Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor has died. I think most who knew her films and her life story are saddened because Elizabeth Taylor did it all....both naughty and nice. She had eight marriages and seven divorces, four children and a brood of grandchildren, more than 100 roles in movies, at least 70 hospitalizations/operations, several life threatening illnesses including the removal of a brain tumor, and two trips to the alcohol/drug abuse rehab.

Yet it was all done with grace and humor, a far cry from the typical "movie star" celebrity of this generation, who are frequently mean spirited, dysfunctional, spoiled and downright unpleasant to observe. Liz Taylor once said about herself that , "One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues." Liz had many. Her personal life's plot twists that captivated so many, but in a fun way. Liz Taylor was always in love with somebody, often to many men and married men. She claimed to be blinded by passion. But it wasn't the kind of ugly passion that we see in today's "stars".

Think Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, and many more who are far from lovable in their naughty exploits. the death of Liz Taylor brings us closer to the death of the fun Hollywood and continued growth of the mean spirited and boring tinsel town Hollywood. While Liz Taylor had compassion for all and made sacrifices to support AIDS victims, the pathetic Michael Jackson, charities of all sort, today's star is too self obsessed to notice anything except him or herself in a mirror.

I remember years ago taking my mom to see Elizabeth Taylor in a play that was touring in New Orleans. Not being a huge fan of Liz Taylor I was interested in seeing her performance, but my mom had a child-like adoration for Liz Taylor the person, not the actress. She saw Taylor as a woman who lived life broadly, sometimes naughtily, but always with grace and enthusiasm. I think she and many others admired Taylor for that and perhaps envied her too. I didn't understand it then, but I do now.

Surely, Taylor wasn't the best role model in the world, given her many escapes that strayed from what is the norm. But she never was mean spirited, self absorbed or malicious. She never had an unkind word for or about anyone, even those she disliked or who disliked her, and she showed that being beautiful on the outside doesn't imply one must become ugly on the inside.

Elizabeth Taylor did what few humans can ever bring themselves to do. She lived her life the way she wanted and never worried about how society would view her. And through it all she never engendered any hate from those who watched her show, either on screen or off.