Lifetime: Intimate Portrait- Elizabeth Taylor

Source:Lifetime- Hollywood Babydoll Elizabeth Taylor being profiled by Lifetime in 2002.

"A made-for-television documentary hosted by Peter Lawford in discussions with close friends, family and colleagues of Elizabeth Taylor about her life and career and featuring clips from her films and archive footage from her personal life."  

From IMDB 

Liz Taylor is the Jim Brown, John Unitas, Babe Ruth, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Frank Sinatra, the person in her profession that everyone who comes after her his judged by. The greatest at what she does. Are you as good as Elizabeth Taylor as an actress? If you are, well now you’re the best, but if you’re anything close to her even light years from her you know you’ve made it. If you’re in her class, or just a few classes back from Liz Taylor you’ve made it. You’re not just a successful actress, but you’re a great actress. 

I’ve gone back and forth between Liz and Lauren Bacall when I try to decide who’s the best actress of all-time, because you could make a great case for either and I’m blogging now about Liz, so I’m going to make her case.

But I’ve just don’t know of another actress whose funnier, one of the funniest people who has ever come out of Hollywood. As she said she’s an instinctive and if you’re a great instinctive actress you are also a great improv actress, because you go off of feel about who you’re playing and where the role and the movie, or show is going. That is Liz Taylor. 

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Which isn’t a question, but a movie) Is a perfect example of that where she’s playing a woman whose losing her mind and going crazy if not already there. Its is a very serious role and movie and yet she and Richard Burton are very funny in that. And maybe that’s just because they were working with each other and the chemistry they had. But they made that movie a great movie by themselves.

When it comes to dramatic actress’s I don’t know of a better actress. Again Virginia Woolf, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Butterfield 8, The V.I.P.’s again with Burton and The Sandpiper again with Burton. She’s great at making very serious roles in serious movies seem very entertaining and even funny. 

Virginia Woolf, is a very serious graphic even movie with this couple that looks like they’re getting ready to divorce, because of how they argue and the clean shots that they throw and land at each other. And of course with Liz’s character going insane as the movie moves along and yet they were both hysterically funny together in this movie. She might be the best improvisational actress of all-time as well and Lauren Bacall does very well in this area as well.

Liz Taylor very similar to Ava Gardner took charge of her life and lived her life exactly the way she wanted. And essentially said the hell with the future and the consequences and lived her life her way. I think that’s how a woman is married 6-7 times, or whatever it was and drinks and eats too much. 

Liz lived a roller coaster life including all the tragedies that she suffered around her husband Mike Todd dying and other loved one around her dying. But with all the ups and downs that she had in her life she lived a great 79 years that has millions of people who love her and will always love her. And we’re also talking about one of the two best actress’s ever. 

And when you live a life-like that and enjoy so much and have so much success with so many people who love you, what do you have to complain about. She lived a great life and had a great roller coaster ride. 

You can also see this post at The Daily Journal, on Blogger.