Let me tell you a story about a legendary woman who truly lived life to the fullest. Naomi deLuce Wilding, granddaughter of the iconic Elizabeth Taylor, shared some incredible memories with Closer. Picture this: Naomi would often cozy up in bed with her grandmother to watch horror flicks. "We used to watch a lot of scary movies together," Naomi recalls with a smile. "We just loved getting spooked." Now, that might not sound like the typical grandmotherly activity, but Elizabeth understood the difference between the monsters on the screen and the real-life challenges we face. "I’m a living example of what people can go through and survive," Elizabeth once said.
From Child Star to Hollywood Icon
Elizabeth Taylor's journey in Hollywood began at a tender age. At just 9 years old, she stepped onto her first film set. As Kate Andersen Brower, author of Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon, puts it, "In many ways, she lived a charmed life." But there was a flip side to this glittering existence. Elizabeth’s childhood was anything but ordinary. Sheltered by both her mother, Sara, and the studio, she missed out on the normalcy of being a kid. "She didn’t have many friends her age," Brower explains. Naomi shares a poignant memory her sister recounted about watching National Velvet with their grandmother. Elizabeth had said, "I remember this part. My mom said we had to reshoot it because my hands looked too fat." Imagine hearing that criticism at just 12 years old. It’s a glimpse into the pressures Elizabeth faced from a young age.
Marriage and Heartbreak
At 18, Elizabeth sought freedom from her mother's control by marrying Conrad "Nicky" Hilton. However, this marriage turned out to be a painful mistake. "He was an alcoholic and abusive," Brower reveals. Elizabeth endured a miscarriage during this time, an experience she described as "awful." Her second marriage, to Michael Wilding, brought some stability and two sons, but the significant age gap between them caused tension.
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After five years, Elizabeth and Michael parted amicably in 1957, the same year she married Mike Todd, one of the great loves of her life. Elizabeth wrote about him fondly: "God, I loved him. My self-esteem, my image, everything soared under his exuberant, loving care." Brower adds, "If he had lived, I think they would have stayed together." Tragically, Mike's life was cut short in a 1958 plane crash, which left Elizabeth devastated.
Challenges and Triumphs
Elizabeth’s decision to marry Eddie Fisher just 14 months later was met with public disdain. "She had nightmares about nuns staring and laughing and pointing at her," Brower shares. Being blamed for the breakup of Eddie's marriage to Debbie Reynolds was tough, but Eddie's possessive behavior was even worse. During the filming of Cleopatra, Eddie grew so jealous of Elizabeth's relationship with Richard Burton that he held a gun to her head. Despite this, Elizabeth was determined to be with Richard. "It was the most chaotic period of my life," she admitted, "but I also fell madly in love, so it couldn’t have been all bad." Their final breakup in 1976 left her shattered. Brower believes, "I think Elizabeth would have tried a third time with Richard. She might have been more dedicated to him than he was to her."
Elizabeth faced numerous health challenges throughout her life, surviving over 70 serious illnesses and injuries. "Once I didn’t breathe for five minutes, which must be a record," she joked. Her resilience and determination to keep going were remarkable. She also battled addictions to alcohol and drugs, becoming the first celebrity to openly discuss her rehab experience at the Betty Ford Center.
A Legacy of Compassion
Elizabeth’s struggles gave her a profound empathy for others. In the 1980s, she used her celebrity status to advocate for AIDS victims, founding the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) in 1991. "She was acutely aware of her own frailty as a human," Naomi explains. "She understood that we all suffer, and the best way to ease that suffering is to reach out and touch each other." Elizabeth Taylor’s life was packed with triumphs, tragedies, and an unwavering spirit. "She learned her own strength from a young age," Naomi says. "That’s how she was able to push through tragedy and illness. She believed you just keep going." Elizabeth’s legacy lives on, inspiring countless people around the world.
