(Credits: Far Out / Wikimedia)
Tue 18 November 2025 21:30, UK
Actors are one thing, but true icons are another. Hollywood has churned out its fair share of stars over the years, with Elizabeth Taylor easily being one of the most legendary. Her career is like none other in the industry.
She began her career as a child, quickly earning a contract with MGM. From an early age, Taylor was constantly landing roles on the silver screen, rising to critical acclaim in the early 1950s. Naturally charismatic but with a penchant for vulnerability, Taylor ascended as a true acting giant.
The iconic star was known for appearing in movies such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Cleopatra and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. She was a powerful performer on screen, but Taylor’s off-screen life was certainly sadder. Taylor was the quintessential embodiment of the studio era, with MGM often making her perform in movies she didn’t want to do, controlling her day-to-day life, and even using her private life to their advantage to help advertise films.
Taylor’s filmography might feature some of Hollywood’s most lauded and commercially successful productions, but the actor also starred in her fair share of bad movies, such as Boom! and The Blue Bird. Yet, one of the films of hers that she hated the most was actually received fairly well. In fact, it won Taylor her first Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’.
The accolade was for Butterfield 8, released in 1960. The movie, based on John O’Hara’s novel of the same name, was MGM’s most profitable release of the year, although critical reception was a little more mixed. Directed by Daniel Mann, the film follows Taylor’s character, Gloria, a popular model who works as a call girl at night. However, events take a turn for the worse after she gets involved with a married man.
Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. (Credits: Far Out / YouTube still / 20th Century Fox)
Despite receiving glowing reviews for her performance, Taylor hated the project, and she was outspoken in her dislike for the movie. She only made the film because of her contract with MGM, which often forced her into starring in movies she couldn’t care less about.
Before Taylor even starred in the film, she was strongly opposed to it, telling Sol Siegel from MGM, “This is the most pornographic script I have ever read. I’ve been here for 17 years and I was never asked to play such a horrible role as Gloria Wandrous. She’s a sick nymphomaniac. I won’t do it for anything.”
It was the kind of dynamic feeling that made Taylor a star. Her defiance was an essential part of what made her such a perfect performer on screen and an icon off it. But sadly, the reality of Taylor’s situation was far bleaker than being able to make such demands and get away with them.
Unfortunately, bound to the contract, Taylor had little choice but to portray the promiscuous character. Luckily, her performance was so good that she earned a coveted Academy Award for it – she would win her second six years later for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
Thus, the movie helped to establish her as a two-time Oscar winner – an impressive feat that only a handful of stars have achieved. She still hated the film, though, reportedly saying, “It stinks,” after watching it for the first time.
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