She was my first and most enduring image of an ideal of feminine beauty I could never hope to equal. Nothing about me except the fact of being female ever seemed the equal of the perfection I saw in all those fan magazines I perused during my teenage years. Then I read about the romances, the marriages and divorces, the furs and diamonds -- all of it was from a world I knew existed in some stratosphere far beyond the earthly world I inhabited. Eventually I gained enough education and experience to understand that sometimes she had an opportunity to truely follow her art, to act and act very, very well, so well that sometimes one could stop looking at that face, those eyes, those eyebrows and get lost in the booze addled Martha, or in other roles. But the magazines made me ache for her romances with the brilliant and impossible Richard and her several serious illnesses. Despite it all, she lived a relatively long life -- certainly a rich life, by which I do not mean financially although it was that too. Like millions of other life-long fans, I'm saddened by her death and will forever be glad she will live on in her films.
3 comments:
A legendary beauty and a phenomenal talent!
June -- I agree with you that she was a terrific stress but her personal life was shaky and not one that I identified with. -- barbara
I can't say I was ever all that big a fan of Ms. Taylor. I will say this: she was incredibly radiant in National Velvet and I'll always remember that. Me, personally? I adored Audrey Hepburn.
But that was a long time ago. Today, I note the passing of a cultural icon. It's my understanding that her children were at her side during her final hours. I'm glad for that.
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