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 sandy

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The electricity between them was riveting. Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? Cleopatra? Their interviews.
I have to agree that Mike Todd's death was tragic. But Liz and Richard were an icon and will always be.

By Raejean

I don't think Taylor was much of an actress, but rather, some sort of a cult figure due to her unusual beauty, which finally and predictably left her after so many surgical enhancements, ill health, and the inevitable aging process. If I hadn't already lost respect for her over a number of other poor judgments, I certainly would have over her championship of Michael Jackson, who was one of her adoring acolytes.

You can't live life that large without consequences. She and Burton might have lit up the sky and burned up the sheets, but they also boozed like fish, fought hard, and pretty well nearly killed each other.

By Alice Robinson

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Bless her heart...Elizabeth Taylor. for all of her 78 yrs, has so many memories....having grown up in Hollywood in the "good old days" thru her marriages with love and devistation and to her charitable contributions ie when her daughter-in-law developed AIDS she became a big supporter to find a cure...she is really an icon to her's and many others generations

By kevin

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Their relationship was typical of two drunkards. Nothing that is noteworthy or unusual about it.

By folara

Who cares about them anymore - old hat and life has moved on.

By Liz's computer

So much jealousy in the world....pity!

Saturday 05 June

By maria

Nooooooo.... stop it with the obvious and flat wise conclusions you stupid people draw! Not everyone is jealous! Sometimes they are just saying it like it is, for pete's sake. Why on earth would anyone be jealous of this woman, in her late 70's now, beauty pretty much dissolved, health problems almost her entire life, and was someone who couldn't keep a normal marriage going to save her life. Jealous? More like pity. Really. Wake up! And stop thinking like everyone else. What makes them so special? They were drunks, they lived hard and it showed on him, and certainly shows with HER. Oh yes, I definitely feel contempt and jealousy for I wish nothing more than to be this old, washed up hag. Ha!

By KarenH

Burton always drank, but after he left his wife and children, he started drinking even more ... probably from his feelings of guilt. He was an intellectual so I really am at a loss of what he saw in Liz other than her beautiful face. Her body was lacking. As he said, "she is short of leg" ... I think they got divorced because he got tired of her lack of intellectual capability.

By Cheridujour

I disagree, KarenH. She had a beautiful face AND a decent body. She had really nice curves. Does being short make someone's body ugly? As long as they are well proportioned it shouldn't matter. She is half an inch taller than I (she's 5'2") so I take offense to what you have said. I'm short and there's nothing wrong with MY body! In fact, tall people seem to run the risk of easily looking chicken-legged. I'd rather see a short girl with muscular, toned legs than a tall one with skinny bean poles.

As for her acting, she may not be the finest actress, but she has had some briliant moments. Her Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is absolutely an iconic performance; she was also wonderful in "A Place In the Sun," "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof," and "Giant."

I personally love Elizabeth. (Anyone who calls her "Liz" can't call THEMSELVES a true fan. A true fan would know how she despises that nickname.) I think she is totally fabulous, and she is sweet and has a wonderful heart. She has made mistakes, some VERY big, but that's human. She is a true survivor, and I have the utmost respect for her.

By Mary

Oh My,
Have you never loved someone to perfection or been loved beyond all your flaws. I do, I have.
It's not about alcohol and acting or even writing. It's about the answer to all your secrets.
It doesn't matter what anyone thinks when you know your soul is satisfied. Let tomorrow bring what may, you live, and live, and live today.
They were a tad indulgent. But we all indulge. I love to see people happy together.

By suer

She was married 8 TIMES!!! True love??? Don't think she ever knew what that was.

By susan mcgraw keber

Elizabeth and Richard did have a child...a beautiful little girl whom they adopted together. While not their biological child, it is insulting and insensitive to say they had no children together.

Monday 07 June

By Esther E.

Who cares?

By mAGGIESIMI

Love is grand even if it doesnt last!

By SUE

WHO IN THE HELL CARES

By Dottie654

Sorry, but I have to agree in part with K. Acting in the heyday of La Liz was not as good as it is today. She was an ok actress, but definitely not even close to THE greatest of her time. Even today, there are not many truly great actresses OR actors. But today acting is much more natural than it was back in the day when it was so heavily scripted and unnatural. I do think she was a lovely woman, but certainly not THE most beautiful. I will say I respect her for aging naturally as opposed to undergoing the knife to try to look young beyond her years.

By JimSchmidt

Elizabeth Taylor is one of the most beautiful women who graced the silver screen. She is an actress who gave the film industry many wonderful films. She has contributed an enormous amount of time to AIDS research. Go Liz Go; you are one of the finest ladies of our time.

By Barbara

When I was in my early Teens, I incredibly looked just like Elizabeth Taylor! I really Loved Her and Richard Burton! I was proud to look like her, then and Everyone would tell me, how uncanny the resemblance was! I think They were Soul Mates and Will Reunite in Heaven! Both had Talent, and Looks! They Always were in Love! Eternally! They were the most Popular Stars on Earth!I hope Liz, stays well, God Bless Her! GINGER

By Bettania

They had 'no children together'? Didn't they adopt a girl named Maria? Doesn't she count?

By Grace Quirk

To Lana,
Elizabeth Taylor had cosmetics surgery on her face because I saw the pictures in People magazine the results was she has a heart shape face when her skin was tighten. She look very young and beautiful when she had it done. I believe she had it done in the late 80's, not really sure about the date. Mike Todd was the love of her life. I don't think Richard Burton was. She was just lonely at the time she meet him but she was married to a drug addict. Eddie Fisher. You know how that goes.

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