An Icon has Passed
Taylor sunning herself on the set of “Giant” –Image by Sid Avery
At some point in my life I arrived at the conclusion that quite simply, Elizabeth Taylor is a goddess.
It’s easy to recognize her charm when you see her look so effortlessly stunning in films like Giant and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but my favorite Taylor role of all time is her turn as the frumpy, hard-drinking wife in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Her character is crude and maybe even crazy, but to me Taylor has never been more appealing than in that film.
They just don’t sparkle like they used to, now do they?
Please (do it!) visit The Selvedge Yard for more incredible photos of Taylor (oh God, and James Dean!) on the set of George Stevens’ epic film.
Sidenote: The Selvedge Yard is Justin’s favorite blog. He found it following a link detailing how much Andre the Giant could drink on one day—something like 60 beers—and was pleased to find that TSY could somehow intuit the inner workings of his mind and everything he finds cool: cafe racers, beer, surf photography, Shinya Kimura, Steve McQueen, marvelous mustaches. Anyone who features both Jean-Paul Belmondo and Bryan Ferry in their “Style Hall of Fame” is A-list in my book. And I now so badly want a “Sons of Lee Marvin” T-shirt!
I never saw “Who’s afraid…” but I remember it was a big shock to her fans (just like the time Bob Dylan picked up electric guitar).. and yes, she proved how good actress she was (not just “the beauty”.) I should (finally) see that movie, if you like it so much! (you know I liked her in “Giant” very much…. surprised to know she was only 24 that time!)
“Sons of Lee Marvin” … ahahahaha!!!!
I LOVE it!!!!!!
You should watch “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf!” She put on 30 pounds to play the role which shocked audiences at the time. She had wonderful onscreen chemistry with Richard Burton (Justin also really loves “The Taming of the Shrew”), you can kind of sense their can’t stand eachother/can’t live without eachother relationship. Plus I think you’d enjoy a really young George Segal.
Also, one of my favorite actors, Sandy Dennis, plays a key role as the young wife of George Segal. It was kind of a difficult movie to watch for me, but that’s not to say it was bad. I think it is one of those classics that should be seen at least once — and would be a great topic for a discussion group or college class.
Taylor is incredible in the role of Martha.