Many a great love story has come out of Hollywood.  Some have played out on the screen, while others happened in the real world.  Some were watched in awe, such as Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier. Others were watched with a fly on the wall perspective as the scandal played out in the press, such as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor who found true love on the set of the film Cleopatra.  Both were married to other people.  Elizabeth was fresh off the scandal of stealing Debbie Reynolds husband, Eddie Fisher {aka Princess Leia’s Dad.}  Richard, born and raised in Wales, was married to his Welsh sweetheart Sybil, who was extremely loyal to him despite his philandering ways.

The Burton-Taylor love affair set off a frenzy in the press and is looked at now as the catalyst for the invasive ways of the paparazzi. In fact, the film was shot in Rome at the same time Federico Fellini was filming La Dolce Vita. He coined the term Paparazzo, meaning buzzing insect, for the intrusive photographers swarming around Rome waiting for a photo of the couple.

The affair was called Le Scandale, by Burton himself, and the public couldn’t get enough of the couple. They eventually divorced their partners, married each other, and traveled around the world with Elizabeth’s three children, Burton’s one {he had two daughters, but one was institutionalized in New York,} as well as an adopted daughter. They also kept a host of dogs, cats and other furry animals, including a bush baby.  I’m not kidding.  Sound familiar? Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, aka Mr. and Mrs. Smith, certainly sound like a modern day Liz and Dick to me.  No pun intended {using a whisper voice, pun intended.}

I’m currently reading all about the Burton-Taylor romance in Furious Love – Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Century. It’s my current obsession, as are most tales having to do with old Hollywood.  So I put together a list of some of my favorite books on Hollywood, written by those who legitimately lived it.

You may enjoy:

1. The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier
2. Me: Stories of my Life by Katherine Hepburn
3. Ava: My Story by Ava Gardner
4. Then Again by Diane Keaton
5. Stories I Only Tell my Friends by Rob Lowe
6. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
7. A Lotus Grows in the Mud by Goldie Hawn
8. My Life So Far by Jane Fonda
9. The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealing Backstage at the Academy Awards® by Steve Pond
10. Furious Love – Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Century by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger

Happy Reading!

xoxo