# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/41 "2011-03-24T00:13:33Z")
Ernest Borgnine is also still with us and still active – born in 1917. I remember the brouhaha when Eddie Fisher divorced Debbie Reynolds to marry Liz, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. People were still sad for Liz because of Mike Todd’s death, so they cut her some slack. My favorite Liz movies are _Giant_, _Elephant Walk_, _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof_ (the most beautiful man and woman on the planet in the same movie!) and _A Place in the Sun_. It’ll be interesting to see which ones TCM puts on its schedule. ---
**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, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/42 "2011-03-24T00:19:32Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Ernest Borgnine is also still with us and still active – born in 1917. Love him but hardly A-List. I did not include Angela Lansbury or [Glynis Johns](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0424318/) either. Both are still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/43 "2011-03-24T00:24:52Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > When did she die exactly? I ask as I watched _TMZ_ tonight and they didn’t say a word about it The Los Angeles Times says she died “early Wednesday”. [Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79; legendary actress](http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-elizabeth-taylorlong-20110324,0,3017190,full.story) By Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times / March 23, 2011, 6:57 a.m. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/44 "2011-03-24T00:25:54Z")
[The New York Times said she died at 1:28 a.m. Pacific time.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/movies/elizabeth-taylor-obituary.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1300926309-CYg71mqhyAbgt5KqE1g0Kg) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/45 "2011-03-24T00:26:14Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Love him but hardly A-List. I did not include Angela Lansbury or [Glynis Johns](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0424318/) either. Both are still alive. Borgnine not A-list? I disagree. An actor doesn’t have to be a leading man type to be A-list. The guy won an Oscar for _Marty_ and has worked steadily for more years than most of us have been alive. I’d consider Angela Lansbury to be A-list as well. But maybe that’s a subject for another thread. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/46 "2011-03-24T00:29:57Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > 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.” Wow, I’m reading this in a whole different way. Joan Rivers is closely tied to Elizabeth Taylor in the public mind as the source of many, many fat jokes. She’s already been mentioned in a number of discussions of Liz’s death. I think this is Joan’s way of saying that in spite of their past (and they did make up and work together on AIDS), she remembers Liz not for her weight issues but for her charity work. When you mentioned a tacky tweet, I thought she had made a mean-spirited joke. This tweet sounds rather nice to me. ---
**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, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/47 "2011-03-24T00:34:28Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Borgnine not A-list? I disagree. An actor doesn’t have to be a leading man type to be A-list. The guy won an Oscar for _Marty_ and has worked steadily for more years than most of us have been alive. > > I’d consider Angela Lansbury to be A-list as well. But maybe that’s a subject for another thread. Well Angela went A-List after the golden age. Marty was great but a great small film. Also Borgnine was at the tale end of the Studio Days. He was never part of the glamorous Hollywood Star system that Liz was a shining example of. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/48 "2011-03-24T00:48:55Z")
as told to barbara walters: here lies elizabeth, she hated to be called liz, but she lived. she did have quite the life and lived it to the full. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/49 "2011-03-24T01:26:38Z")
I’ve been wiping away more than a few tears today. One story from SFGate writer Phil Bronstien made me smile though. He remembered an incident at a party hosted by Elton John: > [@](#): > > \*Ms. Taylor was seated directly across from me, obviously in some discomfort from her endless, ongoing health problems. But she was nothing short of regal in her demeanor and bearing. She looked better than when I’d seen her here, much better. Only her occasional trips to the bathroom required an entourage of assistance. > > Her white fluffy Maltese, Precious, sat in her lap… > > Suddenly, I noticed that Ms. Taylor had stopped in mid-sentence and was looking around the room in a panic. Her dog had jumped off her lap at some point and she’d just noticed. > > In a voice that sounded like a raging fan at a Raiders’ game, she screamed. It was a deep rumble and stunning roar that Richard Burton must have heard a few times and seemed impossible from someone who often spoke in little girl whispers: > > "PRECIOUS! PRECIOUS! Where the F\*\*K are you!!?? > > Chaos ensued until the rat-like dog was found. \* ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/50 "2011-03-24T01:27:30Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Olivia de Havilland 94 born 07/01/1916 > Joan Fontaine 92 born 10/22/1917 \*(BTW, Olivia and Joan are sisters) \* A shame that the real reasons behind their feud will probably die with them. It had to have been a doozy to cause a falling out that’s lasted this long, but supposedly it’s still going strong in their 90s. Per accounts they’ve had some contact over the years due to family matters but very little and even after outliving almost everybody they ever knew they rarely speak and never visit. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/51 "2011-03-24T01:32:17Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Well Angela went A-List after the golden age. Marty was great but a great small film. Also Borgnine was at the tale end of the Studio Days. He was never part of the glamorous Hollywood Star system that Liz was a shining example of. True. I might be giving him A list status because he’s outlived almost everyone of his time. Back to the Rivers tweet: It sounds bad because she said "to join **me** – which makes it sound like Joan’s saying she started the campaign. If she’d left off the “me” and just said “join in the fight”, it’d sound less self-aggrandizing. And here I was starting to like Joan again. Stars and their egos. ::shakes head:: ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/52 "2011-03-24T01:42:38Z")
Her legend will live forever. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/53 "2011-03-24T03:18:17Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > The _great_ beauties _all_ have a little quirkiness to their looks. It’s what distinguishes them from Stepford Wives the movie industry churns out. I never considered her a beauty at all, quirkiness or no quirkiness, although I realize I’m in a minority. It’s probably because I never cared for that “1950s look,” but even before she adopted that look, I thought she was very plain-looking in her earliest 1940s films. But hey, more power to her! She had a great run. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/54 "2011-03-24T03:52:03Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > 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. _National Velvet_ is the only Elizabeth Taylor movie in our collection. Even **DesertRoomie** , who bought it, commented “She faints at the drop of a hat.” ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/55 "2011-03-24T04:33:27Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I never considered her a beauty at all, quirkiness or no quirkiness, although I realize I’m in a minority. It’s probably because I never cared for that “1950s look,” but even before she adopted that look, I thought she was very plain-looking in her earliest 1940s films. But hey, more power to her! She had a great run. What’s the “1950s look”? Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Rhonda Fleming? I’m also curious about what you mean by “plain-looking”. I see Liz as a classic beauty, but I can see where you might see it as “plain”. Her face is sorta perfect, and sometimes perfect is boring. Women like Meryl Streep, Kate Hepburn, Lauren Bacall – their faces are more interesting. I’m trying to think of a current actress who I consider a classic beauty, and Charlize Theron is the only one I can come up with. Who’s beautiful to you? (Truly curious, not trying to be argumentative.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/56 "2011-03-24T04:50:45Z")
Hard to describe, but I know it if I see it, and Liz ain’t it. Never was. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/57 "2011-03-24T13:20:27Z")
auntiepam, i would go with nicole kidman as a current actress who is a classic beauty. ---
**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, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/58 "2011-03-24T13:45:10Z")
Jennifer Connelly & Kate Beckinsale are the pair I think of usually. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/59 "2011-03-24T13:57:52Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Actually I rather love “Ivanhoe” and “Taming of the Shrew” Amen! ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714/60 "2011-03-24T14:08:43Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > auntiepam, i would go with nicole kidman as a current actress who is a classic beauty. [Kate Winslet](http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=Kate+Winslet&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=A1CLTYDhN9-qhAeFl-GkDg&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1202&bih=690), [Catherine Zeta Jones](http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1202&bih=690&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=catherine+zeta+jones&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=) and, just for me perhaps, [Kristen Scott Thomas](http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1202&bih=690&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=kristen+scott+thomas&aq=f&aqi=g-s1g1g-sx8&aql=&oq=). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-elizabeth-taylor/575714.md?page=4)