On one of many trips together, Todds
paid much-publicized visit to Moscow.
Ironically, Liz turned down chance to go
with Mike on the flight that was fatal.
LIZ TAYLOR ( Continued)
ested, and bored with her co-workers
as they were with her. For all prac
tical purposes, she was just another
fixture on the set.
Yet when she started "Cat on a Hot
Tin Roof," just a week before Mike
was killed, every member of the cast
found a bouquet of flowers in his
dressing room with a note from Liz.
Could it have been Mike's idea? Pos
sibly. Probably. But she reaped the
benefits of a new friendliness. In
general, she made herself more liked
during her 14 months of marriage to
Mike Todd than in all her previous
years in Hollywood.
Mike insisted he was not going to
interfere in the production of "Cat on
a Hot Tin Roof" and wouldn't show up
on the set. No one really believed
him, of course. Especially not after he
took an office at the studio and moved
in with two secretaries. What's more,
he made it quite clear that this film
would mean every bit as much to him
as to Liz. The day Liz went to work
he told her, "If you don't get an Oscar
for 'Raintree County,' you will for
'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.' "
On the first day of shooting, there
was an unusual air of excitement on
the set, sparked by Liz' own gay mood
and the question of how long Mike
would stay away.
About 10 a.m. the stage door swung
open and two delivery men followed
by Mike, their six-month-old daugh
ter, Elizabeth Frances, and Liz' chil
dren by her marriage to Michael Wil
ding carried in a huge roof made of
red carnations with a cat shaped of
white gardenias perched on top. To
complete the picture, the whole dis
play lighted up.
"For good luck," Mike cried out.
Liz was as exuberant as a girl opening
her first Christmas present. Mike's
theatrics threw the whole set into
such turmoil that director Richard
Brooks was unable to accomplish any
thing for two hours, yet everyone was
delighted with the Todds.
Liz sensed it, too, and reciprocated.
Never one" to give of her herself, she
now learned to accept people's warmth
and interest and return it.
Then, just as she was turning into a
popular, happy woman, Mike crashed
to his flaming death.
The possibility of her breakdown
was anticipated by Mike's secretary,
Dick Hanley, the first to hear about
the accident. He had the good sense
to bring the family physician with him
when he told Liz the news.
While everyone sympathized with
Liz, few close friends feared for her
own well-being through the tears and
hysterics that followed. That reaction
was normal and expected from a
woman who had just lost the man she
loved dearly.
They did become worried, however,
after her return from the carnival
like funeral in Chicago, when Liz
wouldn't cry or talk, but sat stony
faced in her bedroom, hardly noticing
the people who came to offer condol
ences. All life seemed to have drained
away from her.
It was then that speculation started
about what the future would
hold for Liz. The immedi
ate future concerned her role in
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Her friends
felt she should return to the studio
and get her mind off her troubles for
at least a few hours.
At first, there was no comment from
Liz herself, and rumors cropped up
that she would be replaced by Acad
emy Award Winner Joanne Wood
ward. About 10 days after the crash,
however, Liz notified the studio that
she would complete her commitment
"because Mike would have liked me
to do it." But she gave no indication
of her plans after finishing this pic
ture, which also terminates her con
tract with MGM.
Three weeks after Mike's tragic
death, Liz reported to the studio,
eight pounds thinner, pale, but com
posed. Her performance during the
subsequent weeks made director Rich
ard Brooks insist, "It was the finest
ever given by her."
Ordinarily, discussing another per
son's future leads to little more than
a calculated guess. Yet in Liz' case,
those close to her generally agree that
while she may go into temporary re
tirement after her present film, she
will not withdraw permanently from
making pictures.
With Mike gone, motion pictures
have once again become Elizabeth's
prime interest other than her children.
She has already fallen back into the
protective custody of the studio.
Furthermore, in spite of her state
ment a few months before Mike's
death that she would retire and con
centrate on being Mrs. Mike Todd,
there is considerable doubt that she
would ever have gone through with it.
"Raintree County" was to have been
her "last film." "Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof" was to have been her "good
bye" performance. The lead in Todd's
planned production of "Don Quixote"
was said to be her "final" attempt.
Yet the Friday before Mike went on
his fatal trip he had lunch with India's
top movie producer, Mehboob Khan,
to discuss co-production of "Taj
Mahal." With whom in the lead? The
"retired" Miss Taylor, of course!
As one' critic remarked, "There
would always be 'one last film.'"
At the moment, Liz needs work
more than ever. Not financially, how
ever. For the first time in her life,
except for her brief marriage to Nicky
Hilton, she doesn't have to worry
about paying her bills. She inherited
half of Mike Todd's estate, estimated
at between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000.
The other half went to his son. Al
though it was put into a trust fund,
she has enough money to live com
fortably for the rest of her life.
Liz needs to be busy in the months
to come for other reasons. She must v
outgrow her sorrow, and work will
make the job easier.
There was some speculation that
Liz would temporarily move in with
her brother Howard, a marine illus
trator for the Scripps Institute in Del
mar, Calif. But the quiet life would
require a change of pace for which
Liz is poorly equipped, although she
benefitted greatly during a short visit
before returning to MGM.
Liz will never live with her parents,
now in Florida, because she and her
mother have been at odds since her
marriage to Hilton. Some people feel
Sarah Taylor's domineering influence
drove Liz into that marriage.
Evidently the relationship remains
strained. Mrs. Taylor was conspicu
ously absent during most of Liz' or
deal, and Liz is supposed to have said,
"Keep Sarah away from me!"
Yet she can't stay by herself in the
palatial Spanish mansion she and
Mike had rented in Beverly Hills, be
cause being alone has always scared
Liz. Except when she was with Mike,
Liz has had to have people around
her. When she was married to Wil
ding and Hilton, they often partied
until the early hours of the morning
because Liz could never feel content
in the company of only one person.
The eventual solution probably will
be another marriage. Said one friend,
"I don't think it's in bad taste to dis
cuss Liz getting married so soon after
Mike's death. Frankly, I think he'd
want her to marry again."
It probably won't happen soon.
Chances are that months will go by
before she will ever have a serious
date, and more likely than not, she
will spend a year or more traveling
abroad, although as an MGM spokes
man puts it, "Liz can never get away
from memories by traveling. She's
been everywhere with Mike."
Still, Liz doesn't really want to for
get because, brief as her marriage
was, it taught her how full and excit
ing life can be.
And she knows better than anyone
that no man will have an easy time
following in Mike Todd's footsteps.
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Family Weekly, July 20, 1958
23