Elizabeth Taylor

The Grit & Glamour of an Icon

By: Kate Andersen Brower

Narrated by: Eleanor Caudill

Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Residence and First Women, the first ever authorized biography of the most famous movie star of the twentieth century, Elizabeth Taylor.

No celebrity rivals Elizabeth Taylor’s glamour and guts or her level of fame. She was the last major star to come out of the old Hollywood studio system and she is a legend known for her beauty and her magnetic screen presence in a career that spanned most of the twentieth century and nearly sixty films. But her private life was even more compelling than her Oscar-winning on-screen performances. During her seventy-nine years of rapid-fire love and loss she was married eight times to seven different men. Above all, she was a survivor—by the time she was twenty-six she was twice divorced and once widowed. Her life was a soap opera that ended in a deeply meaningful way when she became the first major celebrity activist to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS. A co-founder of amfAR, she raised more than $100 million for research and patient care. She was also a shrewd businesswoman who made a fortune as the first celebrity perfumer who always demanded to be paid what she was worth.

In the first ever authorized biography of the Hollywood icon, Kate Andersen Brower reveals the world through Elizabeth’s eyes. Brower uses Elizabeth’s unpublished letters, diary entries, and off-the-record interview transcripts as well as interviews with 250 of her closest friends and family to tell the full, unvarnished story of her remarkable career and her explosive private life that made headlines worldwide. Elizabeth Taylor captures this intelligent, empathetic, tenacious, volatile, and complex woman as never before, from her rise to massive fame at age twelve in National Velvet to becoming the first to negotiate a million-dollar salary for a film, from her eight marriages and enduring love affair with Richard Burton to her lifelong battle with addiction and her courageous efforts as an AIDS activist.

Here is a fascinating and complete portrait worthy of the legendary star and her legacy.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Kate Andersen Brower (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Beautifully Researched

A truly definitive biography of a fascinating woman. This book was so well documented with letters, diaries, and interviews. It was so involving and really up-close and personal.

The narrator, Eleanor Caudill, did a beautiful job.

So much to enjoy about this terrific biography of one of the last true movie stars.

Profound

Beautiful and insightful - she was a true dame. Watch all her movies to see all her sides.

True insight into Elizabeth

This book goes into personal detail. It is based on diaries and personal interviews. It is honest about her weaknesses, and her many strengths.

Elizabeth Taylor

Loved this biography about a remarkable woman and her remarkable life. I highly recommend it.

What a woman!

Didn’t want the book to end. She was a force of nature and absolute inspiration.

Couldn’t stop listening!

Kate Brower does an outstanding job capturing the essence of Elizabeth Taylor! Because so much was shared in Elizabeth’s words through her letters, I often sensed I was right there with her.
I better understand star power and admire Elizabeth’s positive use of it. I had no idea she had so much fine jewelry.
The narrator is fantastic. She even does excellent impressions.

Fabulous

Such a great, beautiful, Wow!!!Story…so real. Makes me want to know more about her

For Taylor Fans, Don't Miss This!

At first, I thought this was going to be a rehash of her 1964 memoir, which I bought as a child. It was during the Cleopatra period that I fell in love with her and Richard Burton. Much of that information was included, but this book is so much more. With the input of Elizabeth's children and other private sources, this book revealed a woman who was fearless and completely redeemed herself on multiple levels. Her relentless pursuit of justice in the fight against AIDS is just one example. Her lifetime loyalty to her friends was so lovely. Eleanor Caudill as narrator, captured well Taylor's lilting, sing-song tone beautifully! ET made her amends through the years and her humanity is so apparent. This was a life well lived, even through and beyond the toxicity of her early Hollywood years. I highly recommend this book, which brings you closer to the real woman as she constantly reinvented herself as a survivor from past experiences. If you thought, as I did, that you knew everything about her, this book is a wonderful gift of new insight on a truly remarkable lady.

Intimate and compelling

Loved this book! It was an intimate and compelling story about a remarkable woman. The narrator brought that beautiful story to life.

An in-depth look at the Elizabeth you never knew

Elizabeth Taylor’s life was a larger than life icon.
She made a huge impact on this world not only as a movie star but more importantly as an advocate. She brought the epidemic to the forefront when no one else would - and saved so many lives because of it.
She connected with people of all walks of life. Her gusto for life was infectious and maybe that’s what part of her magic lay. She was not only beautiful but intelligent and had a wicked sense of humor.
So lucky to have read about the amazing life she led!