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The Tragic Crown: 5 Shocking Facts About Elizabeth Taylor’s Only Marriage She Didn't End

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The whirlwind romance and tragically short marriage of Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Todd remains one of Hollywood’s most compelling and dramatic love stories, a passionate chapter that continues to fascinate historians and fans nearly seven decades later. While the world remembers Taylor for her epic, tumultuous marriage to Richard Burton, it was her third husband, the flamboyant producer Michael Todd, whom she often cited as one of the two great loves of her life—and the only one of her seven marriages that did not end in divorce, but in tragedy.

As of late , new retrospectives continue to explore the brief, intense period from 1957 to 1958, highlighting how the self-made showman fundamentally changed the young starlet, teaching her, in her own words, "how to be loved." Their union was a spectacular collision of Hollywood royalty and Broadway bravado, a partnership that burned brightly before being extinguished in a devastating plane crash, setting the stage for one of the biggest scandals of the era.

Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Todd: A Biography of Two Titans

The pairing of the glamorous, world-famous actress and the dynamic, older producer was a spectacle from the start, uniting two of the most powerful personalities in entertainment.

Michael Todd (Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen) Profile

  • Full Name: Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen
  • Born: June 22, 1909 (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
  • Died: March 22, 1958 (Near Grants, New Mexico)
  • Occupation: American theatrical and film producer, showman, entrepreneur.
  • Key Achievements: Produced the Oscar-winning film Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Co-invented the widescreen film format Todd-AO and pioneered the Cinerama process.
  • Marriages: 3 (Bertha, Joan Blondell, Elizabeth Taylor)
  • Children: 2 (Michael Todd Jr. and Liza Todd)

Elizabeth Taylor Profile

  • Full Name: Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
  • Born: February 27, 1932 (Hampstead, London, England)
  • Died: March 23, 2011 (Los Angeles, California)
  • Occupation: Actress, businesswoman, humanitarian.
  • Key Achievements: Two-time Academy Award winner (BUtterfield 8, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?). One of the last stars of Hollywood's Golden Age.
  • Marriages: 8 (to 7 husbands: Conrad Hilton Jr., Michael Wilding, Michael Todd, Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton (twice), John Warner, Larry Fortensky)
  • Children: 4 (Michael Wilding Jr., Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, Maria Burton (adopted))

The Blazing Courtship: Diamonds, Drama, and Showmanship

After her divorce from actor Michael Wilding, Elizabeth Taylor was introduced to Michael Todd, a man 23 years her senior, known for his relentless energy, lavish spending, and audacious personality. Todd was the ultimate showman, a man who had successfully navigated the worlds of Broadway and Hollywood with a flair for the dramatic.

Their courtship was anything but subtle. Todd was a whirlwind, famously telling Taylor, "I don't ask you, I tell you," when proposing marriage. The producer showered Taylor with extraordinary gifts, most notably the 29.4-carat Cartier Diamond Tiara, a piece she wore to the 1957 Academy Awards. This period marked a significant shift in Taylor’s life; she was no longer the studio-managed starlet but the partner of a powerful, self-made mogul who encouraged her independence and passion.

They married in a lavish, highly publicized ceremony in Acapulco, Mexico, on February 2, 1957. The wedding was a massive media event, complete with a fireworks display and a party that lasted for days. Taylor was pregnant at the time, and their daughter, Elizabeth "Liza" Todd, was born just six months later, in August 1957. This was the first time Taylor had been married to a man who matched her own larger-than-life persona, and she later recalled feeling "truly loved" for the first time.

The Tragic End of "The Liz" and the Immediate Aftermath

The marriage, which Taylor described as her most joyous, lasted only 13 months. It was tragically cut short on March 22, 1958, when Michael Todd's private twin-engine plane, a Lockheed Lodestar he had christened "The Liz" in his wife's honor, crashed in a severe storm near Grants, New Mexico. Todd, along with his co-pilot, navigator, and writer Art Cohn, were all killed instantly.

Taylor was scheduled to be on the flight but was forced to stay home in California due to a severe cold, a twist of fate that saved her life but left her utterly devastated. The news of the crash sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Taylor's reaction was one of profound, inconsolable grief. She was famously found clutching the telegram confirming his death, utterly broken by the loss of the man she believed was her soulmate. This event is often cited as the deepest personal trauma of her early life.

The nature of their relationship and Todd’s death contributed to the enduring mystique of this brief union. It was a love story that ended not by mutual consent or infidelity (as with her other marriages), but by an act of God, solidifying Todd's place in her memory as the perfect, untainted husband.

The Scandal That Rocked Hollywood: Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds

The immediate aftermath of Todd's death became the catalyst for one of the most explosive and publicized scandals of the 1950s. In her profound grief, Elizabeth Taylor sought comfort in the arms of one of Michael Todd's closest friends: the singer Eddie Fisher.

The problem? Eddie Fisher was married to America's sweetheart, actress and singer Debbie Reynolds. Reynolds and Taylor had been close friends, and Fisher and Todd were business associates. The public viewed Taylor's affair with Fisher as a betrayal of the highest order—a grieving widow stealing a husband from her friend. The media coverage was relentless, with Taylor being branded a "homewrecker" and a villain. This infamous love triangle involved three of the biggest stars of the decade and dominated headlines for months.

Fisher eventually divorced Reynolds and married Taylor in 1959. While the public condemned Taylor, she maintained that she was simply a woman in desperate need of solace, and Fisher was the only person who understood her grief due to his closeness to Todd. This marriage was ultimately short-lived, lasting only five years before Taylor left Fisher for her future epic love, Richard Burton, on the set of *Cleopatra*.

Michael Todd’s Enduring Legacy to Elizabeth Taylor

Despite its brevity, the marriage to Michael Todd left an indelible mark on Elizabeth Taylor. She maintained a deep connection to his memory for the rest of her life, often reflecting on the profound lessons he taught her.

  • The Gift of Confidence: Todd, the consummate showman, taught Taylor to embrace her power and value. Her personal assistant, Mendelson, later revealed that Todd's most significant legacy was teaching Taylor "how to be loved" and to accept love without reservation.
  • The Near-Death Experience: Years later, during a near-death experience due to a severe bout of pneumonia, Taylor recounted seeing Todd in a bright light. She claimed he sent her back, telling her it was not her time, a story that further cemented their spiritual connection.
  • The Unbroken Ring: Todd was the only one of Taylor's husbands she did not divorce. This fact alone gives his marriage a unique, almost sacred status in her history, setting it apart from the seven others that followed.
  • The Todd-AO Format: Todd's pioneering work in film technology, particularly the Todd-AO widescreen process used for his masterpiece *Around the World in 80 Days*, ensured his place as an innovator in cinema history, a legacy that continued long after his tragic death.

The story of Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Todd is a powerful reminder that sometimes the shortest chapters hold the deepest meaning. Their year together was a spectacular burst of happiness, passion, and glamour, ending in a tragedy that immortalized their love and forever changed the course of Hollywood history.

elizabeth taylor and michael todd
elizabeth taylor and michael todd

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