Elizabeth Taylor Shares Love Letters in Vanity Fair

By PopEater Staff Posted Jun 2nd 2010 03:15PM

As much as we love Brangelina gossip and Jay-Z and Beyonce chatter, it never hurts to consider the archetype. And it's hard to argue the two-marriage, two-divorce, two-decade romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton qualifies as anything less than the original celebrity "it" couple.

Illustrating that truism is the new issue of Vanity Fair, boasting excerpts from 'Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century,' a new book by Nancy Schoenberger and Sam Kashner. The magazine feature, titled 'A Love Too Big To Last,' is notable for its inclusion of portions of honest, raw love letters from Burton to Taylor.

In one bleedingly-honest segment, Burton wrote: "You must know, of course, how much I love you. You must know, of course, how badly I treat you. But the fundamental and most vicious, swinish, murderous and unchangeable fact is that we totally misunderstand each other ... we operate on alien wave lengths ... I love you and I always will. Come back to me as soon as you can."

Richard and Liz met as the stars of 1963's 'Cleopatra' and were public lovers for 20 years thereafter. "Richard was magnificent in every sense of the word," Taylor, 78, tells Vanity Fair. "From those first moments in Rome [filming 'Cleopatra'] we were always madly and powerfully in love."

Their romance was storied but not picture-perfect. They wed and divorced twice -- first in 1964, divorcing in 1974, then remarrying in 1975, only to separate less than one year later. They had no children together.

Vanity Fair, which features a vintage portrait of the Oscar-winning actress on its cover, posits the question, "What other couple has been condemned both by the Vatican and on the floor of the House of Representatives? What other couple lived as decadently, as opulently, and as passionately? What other couple could conquer both Hollywood and Broadway the way these two did?"

Elizabeth Taylor Vanity Fair Cover

Many of Burton's letters are reproduced in the book and magazine, but Taylor declined to share Burton's last nostalgic missive, one she agreed to read aloud for a Vanity Fair reporter. In the letter, written just days before his 1984 death from a brain hemorrhage, Burton said his happiest times were spent with Taylor. He wondered if they might come together again. "She counts it as her most treasured possession and keeps it by her bed at all times," the mag writes.

Other excerpts from Burton's letters to the sweetheart he dubbed "My Lumps" and "Dearest Scrupelshrumpilstilskin":

His devotion to Taylor was extreme: "If you leave me I shall have to kill myself. There is no life without you."

He marveled at her acting: "You are probably the best actress in the world, which, combined with your extraordinary beauty, makes you unique ... When, as an actress, you want to be funny, you are funnier than W.C. Fields; when, as an actress, you are meant to be tragic, you are tragic."

His doubts about love: "I find it very difficult to allow my whole life to rest on the existence of another creature. I find it equally difficult, because of my innate arrogance, to believe in the idea of love. There is no such thing, I say to myself. There is lust, of course, and usage, and jealousy, and desire and spent powers, but no such thing as the idiocy of love. Who invented that concept? I have wracked my shabby brains and can find no answer."

Elizabeth Taylor has been married eight times to seven men. Her last union -- a five-year marriage to construction worker Larry Fortensky -- ended in 1996. Recently, Liz quashed rumors she would marry a ninth time, to Jason Winters, a man nearly three decades her junior at age 49.

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Liz's Men

No. 5: Richard Burton
March 15, 1964 - June 26, 1974
Taylor and the dashing actor began a romance while shooting the epic film, 'Cleopatra.' To the benefit of tabloids at the time, both were married. Scandal!

William Lovelace, Evening Standard / Getty Images

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Tags: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Vanity Fair

Comments

(72)

Friday 04 June

By Rene

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Elizabeth Taylor was born in February, 1932 . . . so she is 78 yeaes old.

By Kai Ferano

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Seems to me that they were both self-centered egotists who fed off each other. Elizabeth, too, was an alcoholic, but more of a surviver. The poster who doubts her acting ability was right -- she's a terrible actress! Burton was a genius on screen, and I think his acting suffered when he shared the screen with her.

By Lana

Well I wonder what the age is of all you well wisher. I am 67 and I remember how Beautiful Elizabeth Taylor was, was she perfect no, but loved by many, The real love of her life died in a plane crash, had he not died, I really believe she would have remained with him until, Liz needed a strong hand and that what Mike Todd was she couldnt push him around. She has never had any surgery for cosmetics reason unlike so many of the actress's of today. She make all your unkind remarks but I will always remember as a one of a kind

By KMJS

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I heard that she had a chin implant. Check it out.

By cqdeed

My mother is 81. She and Ms Taylor used to be the same age but as mom aged Liz didn't.

By Nikki

How many prom dresses were copied from an evening gown she wore in A Place in The Sun. She was one of the most beautiful women in show business and a very kind one with all her charity work. Love her with Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Rock Hudson and James Dean in Giant.
I also believe that if Mike Todd had not died in that plane crash, they would have been together until.

By Wendy

Richard Burton in his letters to her sounds like a textbook narcissist to me. I enjoy watching both Elizabeth Taylor's and his movies very much and I can understand their fascination with each other. Opposites attract and the narcissist feeds on that very well. Poor Liz.

By Elizabeth

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Jess: Elizabeth Taylor is 78, she is the same age my mother would be if she were still alive.

By akolough

The realist in me agrees with poster David S. I read somewhere that, by marrying Taylor, Burton pretty much walked away from a career as a serious Shakesperean actor. However, the romantic in me believes that theirs was a great love story. They adored each another throughout their lives. I'd love to believe they will reunite in the afterlife. Sappy, but perhaps then they will find the peace they couldn't find together here.

By sarah

She was born on Feb 27,1932 and was very flawless and beautiful .I happened to see them in P>V>Mexico and is switzerland. They seemed to adore each other..

By jay

lis is a woman that alot of gay actors and jackson would tell there storys to her she knows alot about them and has a no tell on them .but she was close to many and they trusted her with there lives and rightly so. shes a great lady . . richard and lis were like frank and ava drinking never works for a marrige and well always be the cause of the end .

By Shery

I've alway's liked Elizabeth Taylor. I always thought of her as a very elegant and beautiful woman. I liked them both in the VIP's and in Sandpiper. They made a cute couple

By Kathy Jorgensen

Why would you want something so private made public?

By juney

Love Liz Taylor; always the lady forthright and honest in the face of extreme media cruelty and jealousy, one of our greatest actresses. She has a vulnerability that belies her outward security, and I hope she stays with us for another 78 years!

By WEUIR2321

One of my favorite movies they both starred in was "The Sandpiper."

By Peace

They were soul mates... no matter what, I always felt that.

By K

Don't know what some of you watched over the years, but they were both amazing actors and deserved every accolade they received. She has always been beautiful and for some of you younger folks, she supported aids research when most people were treating the sick like lepers and outcasts, inclusive of children. For that reason alone, she is unmatched by any actor from the past or present

By Lulu

What happened to the real ladies of the 50's? They taught us how to be, when we've of following generations have lost our status as ladies. My mom (a real lady) still lives today as such a lady as Elizabeth Taylor. How lucky they were to be treated as such ladies of such high caliber, only because they carried themselves as ladies. How fortunate to live in that era, when ladies were real ladies & men were real gentlemen.

Monday 07 June

By Esther E.

Liz and Burton were certainly NO role models for ANY kind of good conduct.

By FillyFixr

Why would anyone do that?

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