Liz was a part of the studio system
since she was ten years old, working as a child for MGM in such classics
as Lassie Come Home and National Velvet. As she matured it was
obvious to film makers and audiences that she was a natural beauty, and
her transition from child star to ingénue seemed only natural.
Liz made her first appearance at
the Oscar's as a presenter in 1948, at the age of seventeen. The
show's producers had Robert Montgomery host the occasion, with a bevy of
young starlets acting as presenters. Taylor presented the first ever
awards for Best costume to Edith Head for The Emporer's Waltz (for color)
and Roger Furse for Hamlet (for Black and White).
In 1956 Taylor was embroiled in
her second marriage, and her career was red hot. Married to producer
Mike Todd, she attended that years ceremony on his arm. He was
nominated for, and won, the Best Picture Oscar for Around
the World in 80 Days. Competition for the film included an epic
American tale called Giant, starring Liz, with nominees, Rock Hudson and
James Dean. Liz had yet to be nominated for any of her work, despite
over fifteen years in the business by that time, yet she was infuriated by
the refusal of the Academy to bestow an honorary Oscar to her late
co-star, Dean, who had recently died in a car crash.
The 1957 Awards finally saw fit to
give Liz a nomination. She made the final five for her work in
Raintree County. The ceremony was held on April 4th, 1958, and Liz
could not attend. She was too distraught, and beyond consoling after
the death, four days earlier, of her husband, Todd. His death in a
plane crash brought her to the brink, and many said she would have won the
Best Actress Oscar that year, if only his death didn't occur after the
final ballots were in. Susan Hayward took home that
award.
Taylor, meanwhile, seemed to be
off the deep end, insisting on resurrecting a nine-foot tall statue of the
Oscar over the grave of Mike Todd. Even Todd's son, Mike Jr. had to
step in to argue against the project, as Liz set about getting it
done. It wasn't until the Academy enforced their copyright rule,
that Liz finally dropped the idea.
The next year, Liz found herself
nominated again for her role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Her
performance was a deserving one, and combined with the sympathy vote, as
well as good press from the MGM publicity machine, Liz seemed like a sure
thing for the big prize. This time she lost it to the comeback queen
of the year, Ingrid Bergman, who returned to Hollywood after a seven year
exile. Her loss, however, was not only because of Bergman's
comeback, but also because of her own bad press. The distraught
widow Liz made headlines, and shocked the world, by running off with
Debbie Reynolds' husband, Eddie Fisher. Reynolds and Fisher were known in
the press as being close friends to Todd and Taylor. Fisher's time
with Taylor, while filming Butterfield 8 with her, was at first thought to
be a result of that friendship.
Taylor suddenly became the black
widow, and the tabloids had a field day with her. The National
Association of Theatre Owners even withdrew her name for Actress of the
Year, citing public opinion. The following year she was nominated
for Suddenly Last Summer, which she lost, again because of bad
press.
By the beginning of 1961, the
Academy was preparing to honor the 1960 films, and MGM was interested in
pushing Liz for her work in Butterfield 8. The film was not a
popular one, and it was a far cry from being Liz's best work, but the
publicity machine was in overdrive, and they were determined to make it
work. Butterfield 8 was sort of a message movie, telling of the dark
path a girl of opportunity chooses to take.
Meanwhile, while members were
preparing to vote, word came out of London that Liz had taken ill in a
clinic. What she was sick from exactly, remained a mystery, but the
press went to town with the story anyway, with headlines that read, LIZ
DYING!, and GRAVELY ILL.
Liz was suddenly forgiven for her
sins, with Debbie Reynolds even saying that she would be voting for
Liz. The other nominees in the Best Actress category also conceded
that she would be the ultimate winner. "The Oscar should go to
Elizabeth," said fellow nominee, Deborah Kerr. "Not
because of her grave illness but because her performance in Butterfield 8
is superb."
By the time the awards ceremony
came about, Liz made a miraculous recovery from whatever illness she may
have been suffering. The papers had reported on everything
from the flu to meningitis. One report even suggested an abscessed
tooth.
The truth was that Liz had
experienced breathing difficulties, and had undergone an emergency
tracheotomy. Taylor later told interviewers that she had 'died at
least four times.' Her recovery was thought to be a 'miracle' as her
mother and Eddie Fisher stood by her bedside.
Her ex husband Michael Wilding
recalls their young son in the car on Oscar night, before the ceremony,
holding a Coke bottle up and pretending to cry. His son said that he
was imitating mom, and that he had to look like he was crying.
Liz, of course, won that evening,
and she looked fabulous accepting, but critics were quick to point out
that she didn't deserve the award. Even Liz, herself, conceded that
her illness was the cause of a sympathy vote. Shirley Maclaine,
nominated that year for The
Apartment, later said it best, "I lost to a tracheotomy."
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