Elizabeth - Softcover

Alexander Walker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000637686X ISBN 13: 9780006376866

Publisher: Fontana Press, 1991

Synopsis

A serious yet readable attempt to understand Elizabeth Taylor, a woman who became a star & studio victim. The greatest role she has ever played has been that of her own life. It has all the fascination & intrigue of a mini-series: wealth, beauty, sins & extravagances, near-death collapses &, above all, a passion to love & be loved. Elizabeth s personality combines a powerful resilience with a distinctly destructive streak. In this exploration of her privileged yet tragically unsettled life, Walker has combed unexamined sources & drawn on his conversations with Elizabeth herself, making this the most thorough appraisal yet of the life & career of one of Hollywood s most compelling stars. Illustrations.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Film critic for the London Evening Standard , Walker presentsone of the world's most chronicled women, whose turbulent life hasbeen eerily reflected, or anticipated, in her movies and plays: fromNational Velvet and Cleopatra (on the set of which she fell in lovewith Richard Burton) to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and PrivateLives. Walker shows how Taylor has indulged her passions, re-createdherself in the image of each new lover, husband or project, and in duecourse flourished after rounds of combat with the public, the press,her weight and illness. Unfortunately, Walker repeats himself andreaches unsuccessfully--and unnecessarily--for dramatic effect. Forexample, referring to Taylor's fourth husband, Eddie Fisher, a protegeof her third husband, Mike Todd--who died in a plane crash in1958--Walker writes: "He stepped into Todd's shoes, and ultimatelyinto his bed." Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Walker, British film critic and biographer of stars, will hardly have the last word on Elizabeth Taylor, not as long as there's a tabloid press. His bio is breezy but not too light, colorful but not too gossipy, critical but not too bitchy. Its first half is its better half, detailing Liz's early years at MGM and her marriages to Nicky Hilton and Michael Wilding. Once Richard Burton enters the picture, Walker seems to lose steam and interest. Their most public antics now seem silly and boring, and since her Oscar-winning performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , Taylor's career has been in free fall. Still, a decent addition to the Taylor archives.
- Thomas Wiener, formerly with "American Film," Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fontana Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 000637686X
• ISBN 13: 9780006376866
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 640