Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Dame Elizabeth




I cant remember when I first heard of Elizabeth Taylor, but I know I was VERY young, and completely infatuated right away. I think it was because when my mother was young, people used to compare her looks to Elizabeth Taylor and I thought it was so cool that my Mom was as beautiful as a famous movie star! (thats Mom on the left just below here)





I read every book I could get my hands on about Elizabeth, I saw every movie available on VHS tape. When she was on General Hospital Mom let me stay home from school (I actually stayed at Grandmas that day) to watch it. Mom surprised me for my birthday with tickets to see Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the play Private Lives

Elizabeth Taylor has always been a friend to the gay community, and life long friends with many gay men in Hollywood Roddy McDowalll, Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson, just to name a few. At her acceptance speech at the 11th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2000, Elizabeth Taylor said, ”There is no gay agenda, it’s a human agenda,” and added, ”Why shouldn’t gay people be able to live as open and freely as everybody else? What it comes down to, ultimately, is love. How can anything bad come out of love? The bad stuff comes out of mistrust, misunderstanding and, God knows, from hate and from ignorance.”

Elizabeth has had her ups and downs both in her personal life and her career. Although she was knighted a Dame by The Queen of England (Elizabeth's birth country) she really was a regular ol gal with a big heart. Watching her triumphs and failures throughout her life was a reminder this beautiful woman, wasn't too different than the rest of us.

Elizabeth believed her best moments weren't in front of the camera or on stage, but it was her work in the very beginning stages of the AIDS epidemic. Elizabeth organized the first fund raising dinner in Hollywood, at a time when the President of the US wouldn't even say the word AIDS, Elizabeth Taylor was out there asking people for money. Where would we be today if it weren't for Elizabeth Taylor?

This is a great site that details all of the work Elizabeth did both in her professional life and personal life, this link will take you to the page detailing all of her work with AIDS organizations Dame Elizabeth Taylor




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