They are just pale imitations of the most passionate couple that ever hooked up on a movie set. That's right kids, I am talking about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Okay, so it was before your time but they will go down in Hollywood history as one of the most scandalous couples ever. Their behaviour was so outrageous on the set of Cleopatra in Rome that they attracted paparazzi from all around the world and this was in the late 1950s. Sound familiar?
Their antics on and off the set almost sent Twentieth Century Fox into bankruptcy with the overrun costs of the movie. Liz was a trail blazer then and she still is now. She was the first actor to receive a million dollar paycheque and it was for - guess what kids? Cleopatra. The story goes that Liz didn't like the Cleopatra script so she thought she would ask for an outrageous sum - like a million bucks never thinking that the studio would go for it but they did and history was made.
Like Angelina, this wasn't Liz's first foray in stealing someone else's man. After the death of her husband Mike Todd, Liz was consoled by Mike's best friend, Eddie Fisher. Eddie was married at the time to Debbie Reynolds and they had two young children (you know Carrie Fisher from the original Star Wars, she's their daughter). As soon as you can say Cleopatra, Eddie had dumped Debbie for Liz and they eventually married in 1958 or 1959. Richard Burton was married with two young children also but that had never stopped him from catting around. Eventually Liz and Dick got divorced from their respective spouses and they married in 1964. They didn't live happily ever after either, they got divorced and then re-married and got divorced again. They were like magnets repelling themselves until sadly Richard died in 1984.
Angelina wasn't the first to adopt an orphan from a foreign country. Elizabeth has also adopted an orphan and she didn't give the child a prententious name like Shiloh. Liz has acted as a spokesperson for AIDS research almost from the beginning after her friend Rock Hudson died from the disease.
Elizabeth Taylor is one of the last of a dying breed. She was raised in the Hollywood studio system. She has worked with some of the best known actors, writers and directors including: Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Montgomery Clift, Tennessee Williams,and George Stevens and Mike Nichols (his latest flick was Closer) to name a few. So, the next time someone says how groundbreaking Brad and Angelina are - remember, they aren't - they are just poor imitations of Liz and Dick.
No comments:
Post a Comment