Elizabeth Taylor married eight times. Most people can barely name half the husbands. But there is one name every fan of Old Hollywood knows by heart, because she married him twice: Richard Burton.
Their romance was so explosive the Vatican publicly condemned it, so passionate it produced two of the most legendary screen pairings in film history, and so volatile that neither marriage could hold. Yet somehow, neither of them could ever quite let go.
A Scandal Born on the Set of Cleopatra
The two met in 1962 on the set of the famously troubled epic Cleopatra. Both were married to other people at the time, Taylor to singer Eddie Fisher, Burton to actress Sybil Williams. The chemistry between them was so obvious that the production’s own crew started taking bets on how long it would take before the affair became public.
It didn’t take long. Photographers caught the two together constantly, and the scandal, dubbed “Le Scandale” by the press, dominated headlines around the world for months. Taylor left Fisher. Burton eventually left Sybil. In 1964, the two finally married.
Hollywood’s Most Combustible Marriage
Their union was legendary for its intensity, on screen and off. They starred together in eleven films, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, a role so raw it earned Taylor an Academy Award. Off screen, their fights were just as famous as their romance, played out in yachts, hotel suites, and the front pages of tabloids across the globe.
They showered each other with extravagant gifts, including the sixty-nine carat Taylor-Burton diamond, and just as often threatened to walk away for good. By 1974, after ten years, they finally divorced.
The Reunion No One Expected
What happened next stunned even their closest friends. Less than a year later, in 1975, Taylor and Burton remarried in a private ceremony in Botswana. Both later admitted they had never truly stopped loving each other, even as they acknowledged they were simply incapable of living together peacefully.
The second marriage lasted barely a year before ending in divorce again. This time, it was final. Both went on to marry other people. But those close to Taylor say she kept Burton’s love letters for the rest of her life.
A Love That Outlasted the Marriage
When Burton died suddenly in 1984, Taylor was reportedly too devastated to attend the funeral, choosing instead to grieve privately. She later said that losing him felt like losing a part of herself that no one else would ever understand.
Decades later, when asked about the great loves of her life, Taylor always circled back to the same answer. Six other men had worn her wedding ring. Only one had ever truly worn her heart.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons (public domain / Creative Commons).