Who was my other fav? Audrey Hepburn. I loved Elizabeth but I idolized Ms. Hepburn. From the first time I saw her in ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) when I was a mere 12 years old, I was mesmerized by her beauty and elan. How could Gregory Peck NOT fall in love with the princess that she portrayed in this delightful film. Academy members must have felt the same because she won the Oscar for best actress for her performance.
The next year she enchanted filmgoers in SABRINA in which both Humphrey Bogart and William Holden lost their hearts to her, understandably so. In 1959 she gave a stunning performance (my personal favorite) in THE NUN'S STORY and I remember being broken hearted when Simone Signoret's name (for ROOM AT THE TOP) was announced as winner of the best actress Oscar that year.
She continued to enchant millions of fans (including me) with deft performances in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961), CHARADE (1963) with Cary Grant and of course, MY FAIR LADY (1964) which I saw 7 days in a row while skipping my afternoon classes at GWU. To watch her standing at the top of the stairs in that white empire gown with a tiara in her hair ready to attend the ball with Professor Higgins (Rex Harrison)
was a rush and pleasure that I have never experienced again while watching a movie. Heavenly. Her cockney accent in the first half of the film was dismissed by many critics (unfairly so I feel) and she was ignored by
Academy members when nominations for best actress were announced that year. Mind you, MY FAIR LADY won the Oscar for best film and I would have to ask how could it have won that honor without Ms. Hepburn's
Academy members when nominations for best actress were announced that year. Mind you, MY FAIR LADY won the Oscar for best film and I would have to ask how could it have won that honor without Ms. Hepburn's
enchanting (yup, that word again) performance as Eliza Doolittle. She showed her class when she presented the Oscar for best actress to Julie Andrews (the sentimental favorite for having been snubbed in favor of Hepburn being cast in the film version of MFL) for MARY POPPINS.
Can we talk?
Hepburn peaked in film in 1967 in TWO FOR THE ROAD with Albert Finney (also one of my fav Hepburn films) and her Oscar nominated performance in WAIT UNTIL DARK.
Other than a role in ROBIN AND MARIAN (with Sean Connery), she went into an early retirement from film work and concentrated on her activities as Special Ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF for Latin America and Africa between 1988-1993.
She died from appendicular Cancer in 1993 at age 64. I cried a lot the day she passed away. I adored her.
And now we've lost another bigger than life movie star who starred in some of my most favorite movies.
Starting with NATIONAL VELVET (1944) which I saw in re-release when I was 10 years old. Fast forward to 1956 when I was 15 and was mesmerized by her beauty and performance in my favorite film of hers (GIANT). I recently watched it on TCM and it holds up to this day. She's great in it along with Rock Hudson and James Dean. The following year I saw and loved her in RAINTREE COUNTRY, a film she refused to finish until her dear friend and co-star, Montgomery Cliff, recovered from a near fatal car crash during production.
She was terrific in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF with Paul Newman and SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER
with Katherine Hepburn and Cliff. And who can forget her in her Oscar winning performance opposite Richard Burton in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLF? She had dismissed her Oscar winning performance in BUTTERFIELD 8, a film she hated.
I met Ms. Taylor when she was married to US Senator (Va) John Warner in '77 or '78. I drove her hairstylist ( a stunning gal from Luxembourg named Monique and a close friend of my sister's) out to Warner's estate in Virginia and remember being real nervous over the prospect of meeting the glamorous Ms. Taylor.
But she couldn't have been nicer and when I complained about having a headache while Monique was cutting her hair, she told me to go down the hallway and into her bathroom and to help myself to whatever pills I found in her medicine cabinet.
Eureka, I screamed. I helped myself to some valium, soma and a handful of diet pills and shared the booty with Monique on our drive back into the city. I'll never forget Taylor's magnificent violet eyes and gorgeous skin.
She was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay overweight at the time but who cared. I'll always remember how down-to-earth she was that day.
I don't need to dwell on her charitable activities, in particular her involvement with AmFar which she was instrumental in establishing when no one, including President Ronald Reagan, was even mentioning the word
AIDS. In addition she created her own AIDS Foundation and was responsible for raising millions of dollars for AIDS research.
As with Audrey Hepburn along with all the dear friends I have lost thru the years (so many to AIDS),
I shed many tears last week when it was announced that Elizabeth Taylor had died. But they will all remain in my heart for the rest of my days on planet Earth..
No comments:
Post a Comment