The White Cliffs of Dover, MGM, 1944, D: Clarence Brown, with Irene Dunne, Alan Marshal, Dame Mae Whitty, Peter Lawford, Van Johnson, Gladys Cooper, Roddy McDowall.
National Velvet, MGM, 1944, D: Clarence Brown, with Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Angela Lansbury, Anne Revere.
Courage of Lassie, MGM, 1945, D: Fred M. Wilcox, with Frank Morgan, Tom Drake, Selena Royle, George Cleveland.
Cynthia, MGM, 1947, D: Robert Z. Leonard, with George Murphy, Mary Astor, S.Z. Sakall, Gene Lockhart, James Lydon, Spring Byington.
Life with Father, Warner Brothers, 1947, D: Michael Curtiz, with William Powell, Irene Dunne, Edmund Gwenn, ZaSu Pitts, James Lydon.
A Date With Judy, MGM, 1948, D: Richard Thorpe, with Wallace Beery, Selena Royle, Jane Powell, Robert Stack, Carmen Miranda, Xavier Cugat, Scotty Beckett, Leon Ames, George Cleveland.
Julia Misbehaves, MGM, 1948, D: Mervin LeRoy, with Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Cesar Romero, Mary Boland, Nigel Bruce, Lucile Watson.
Little Women, MGM, 1949, D: Mervin LeRoy, with June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Janet Leigh, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor, Lucile Watson, Rossano Brazzi.
Conspirator, MGM, 1949, D: Victor Saville, with Robert Taylor, Robert Flemyng, Honor Blackman, Thora Hird.
The Big Hangover, MGM, 1959, D: Norman Krasna, with Van Johnson, Leon Ames, Gene Lockhart, Selene Royle, Rosemary DeCamp.
Father of the Bride, MGM, 1950, D: Vincente Minnelli, with Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, Leo G. Carroll, Russ Tamblyn.
A Place in the Sun, Paramount, 1951, with Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, Keefe Brasselle, Raymond Burr, Shepperd Strudwick.
Love is Better Than Ever, MGM, 1952, D: Stanley Donen, with Larry Parks, Josephine Hutchinson, Tom Tully, Ann Doran.
Ivanhoe, MGM, 1952, D: Richard Thorpe, with Robert Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie, Feliz Aylmer, Robert Douglas.
The Girl Who Had Everything, MGM, 1953, D: Richard Thorpe, with William Powell, Fernando Lamas, James Whitmore, Gig Young.
Rhapsody, MGM, 1954, D: Charles Vidor, with Vittorio Gassman, John Ericson, Louis Calhern.
Elephant Walk, Paramount, 1954, D: William Dieterle, with Dana Andrews, Peter Finch.
Beau Brummell, MGM, 1954, D: Curtis Bernhardt, with Stewart Granger, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley.
The Last Time I Saw Paris, MGM, 1954, D: Richard Brooks, with Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed, Eva Gabor, Kurt Kasnar.
Giant, Warner Brothers, 1956, D: George Stevens, with Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Mercedes McCambridge, Sal Mineo, Chill Wills, Dennis Hopper.
Raintree County, MGM, 1957, D: Edward Dmytryk, with Montgomery Clift, Eva Marie Saint, Lee Marvin, Nigel Bruce, Rod Taylor, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Abel, Tom Drake.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, MGM, 1958, D: Richard Brooks, with Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Judith Anderson, Jack Carson, Madeleine Sherwood.
Suddenly, Last Summer, Columbia, 1959, D: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Mercedes McCambridge, Albert Dekker.
Scent of Mystery (Holiday In Spain in British release), Michael Todd, Jr., Productions, 1960, D: Jack Cardiff, with Denholm Elliott, Peter Lorre, Paul Lukas.
Butterfield 8, MGM, 1960, D: Daniel Mann, with Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill, Mildred Dunnock, Betty Field, Jeffrey Lynn.
Cleopatra, 20th Century Fox, 1963, D: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with Richard Burton, Rex Harriosn, Hume Cronyn, Roddy McDowall, Martin Landau.
The V.I.P.s, MGM, 1963, D: Anthony Asquith, with Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan, Elsa Martinelli, Margaret Rutherford, Maggie Smith, Orson Welles, Linda Christian, Rod Taylor.
The Sandpiper, MGM, 1965, D: Vincente Minnelli, with Richard Burton, Eva Marie Saint, Charles Bronson, Eduardo Tirella, Tom Drake.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Warner Brothers, 1966, D: Mike Nichols, with Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis.
The Taming of the Shrew, Columbia, 1967, D: Franco Zeffirelli, with Richard Burton, Michael York, Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern.
Doctor Faustus, Columbia, 1967, D: Nevill Coghill, with Richard Burton, Andreas Teuber, Elizabeth O’Donovan.
Reflections in a Golden Eye, Seven Arts, 1967, D: John Huston, with Marlon Brando, Brian Keith, Julie Harris, Robert Forster.
The Comedians, MGM, 1967, D: Peter Glenville, with Richard Burton, Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, Lillian Gish, Paul Ford.
Boom!, Universal, 1968, D: Joseph Losey, with Richard Burton, Noël Coward, Michael Dunn.
Secret Ceremony, Universal, 1968, D: Joseph Losey, with Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum, Peggy Ashcroft, Pamela Brown.
The Only Game in Town, 20th Century Fox, 1970, D: George Stevens, with Warren Beatty, Charles Braswell, Hank Henry.
Under Milk Wood, Altura Films, 1971, D: Andrew Sinclair, with Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole, Glynnis Johns,
X, Y, and Zee (Zee & Company in British release), 1972, D: Brian G. Hutton, with Michael Caine, Susannah York, Margaret Leighton.
Hammersmith is Out, Cornelius Crean Films, 1972, D: Peter Ustinov, with Richard Burton, Beau Bridges, Leon Ames, George Raft.
Night Watch, Avco Embassy, 1973, D: Brian Hutton, with Laurence Harvey, Billie Whitelaw, Robert Lang.
Divorce His, Divorce Hers, ABC-TV, 1973, D: Waris Hussein, with Richard Burton, Carrie Nye, Barry Foster.
Ash Wednesday, Paramount 1973, D: Larry Peerce, with Helmut Berger, Henry Fonda.
The Driver’s Seat (aka Identikit ), Avco Embassy, 1974, D: Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, with Ian Bennan, Guido Mannari.
The Blue Bird, 20th Century Fox, 1976, D: George Cukor, with Ava Gardner, Jane Fonda, Robert Morley, Cicely Tyson.
A Little Night Music, New World Pictures, 1977, D: Harold Prince, with Hermione Gingold, Lesley-Anne Down.
Winter Kills, Avco Embassy, 1979, D: William Richert, with Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Tony Perkins, Sterling Hayden, Eli Wallach, Dorothy Malone, Ralph Meeker.
The Mirror Crack’ed, EMI Films, 1980, D: Guy Hamilton, with Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, Edward Fox, Geraldine Chaplin, Angela Lansbury.
Malice in Wonderland, ITC,TV-, 1985: D: Gus Trikonis, with Jane Alexander, Richard Dysart, Joyce Van Patten.
There Must Be a Pony, Columbia TV, 1986, D: Joseph Sargent, with Robert Wagner, James Coco.
Il Giovane Toscanini, Cathago Films, 1988, D: Franco Zeffirelli, with C. Thomas Howell, Sophie Ward.
Sweet Bird of Youth, NBC-TV, 1989, D: Nicolas Roeg, with Mark Harmon, Valerie Perrine.
The Flintstones, Universal, 1994: D: Brian Levant, with John Goodman, Rosie O’Donnell.
These Old Broads, ABC-TV, 2001, D: Matthew Diamond, with Debbie Reynolds, Shirley MacLaine, Peter Graves, Joan Collins.
CHAPTER ONE
Born Into a Ménage à Trois
BABY ELIZABETH
The chimes of Big Ben announced to London that it was two o’clock in the morning. At this cold moment in February, a pea-soup fog had fallen over the city, obscuring early morning traffic on the Thames. Prostitutes still walking the streets of Soho, in what is known as “the desperate hour,” referred to it as “Jack the Ripper” weather.
In a black sedan, a doctor, Charles Huggenheim, sped rapidly north through nearly deserted streets. He was heading for Hampstead, where an urgent call had summoned him to the house of an American couple. A former stage actress was about to give birth.
With the screech of his brakes, the doctor parked and rushed to an open door at 8 Wildwood Road in Golders Green, where two anxious men stood. He did not have time to determine which one was the father, as the nanny directed him up the steps where the sounds of pain led him to the master bedroom.
A little baby girl, weighing 8½ pounds, entered the world at exactly 2:30 that morning. It was a relatively smooth delivery. Before the baby was born, the mother had told him, “Two years ago I had a boy. He was called a Botticelli angel. I know this one, boy or girl, will be e
ven more beautiful.”
Almost immediately after the delivery, Sara fell into a deep sleep. She didn’t even see the child before the nanny took her away.
Dawn had broken across the London Heath before Sara woke up. The morning sun had chased away the nightmarish fog.
On her left, her husband, Francis Taylor, held her hand. “You’ve come through, precious one,” he said in a soft voice. On his right, Victor Cazalet, a conservative Member of Parliament, held her other hand. “The three of us have a healthy baby daughter,” he told her, squeezing her hand.
Francis was her husband, Victor was her lover. Not only that, but Victor was also the lover of her husband. She’d never known that any two men could be that devoted to each other. As only her closest confidants were aware, she did not really know which one was the father of her newborn.
In a weak but determined voice, she said, “For appearance’s sake, Francis will be the father. As for you, Victor, we’ll make you the godfather. I know that both of you will love the girl like she was your own blood.” After receiving assurances from both men, she asked them, “Would you please bring in our little girl?”
Francis went for the infant in the nursery. While he was gone, Victor leaned over and kissed Sara on the lips.
“Oh, my darling man, you’ve given Francis and me such a wonderful life. You’ve made us a part of your world. You’re the only person Francis has ever loved. He’s devoted to you and your every wish. I, too, love you with all my heart. I know you’ll bestow your love on our beautiful daughter and take care of her, too.”
“That I promise, and I don’t have to tell you and Francis that I’m a man of my word.”
As he was saying that, Francis came back into the bedroom, holding the newborn girl swaddled in a pink blanket. At bedside, he stood beside Victor, giving him a long, lingering kiss. “Okay, Daddy, present our girl to its mother.”
Victor very gently took the baby and lowered her to Sara’s outstretched arms. “May I present Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor Cazalet?” he asked.
The morning sun streaming in had brightly lit the bedroom. Sara reached for her newborn, taking her in her protective arms.
For the first time, she gazed lovingly into her baby’s face. Suddenly, her own face became one of shock and horror. “Take her away!” she shouted at Victor. “It’s not my daughter. The hairy little thing is the newborn of a money at the zoo!”
Victor quickly retrieved the bundle and passed her immediately to Francis, who carried her from the bedroom back to the nursery and the nanny.
“The doctor assured me she won’t always look that ghastly,” Victor said. “In a few months, all that hair will fall from her body—at least that’s what happens in most cases. Nature itself will cure these genetic defects.”
8 Wildwood Road in Golders Glen, Hampstead, near London, site of Elizabeth Taylor’s birth in 1932
The cries coming from the nursery sounded more like a screaming rage.
Only a handful of people took note of the historic date of February 27, 1932, and that birth of this ghoulish little girl. But this pathetic little creature with a head far too big for its narrow shoulders would eventually be hailed as “the world’s most beautiful woman.”
A lifetime of tragedy and triumph awaited her in the more than seven decades that followed, decades that would evolve into a new millennium not yet born.
Elizabeth Taylor would both enchant and appall the world she’d so awkwardly entered.
Besides her unusually colored eyes—a curious shade of violet—she would become known for her breasts. A Welsh actor and her future husband, Richard Burton, would refer to them as “apocalyptic. They will topple empires before they wither!”
***
When Elizabeth Taylor became an international star, Sara vicariously lived her daughter’s life. Stardom had been the dream of Sara herself.
A THESPIAN MOTHER: Views of Sara Warmbrodt (aka Sara Sothern) in 1916 (top photo) and 1926 as The Little Spitfire
Born Sara Viola Warmbrodt on August 21, 1896, she was the daughter of Samuel Warmbrodt, an émigré laundry manager who’d been trained as an engineer. In the milltown of Arkansas City, Kansas, he’d married Anna Elizabeth Wilson, a talented singer and pianist, whose own dream of an artistic career had been abandoned when she became a housewife.
By the time Sara was only eight years old, Samuel claimed that his beautiful daughter had a “bloodthirsty ambition.” Dropping out of high school, she set out to pursue her goal, taking the train to Los Angeles and changing her name to Sara Sothern, “because it will look better on a theater marquee.”
In California, she met a “swishy actor” [her words], Brooklyn-born Edward Everett Horton, who had established a stock company presenting theatrical performances in Pasadena. He would become famous in the movies of the 1930s, for which he was known for saying, “Oh, dear,” in numerous films. His face, with its beaked nose, looked “in perpetual pain,” as the critics said, and he had a jittery voice.
Horton cast Sara in a minor role in The Sign on the Door (1922), a play by Channing Pollock. In 1929, the drama would be adapted for the screen and retitled The Locked Door. It included a role for Barbara Stanwyck as one of her first films.
Pollock was so impressed with Sara’s acting that he cast her in a key role in his next play, The Fool, (1922-23). She played a fifteen-year-old crippled girl, Mary Margaret, a modern-day interpretation of Mary Magdalene. The play was about faith healing, which appealed to Sara, who had been brought up by her mother as a Christian Scientist. At the finale, a crippled Sara throws her crutches away and shouts, “I kin walk!”
The critics attacked it, but evangelical audiences adored it. The play received so much attention that it attracted Alla Nazimova as a member of the audience. Nazimova was enjoying a brief reign as “The Queen of MGM” in spite of her gunboat feet and pumpkin-shaped head. Born in the Ukraine, she lived in a mansion on Sunset Boulevard called “the Garden of Alla.”
Backstage, after one of Sara’s performances, Nazimova swept down like a bird of prey onto the more innocent Sara, dazzling her with her appearance in a peacock gown. “I saw a brilliant actress in the making on the stage tonight,” she told Sara.
By that weekend, Sara was living with Nazimova at the Garden of Alla. The movie queen was known for seducing young women. Some of her earlier involvements had included sexual and emotional flings with Natacha Rombova, wife of Rudolph Valentino, and Dolly Wilde, the niece of Oscar Wilde, described as “the only Wilde who likes women.”
Nazimova arranged a screen test at MGM for Sara, which she directed herself. Although at the time, she still had considerable influence, no director found Sara worth even a minor role in any of their silent films.
Through Nazimova, Sara met her first “beau,” Franklin Pangborn, a member of Nazimova’s stage company. The effeminate actor would enjoy a long career in films, becoming known for his droopy puss and his “hands on his hips” style of acting, indicating his disapproval of the antics being played out before him. Critics called him “the screen’s most effete fussbudget.”
There couldn’t have been much of a romance between Sara and Pangborn, as he was known as one of Hollywood’s most stately homos. Nazimova disapproved of the relationship. “What do you want with that mincer? My more masculine actors go to his dressing room for fellatio.”
By modern standards, Pangborn is hailed as “a gay stereotype of the 1930s.” Over the years, Sara occasionally encountered him in Hollywood. The actor lived in Laguna Beach with his devoted mother and his partner, Gavin Gordon.
As the years went by, Sara would have a number of discreet affairs with women, although she confined most of her adulterous relationships to men.
Nazimova liked to dominate her young protégées, and Sara was a very self-determined woman with an independent streak.
When an offer arrived to star opposite James Kirkwood, Sr. on Broadway for a repeat of the role she had played in The Fool, Sara told Nazimova goo
dbye and took the train East.
Kirkwood had made his film debut in 1909, and was both a director and an actor, playing leads for D.W. Griffith and later directing Mary Pickford, who also became his lover. Before his death in 1963, he would be involved with more than two hundred films, either as an actor or as a director.
[Ironically, Kirkwood Srs.’ son, James Kirkwood, Jr., would one day write a novel, There Must Be a Pony, in which Elizabeth would star, in 1986, for Columbia TV, opposite Robert Wagner, her former lover.]
Critics labeled The Fool as “religious buncombe” and even attacked the audiences who went to see it. “Their favorite tune is Onward, Christian Soldiers,” wrote one columnist. In time, however, five million devout believers would attend performances of The Fool.
The play became so successful that it was taken to London, opening in September of 1924 at the Apollo Theatre, starring Henry Ainley, the lover of a very young Laurence Olivier. Sara retained her role as the crippled girl. The critic for The Times attacked it as a “religious orgy.”
On Sara’s free night, she went to see “the toast of London,” Miss Tallulah Bankhead, starring with Nigel Bruce and C. Aubrey Smith in The Creaking Chair. The noted playwright, Emlyn Williams, said of Tallulah’s voice, “It is a timbre steeped as deep in sex as the human voice can go without drowning.” Sara came backstage to congratulate Tallulah on her performance, and they were seen an hour later driving out of town together in Tallulah’s new emerald-green and cream-colored Talbot Coupe, heading to a country house in Surrey that C. Aubrey Smith allowed Tallulah to use for sexual trysts.
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