Insightful new documentary series on one of Hollywood’s most famous names - Elizabeth Taylor
Friday: Elizabeth Taylor – Rebel Superstar (BBC Two, 9pm)
For too long, Dame Elizabeth Taylor’s story has been told as a soap opera – with the eight marriages, the diamonds and the addictions, among other things, turning her into tabloid fodder.
However, this landmark biographical series, executive produced by Kim Kardashian, Kari Lia and Hamish Fergusson, finally gives the two-time Academy Award-winning actress, in all her incarnations, the significance she richly deserves.
It tells her story as a performer, rebel, business mogul and activist, and reveals how she broke down barriers, created the blueprint for modern celebrity and paid a heavy price for defying convention.
The programme takes a deep dive into the London-born star’s craft and technique – as she not only mesmerised cinemagoers, but also reinvented the nature of fame, smashing the glass ceiling in Hollywood, before going on to become a billion-dollar businesswoman and advocate.
It features unheard recordings of Taylor herself, along with the testimony of those who knew her best, including members of her family, friends and colleagues from throughout her stellar career.
Tonight’s first episode tells the story of Elizabeth’s astronomical rise to fame during Hollywood’s Golden Age.
As a young actor, she landed the starring role in MGM’s smash hit National Velvet – but as she got older, her life was tightly controlled by the studio, who dictated everything from what she ate to who she dated – stage-managing her first marriage to Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton as a publicity stunt to promote the 1950 movie Father of the Bride.
However, the marriage was a disaster and Taylor decided to live life on her own terms, marrying British actor and producer Michael Wilding, father of her children Michael and Chris, and producing some of her best work – including Giant with James Dean and Rock Hudson.
After divorcing Wilding, Elizabeth married Mike Todd, a brash, charismatic film producer in 1957.
But just two weeks into filming Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which was to earn her critical acclaim, Elizabeth received devastating news, which changes everything.
Among the stars who will be paying homage to Taylor over the next three weeks is Sharon Stone, who first became friends with her through her work campaigning for those with HIV/AIDS.
Stone notes: “She was the first person to send me 100 roses when I had my stroke”.
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson’s daughter, model, actress, singer and activist Paris, was Taylor’s goddaughter.
She was 12 when Elizabeth died, but has followed in her godmother’s footsteps using her platform to help those with HIV/AIDS.
She says Elizabeth had a “badass approach to life”.
The series also features in-depth interviews Taylor’s son Chris Wilding, her granddaughter Naomi Wilding, stepson Todd Fisher and daughter-in-law, Aileen Getty, and Taylor’s former boyfriend, Hollywood actor George Hamilton.
It has been 13 years since Elizabeth Taylor passed away, aged 79, in Los Angeles.
But as this programme shows, the public’s’s fascination with and love for the screen legend and trailblazer hasn’t diminished in the slightest.