Last month, Elizabeth Taylor: There Is Nothing Like A Dame by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince was released. Rebecca's "book 'em friday: liz taylor" and Marcia's "Elizabeth Taylor: There Is Nothing Like A Dame" went up Friday night.
Of the book, Marcia emphasized the conflict between Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, "And Monroe and Taylor were big rivals. It started with Taylor's first husband, before she and Nicky Hilton married, she found out he was having an affair with Hilton. The two women would often end up bedding down the same guy. When Monroe first met Taylor, she made a point to know how much she'd enjoyed her films . . . when she was a child!"
From pages 252 - 253 of the book, Elizabeth Taylor, then married to first husband Nicky Hilton whose father Conrad Hilton was trying desperately to reach him with no luck. So he called Elizabeth and she went to the Bel Air Hotel.
Getting dressed, Elizabeth drove to the hotel, fearing that Nicky might be incapacitated and perhaps needed to be rushed to a hospital.
Letting herself into the suite with her own key, she entered the darkened living room. There was a light shing from the bedroom. She heard voices, one of them a woman giggling. She stopped at the door and looked in horror at Nicky and Monroe fornicating. She yelled at him. "Your father wants you to call him at once. Why not tell the blonde trollop you'll f**k her later?" Then she turned and headed back to the suite's entrance. He did not pursue her.
Monroe, however, with a towel wrapped around her otherwise nude body, came after Elizabeth, following her into the living room. "I'm sorry, Miss Taylor, for taking your husband away from you. He prefers me to you. You're beautiful and I'm sure you'll find another man. Somewhere, someone out there must find you desirable."
"Get out of my sight, you brazen little tart," Elizabeth shouted at her. "You can have Nicky Hilton."
As Elizabeth headed into the hall, Monroe stood at the door, calling to her, "Miss Taylor, I loved seeing you in the movies when I was a little girl."
In fury, Elizabeth stood before the elevator doors. Actually, Monroe was six years older than she was, which made the parting remark from her all the more infuriating.
That was the first meeting of Marilyn and Elizabeth. It was also the end of the Taylor-Hilton marriage with Elizabeth immediately moving out of their home and quickly filing for divorce ("All the long-stemmed yellow roses in the world will make no difference. You and I are through," she fired off in a telegram.) Unlike the marriage, the rivalry would last through Monroe's death and beyond. From pages 526 - 527:
Elizabeth might have paid scant attion to [Jose] Bolanos except for two reasons: He was the only man she'd met in Puerto Vallarta who qualified for that "revenge f**k" she'd planned as a means of getting even with [Richard] Burton for seducing Ava Gardner. Also, she was tempted by the ieda of learning intimate secrets about Monroe's last lover, especially if the fallen star had considered Bolanos as marriage material.
Rebecca emphasized Elizabeth Taylor's porno movie (you didn't know? neither did she -- read the book) and recommended 'so pick up the book and learn about her conflicts with [joan] crawford, katharine hepburn, marlene dietrich. and especially marilyn monroe.'
The book is in soft cover with a list price of $23,95.