foundation, friendship with Michael Jackson, things like that. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/36 "2011-03-23T23:27:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The odd thing about Liz Taylor is how long she remained a superstar after she stopped working. I’m 44 and even _ **I** _ don’t recall ever having seen her on the big screen, yet people half my age- who probably aren’t familiar with Ava Gardner or Lana Turner except as names- know Liz Taylor. > > What do you think Liz’s secret was for remaining such a superstar a generation after her last starring role in a major motion picture? She kept her hand in. Besides the White Diamonds ads, she was also a semi-regular for a while on…_General Hospital_? I think. She was also in _North and South_, _The Flintstones_ movie, and did voice work for the Simpsons (Maggie’s first word, no less!) and Captain Planet. She was doing TV work up until about 10 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/37 "2011-03-23T23:29:42Z")
I didn’t know until recently she made an episode of _The Nanny_. The fact she was filthy rich- easily in the nine figures- meant she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to do or that would be embarassing, which probably also helped. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/38 "2011-03-23T23:47:32Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > With her passing, once one of the most beautiful of the Hollywood stars, very few of the old A-List stars are left. This is the short list I came up with: > > **Maureen O’Hara – The last of the great stars?** \* born August 17, 1920 > > \*\*\* Still Alive after all these years:\*\* > Luise Rainer 101 01/12/1910 > Mickey Rooney (born September 23, 1920) > Shirley Temple (born April 23, 1928) > Olivia de Havilland 94 born 07/01/1916 > Joan Fontaine 92 born 10/22/1917 \*(BTW, Olivia and Joan are sisters) \* > Esther Williams 89 08/08/1921 I’d say Lauren Bacall (born September 16, 1924) belongs on that list - and IMHO, she ranks above O’Hara. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/39 "2011-03-24T00:02:50Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’d say Lauren Bacall (born September 16, 1924) belongs on that list - and IMHO, she ranks above O’Hara. I forgot Lauren and Kirk Douglas. I realized that later. I think you’re right about Lauren over Maureen. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/40 "2011-03-24T00:04:55Z")
When did she die exactly? I ask as I watched _TMZ_ tonight and they didn’t say a word about it [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714.md?page=3)