Why Was Elizabeth Taylor Held As An Icon?
From a child star at a young age, to one of the most famous film stars in the world – Elizabeth Taylor is probably the greatest actress of the Classical Hollywood cinema times. She was beautiful, talented, glamorous, and an icon. Let’s see why.
Not just any actor – Acting was in her blood
Elizabeth Taylor was not your average actor. One of the heads at MGM reportedly told his producer “Sign her up! Sign her up! What are you waiting for?” At the same time, the chairman of Universal Studios ordered “Sign her up”. Did you know that all this happened, and she appeared in her first motion picture when she was only nine? Viewers fell in love when they saw Taylor playing a little girl who trained her horse in ‘National Velvet’ (1944). This was when she was just 12. What’s fantastic is that she was even nicknamed “One-Shot-Liz” because of her ability to shoot scenes in just one take. Need we say more? This is the stuff legends are made of – Taylor was just that!
Taylor was a pioneer
Called the ‘greatest movie star of all time’, Elizabeth Taylor was a pioneer. She played a major role in the sexual revolution of the 60s. Taylor had a knack for portraying sexuality. Her love scenes with Montgomery Clift were said to be “unnerving – sybaritic – like gorging on chocolate sundaes” by film historian Andrew Sarris. You’ll be surprised to know that Taylor was one of the first major stars to pose almost nude for Playboy and also among the first to go nude onscreen. Well we are not sure if being one of the first in Hollywood to go nude is the best achievement, but it is definitely a feat. Only pioneers can do what others don’t think of doing.
An actress and a humanitarian
We call Elizabeth Taylor an icon because she was not only a famous actor but a great human being too. She is said to be a very generous humanitarian – and no, by humanitarian we don’t simply mean sitting at home and donating millions of dollars. Well Taylor did that, and much more. She spear headed the American Foundation for Aids Research along with two other doctors. Who do you think was one of the first celebrities to acknowledge the disease, organize fund raising events and raise in excess of $270 million? Yep, Taylor had devoted quite a lot of her life to this cause. She was also the founder of the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation. Did you know that Taylor was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1992 – a special academy award for her HIV/AIDS work?
