13 Interesting Facts About Icon Elizabeth Taylor

From her vibrant love life to a lucrative acting career, Elizabeth Taylor’s private life may have been more exciting than any of the films she appeared in. This year would’ve been her 85th birthday, and people are still enthralled by this iconic Hollywood figure’s life on and off the screen. Here are 13 interesting facts you probably never knew about her.

1. She Saved a Life

On May 12, 1956, actor Montgomery Clift left a dinner party at Elizabeth Taylor’s Beverly Hills home. Just ten minutes later, he fell asleep behind the wheel and smashed his car into a telephone pole. It was Taylor who reportedly helped save his life by pulling his tooth out of his tongue as he began choking.

2. She Was the First Actress to Receive $1 Million

When producer Walter Wanger was casting for the film Cleopatra, he knew he wanted Taylor to star as the lead role. He called her then-husband, Eddie Fisher, to discuss the movie. Taylor jokingly said to Fisher, “Tell him I’ll do [the film] for a million dollars.”

This type of salary was unheard of in the industry, especially for a female leading lady. But Wanger obliged, and Taylor became the first actress to receive $1 million dollars for a single movie. Taylor later stated, “If someone’s dumb enough to offer me $1 million to make a picture, I’m certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.”

3. Her First Contract

Strangers would always comment on Taylor’s beauty when she was just a little girl. When she was 9-years-old, she was able to use her charm and striking features to her advantage by signing her first studio contract with MGM. But being under contract at such a young age wasn’t all it was cut out to be. Taylor said MGM execs controlled most of her life. They told her when to attend dancing and singing lessons, and they even tried to convince her mom to change the shape of her eyebrows and dye her hair.

4. Her Jewelry Collection Was One of the Most Expensive

Everyone knows Taylor had a thing for jewels, but her love for all things sparkly was a million dollar obsession. Many of her 8 husbands gifted her with dazzling Cartier diamonds, pricey chandelier earrings, diamond brooches and ruby bracelets. 1,778 pieces from her jewelry collection were later sold at an auction for more than $150 million.

5. She’s Shorter Than What Most People Thought

She may appear to be svelte and leggy on film, but Taylor was actually much shorter in real life. In an article for the New York Post, Larry King wrote, “She was shorter than most people think. She was tiny, but…she carried herself taller.” In fact, Taylor stood at only 5’2″ tall.

6. She Was Born With a Genetic Mutation

Most people were mesmerized by Taylor’s dazzling eyes. However, the thing that made her eyes so captivating was actually a genetic mutation. She was born with Distichia – an abnormality that caused her irises to appear purple. She also had a double set of eyelashes that made her eyes look even more dreamy on film and in real life!

7. She Gave Michael Jackson His First Christmas

Her friendship with Michael Jackson lasted for decades, and the two forged a strong bond that lasted until they day they died.

Taylor even went out of her way to throw Jackson his very first Christmas. The pop star grew up as a Jehova’s Witness, so he was never able to take part in the holiday until much later in life. Taylor and her then-husband, Larry Fortensky, showed up to Jackson’s Neverland Ranch and exchanged presents with him to celebrate the occasion.

8. The Most Exciting Film of Her Career

She starred in over 34 movies during her career, but she called National Velvet her “most exciting film.” She was 12-years-old when she was cast in the film, and production was pushed back several months with hopes that she’d have a growth spurt. During the break from filming, she practiced riding horses. She also managed to grow three inches in three short months and filming was able to resume as scheduled.

9. She Swam With Sharks at the Age of 74

Even the iconic Hollywood star had a bucket list. She always wanted to swim with the sharks, and she was finally able to make her dream come true at the age of 74. She was confined to a wheelchair at the time, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. While vacationing in Hawaii, she was lifted from her wheelchair and dropped into a shark cage that was then lowered into the Pacific Ocean. And in true Taylor fashion, her wrists were covered in beautiful, sparkly bracelets the entire time.

10. She Underwent Dental Work for ‘National Velvet’

To play the role of Velvet Brown in the film National Velvet, 12-year-old Taylor had to undergo some pretty extensive dental work. She had two baby teeth pulled prior to filming, and she even wore braces to correct her teeth.

11. She Was Hospitalized More Than 70 Times

Taylor suffered from many illnesses and ailments during her lifetime. She was reportedly hospitalized over 70 times and had at least 20 operations. She broke her back four times in total, including once while she riding a horse during the filming of National Velvet. She had also been hospitalized for pneumonia, she survived a brain tumor, and she suffered from dysentery and phlebitis. Her health dramatically declined during the last two decades of her life, and she died of congestive heart failure on March 23, 2011 at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

12. She Launched the First Celebrity Fragrance

These days, it seems like every celebrity has their own signature fragrance. But the celebrity perfume and cologne craze all started with Taylor. In 1987, she released her perfume called “White Diamonds“ in collaboration with Elizabeth Arden, Inc. Every year, her perfume still brings in $1 billion in revenue globally.

13. She Became a Grandmother at 39

Taylor began her life as a wife and a mother early on. She first married at the age of 18 to Conrad Hilton. Their union didn’t last long, and she quickly divorced him and married Michael Wilding in 1952. Together, they had two sons: Michael Jr. and Christopher. She later had a daughter named Liza with her third husband, Mike Todd, and she adopted an orphan named Maria from Germany. When her son Michael Jr. became a father in 1971, it made Taylor a grandmother at the young age of 39.