It was the story of the decade, an outrageous love story that was debunked by the Vatican and propelled astronaut John Glenn’s first Earth orbiter (for an American) off the front pages. Their torrid and often tumultuous on-set affair eventually ended both of their marriages before they married in 1964. A divorce a decade later was followed by a year-long second marriage in 1975. Yet when Burton first attempted Once taking Taylor, years before Cleopatra, she was horrified and shot him dead.
Burton arrived at a Hollywood party hosted by Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger in 1953 and was immediately smitten with Taylor.
She later described the moment: “A girl sitting across the pool put her book down, took off her sunglasses and looked at me. She was so extraordinarily beautiful that I almost burst out laughing. She was unquestionably beautiful…she was a dark and unyielding generosity. It was, in short, too bloody.
Taylor was unimpressed: “He flirted like crazy with me, with everyone, with any girl who was even remotely cute. I just thought, ‘Ohhh, man, I’m not going to get a notch son belt.’ »
Nine years later, Burton was belatedly added to the cast of Cleopatra and their reunion ignited a passion that seared them and everyone and everything around them.
When filming of Cleopatra began, Taylor was married to Eddie Fisher, who she had “stolen” from her friend Debbie Reynolds in an emotional rebound following the death of her husband Mike Todd. Burton had been with his wife Sybil since 1949, but was notorious for his many transient sexual infidelities. He preferred to look away from her, always certain that he would come back to her.
However, the chemistry was instant between Burton and Taylor the second time around and would lead to months of heartache in both marriages while also setting the pattern for the lovers’ turbulent relationship.
The two stars filmed their first scenes together in Rome in December 1961 and Taylor said: “For the first scene there was no dialogue, we just had to look at each other. And that was it: I was another notch. »
Burton said he was hungover and nervous, and he encouraged her to take care of him and even stabilize his shaking hands as he brought a cup of coffee to his lips.
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Fisher visited Sybil and later recalled; “I said, ‘You know, are they continuing their relationship? And she said, ‘He’s been in these relationships and he always comes back to me.’ And I said, ‘But they still have their relationship.’ And she went into the studio. and they closed [production] down. And it cost him $100,000. And the day I left Rome, he cost them another $100,000. Elizabeth screamed and continued. Work ceased that day. They had it in my honor. »
When he learned of their spouses meeting, Burton angrily called Fisher and said, “You’re nothing, rat. I’m going up there and I’m going to kill you. He would also taunt Fisher, saying, ‘You don’t know how to use it!’ to Taylor who she loved, in front of her husband.
For six months, the relationship went off and on, mainly due to quarrels between Burton and Taylor. She was hospitalized twice after taking the pills, but she later said that she would never end her life, only to force a break and hospitalization.
Burton was also having an on-set affair with a dancer, causing further arguments with Taylor.
A romantic trip along the coast to Porto Santo at Easter has gone around the world. It ended more dramatically, when Taylor fled to Rome. For the second time in four months she was admitted to the Salvator Mundi hospital.
She also stated that they tried to stop the relationship out of respect for Sybil, while admitting that her relationship with Fisher was over.
They both returned to their partners after filming wrapped in the summer of 1962. Taylor was indeed separated from Fisher but did not grant her a divorce until March 1964. However, she had already reunited with Burton in another film, The VIPs. , where their relationship resumed in early 1963.
Sybil filed for divorce for “cruel and inhumane treatment and neglect” in December. Three months later, Burton and Taylor were married in Montreal.
Burton died aged just 58 in 1984, and Taylor later said, “I was still madly in love with him the day he died. I think he still loved me too.”
