The Most Beautiful Woman in the World: Obsessions, Passions, and Courage of Elizabeth Taylor, The

Amburn, Ellis

ISBN 10: 0694523178 ISBN 13: 9780694523177

Publisher: HarperAudio, 2000

Synopsis

     An American icon for more than half a century, Elizabeth Taylor continues to fascinate the American public. From the mainstream media to the tabloid press, no other celebrity has received such overwhelming scrutiny, stirred so much scandal, or alternately been the target of both worldwide worship and condemnation. And yet just when we thought we knew everything about this screen siren, Ellis Amburn blows the lid off of Hollywood's best-kept secrets-secrets that have allowed Hollywood's most beautiful woman to remain its most misunderstood celebrity.

     In The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, Ellis Amburn taps into previously unexplored primary sources to reveal the tragedies and triumphs of Elizabeth Taylor's exciting and tumultuous life. This wonderful new biography poignantly recounts the successful removal of a golf-ball size brain tumor; her courageous recovery after breaking her back twice within two years; the exciting launch of her fragrance line, which became an instant success; and her loving relationship with Rod Steiger, who nurtured her back to health after a nervous breakdown. Amburn also reveals Taylor's tragic and heartbreaking affection for Montgomery Clift and James Dean and explores Taylor's disastrous marriage to the abusive and philandering Nicky Hilton, who abandoned Liz on their honeymoon to be with another woman. And then there is the infamous and cunning Eddie Fisher, who forced Liz to appear at his Las Vegas shows in order to bring in capacity crowds, as well as accounts of Richard Burton's homosexual activities and his exploitation of Taylor.

     With explosive new revelations about her love affairs and marriages, Ellis Amburn creates a portrait that will redefine everything we thought we knew about Elizabeth Taylor. The most significant and overlooked truth in Taylor's life that all of her major loving relationships have been with gay men, while all of her self-destructive love affairs have been with straight men-is an insight that is destined to deepen our love and understanding of the world's most beautiful woman.

About this title

About the Author:

Ellis Amburn worked as a reporter-researcher at Newsweek before becoming a book editor at Putnam, where he edited Jack Kerouac, John Le Carre, William Golding, Edward Albee, and Paul Gallico. He was also editor-in-chief at Delacorte and William Morrow, and edited/collaborated on books by Shelley Winters, Sammy Davis, Jr., Lana Wood, and with Priscilla Presley on her #1 national bestseller Elvis and Me. Mr. Amburn is the author of The Sexiest Man Alive: A Biography of Warren Beatty; Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story; Pearl: The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin; Buddy Holly; and Subterranean Kerouac.

From Publishers Weekly:

In one of the most salacious Hollywood chronicles in recent memory, Amburn has pieced together a page-turning account of Taylor's life from an overwhelming number of interviews, autobiographies and gossip columns. According to the author, Taylor's relationship with Richard Burton was complicated by the couple's alcoholism and physical abuse of each other, her pill taking and his overwhelming distress over his homosexual impulses, which drove him to drink. If their relationship weren't already doomed, Amburn reports, Burton's former lover Lawrence Olivier also tried to break the two up. Not only do we learn who slept with whom (the liaisons are too numerous to recount here) but there is also a wealth of speculation about the shape and firmness of Taylor's breasts, the size of Eddie Fisher's penis and the length of Montgomery Clift's foreskin. Short on startling insights, Amburn makes up for it with generous helpings of sexual details and Tinseltown gossip: Stewart Granger and Michael Wilding (Taylor's second husband) were lovers; Fisher mainlined methamphetamines; Maria Callas tried to snatch Burton from Taylor at a fancy dinner party. This superficial drive-through tour of Taylor's romantic life--she was once dubbed "the other woman of the year" by wit Oscar Levant--more than surpasses its goal to titillate. Photos not seen by PW. Agent, Al Lowman. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0694523178
• ISBN 13: 9780694523177
• Binding: Audio Cassette