Elizabeth Taylor: The life story you may not know

The mythos surrounding Elizabeth Taylor has long been larger-than-life. There was always something about her that gripped the cultural imagination, in both life and death. Her legendary violet eyes, her penchant for priceless jewels, her eight marriages, and the sometimes volatile and scandalous nature of her relationships all coalesced to form Taylor’s public image, rendering her highly visible and, at the same time, unknowable. Taylor’s stardom redefined the cultural idea of what celebrity meant, pioneering our modern conceptions of the word: complete with paparazzi, publicly scrutinized and adored relationships, struggles with addiction, and use of her platform for activism.

Perhaps one of Taylor’s most remarkable legacies was her ability to understand her own influence and, to a certain extent, shape her own narrative during a time when big Hollywood studios famously micromanaged actresses’ every move. To memorialize Taylor’s remarkable life—and to separate fact from fabrication—Stacker compiled a list of 15 important moments and relationships from Taylor’s life via interviews, biographies, and news reports.

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