Elizabeth Taylor's quirks: Film critic remembers
Elizabeth Taylor died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 79, but her legend will surely live on in the memories of fans, family and friends.
Special section: Elizabeth Taylor 1932-2011Stars react to Elizabeth Taylor's death
On "The Early Show" Thursday, film critic Jeffrey Lyons discussed why Taylor's memory will endure.
He said, "Here's her career in perspective: She goes from Orson Welles, because she was in 'Jane Eyre' in a small role, to 'The Simpsons.' No one else can say that. She was born beautiful, but her beauty was not a distraction. In many cases, it's just the face and the actress can't act. In her case, it helped her, and she didn't have an awkward teenage period, either. She went from child star to movie star."
Elizabeth Taylor is dead at 79
Video: Remembering Elizabeth Taylor
Co-anchor Chris Wragge remarked, "She worked in a industry where beauty and careers fade, sadly. But hers didn't. Hers withstood the test of time. Almost 70 years of a career."
Special Section: Elizabeth Taylor's Remarkable Career, Life
Lyons added, "When you think of her second Oscar-winning performance, in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,' she was not afraid to show herself as bawdy and drinking. And in a way, it mirrored some of the things in her real life. She was amazing. She was born for this job. When she was a young woman and she was divorcing Nicky Hilton -- instead of calling her mother first -- she called the studio. That's someone raised in another world."
Eddie Fisher & Liz Taylor: Brangelina of the 1950s
Wragge noted Jeffrey Lyons' father, Leonard Lyons, knew Elizabeth well. Lyons added that actor Richard Burton, Taylor's fifth husband, was a neighbor.
"I knew Richard Burton," he said. "I taught him how to bunt once."
Lyons said he received a Bar Mitzvah gift from Taylor.
He recalled, "She gave me an atlas, which I still have -- when she was married to Mike Todd, who I think was her real favorite husband. He was her mentor. It was a very short marriage. I remember the day he was killed in a plane crash."
Pictures: Elizabeth Taylor's husbands
Lyons continued, "But here's Elizabeth Taylor: It's the night the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, is going to walk on the moon, the Burtons are on their yacht, and she's in the powder room and Richard called in, 'Sweetheart, hurry up. He's about to walk on the moon.' And she yelled out, 'Tell him to wait a minute, I'm not finished."'
Wragge joked, "And if there was a phone line, I'm sure they probably could have gotten him to wait."
Lyons said, "She was going to do a movie called 'The Only Game in Town' with a love scene with Warren Beatty, and Burton was in London. And he sent her a two-word telegram. 'No rehearsals.'"
Pictures: Elizabeth TaylorConrad Hilton was first of Elizabeth Taylor's seven spouses
Wragge asked Leonard about Taylor and Richard Burton's relationship.
"Well, as far as I could tell, and the world could tell, it was more passion than anything else," he said. "They were two people at a certain point in their life. Particularly since they married twice. When you saw them on 'Cleopatra' kissing, that was the real deal. My dad was on the set there, and he usually didn't write about those kind of things, but it was such a worldwide sensation, you can't imagine how famous they became overnight as far as the romance was concerned. It was an amazing experience."
"But the movie really didn't do very well," Wragge said.
"It was a horrible film. It was a big flop," Leonard said. "Burton was flown over there. He was on Broadway, in 'Camelot,' and they paid a huge amount of money to get on the plane, learn your lines on the plane, and he flew to Rome and sat there for 17 weeks before they started shooting. What do you do in 17 weeks if Liz Taylor is your co-star and your wife's not around? That's how it all started."
Wragge pointed out Taylor earned $1 million for that role.
"First woman to get a million dollars for a movie," Leonard said.
Taylor, Wragge said, seems to have been the first reality show star.
Leonard noted, "She came back. She did rehab. And she would be friends with people who were shunned by a lot of people, namely Michael Jackson. Let's also remember her for the great work she did for AIDS, for her friend Rock Hudson, who was a co-star in 'Giant.' That's one of the great films ever made, and I think it belongs in everybody's library."
So what's the essential Elizabeth Taylor film?
Pictures: Liz Taylor's famous co-stars
Leonard said, "'Ivanhoe,' with Robert Taylor and Janet Leigh. It's a knighthood movie. She comes out of the beaded doorway. This is the first time you see her as the Elizabeth Taylor we all know and love."