Elizabeth Taylor, the First Superstar

Long before Paris discovered purse dogs and Angelina knew how to break up a celebrity marriage, Liz had done it all—and then some. Jacob Bernstein looks at her larger-than-life appetites, and why we loved her for them.

If Elizabeth Taylor’s death Wednesday resonated in a way that the passing of most 79 year olds does not, that is partly because she was, in a certain way, the first superstar of the modern era.

She had paparazzi trailing her around the world before they were even called paparazzi. She did endorsement deals with perfume companies long before people began referring to themselves as brands. She was a proud gay icon when being gay was still the love that dared not speak its name. She even battled alcoholism and drug addiction with a flair that puts Lindsay Lohan to shame.