One of the most talked about Hollywood relationships of the 20th century was without a doubt the one between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The couple, who’d initially met at a party in 1952, properly got to know each other during the filming of the 1963 feature Cleopatra, launching an extramarital affair that continues to capture attention, decades after they split.
The BBC documentary Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar (2024) delves into Taylor’s life through interviews with those who knew her and audio clips from back in the day. Some feature the voice of actor herself, who revealed exactly when she fell for a “hunger” and “very vulnerable” Burton.
Elizabeth Taylor immediately fell for Richard Burton
Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar features a clip from an old interview, in which Elizabeth Taylor revealed the exact moment she knew she wanted to be with Richard Burton – and it’s not what you would think.
She recounted the moment on the set of Cleopatra, saying, “The first day on the set, he was hungover and very vulnerable and his hands were shaking. He asked me to hold a coffee cup up to his lips, and I was gone.”
It wasn’t a surprise to fellow actor Joan Collins, who knew about Burton’s on-set antics. “His reputation is that he slept with all of his leading ladies. All actors made a pass at actresses – they took it as their divine right,” she said of the time. “So when he made a pass at me [on the set of 1957’s Sea Wife], I rejected him, and he said, ‘You can’t do that, you’re breaking my heart.'”
Eddie Fisher knew about the affair
According to Joan Collins, Eddie Fisher knew about his Elizabeth Taylor’s affair with Richard Burton before it became public knowledge. “There was obviously something going on with Richard and Elizabeth, and Eddie knew about it,” she revealed. “I remember it was a big dinner. Burton was there, and it was extremely uncomfortable. Eddie was trying to make up with this Cartier bracelet, and she kind of tossed it aside. I said, ‘I’ll have it.’
“Everybody was appalled because it was just so obvious,” she continued. “Eddie Fisher, he was just looking very crestfallen and beaten – a beaten man.”
Speaking in the second episode of Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar, Taylor’s son, Christopher Wilding, remembered feeling his mother was unhappy being married to Fisher. “I think she was unhappy,” he said. “It wasn’t a normal situation, and at that time, her attitude was, ‘F**k it. I’m going to do it my way, and if you don’t like it, too bad.'”
He added that the attention the affair received led to him being bullied by his schoolmates, saying, “All the other kids know about these stories. I’d hear unpleasant taunts [like], ‘Well your mother just likes to sleep with a lot of guys,’ whatever. It was just awkward. When I was older, she expressed regret. She felt like she hadn’t been a great mom. But I felt like she was a good mother. It wasn’t easy to do.”
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s love affair
“Le scandale,” as Richard Burton came to refer to it as, occurred after he and Elizabeth Taylor reconnected during the production of Cleopatra. Both were married to other people at the time – Burton to Sybil Williams and Taylor, as aforementioned, to Eddie Fisher. Their affair was soon confirmed, with a media storm following the pair wherever they went; everyone wanted a picture of the two together.
Taylor divorced Fisher in March 1964, and 10 days later married Burton, who’d divorced Williams in ’63, in a private ceremony in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. Their’s was dubbed the “marriage of the century,” with them living an enviable, lavish lifestyle – or so the media made it seem.
The truth was that their union was a tumultuous one, leading them to divorce for the first time in 1974. They remarried the next year, only to split for the second and final time in 1981. Their divorce was formalized nearly a year later.
“Our fights are delightful screaming matches, and Richard is rather like a small atom bomb going off,” Taylor shared at the time, with Burton echoing her sentiments. “We will often pitch a battle purely for the exercise. I will accuse her of being ugly, she will accuse me of being a talentless son of a b***h, and this sort of frightens people. […] I love arguing with Elizabeth.”
Richard Burton was the love of Elizabeth Taylor’s life
Even though they ultimately separated and married different people, Elizabeth Taylor never quite forgot about Richard Burton. Their romance, while difficult at times, remained with her for the rest of her life.
Speaking in Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar, Christopher Wilding revealed his mother had two life-long loves, one of them being Burton. “She said she had two. Mike Todd and Richard,” he said. “I was too young when she was with Mike. I don’t remember him. But her love for Richard never went away. It was an ill-fated relationship, but neither one lost their love for each other.”
More from us: Elizabeth Taylor’s Father Called Her a Derogatory Term After Learning of Her Affair With Richard Burton
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Taylor confirmed this while she was still alive, revealing in her personal writings, “Even though there were rough times, I wouldn’t give up one minute of my time with Richard Burton.”