Elizabeth Taylor was earthy, bawdy, obstinate, flirtatious, potty-mouthed, irreverent, capricious, witty, wily, cunning, sophisticated yet kittenish, and sometimes melodramatic, but most of all she was wildly entertaining and a lot of fun.
I can testify to all of the above because I spent quite a bit of time with her when she crisscrossed Virginia to campaign with husband No. 7, John Warner, on his quest for a U.S. Senate seat in 1976. I was along as an observer to write a cover story on the iconic actress and her gentleman farmer spouse for Ladies’ Home Journal, but with Elizabeth— no one ever called her Liz—you were quickly drawn into her life, and my journey turned out to be a unique experience.
We first met at her Georgetown mansion, filled with stunning Impressionist art: Renoir, Picasso, Degas. Some, she explained, she had inherited from her art dealer father, others she had carefully collected over the years.