Elizabeth Taylor

The Grit & Glamour of an Icon

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Residence and First Women, the first ever authorized biography of the most famous movie star of the twentieth century, Elizabeth Taylor.

No celebrity rivals Elizabeth Taylor’s glamour and guts or her level of fame. She was the last major star to come out of the old Hollywood studio system and she is a legend known for her beauty and her magnetic screen presence in a career that spanned most of the twentieth century and nearly sixty films. But her private life was even more compelling than her Oscar-winning on-screen performances. During her seventy-nine years of rapid-fire love and loss she was married eight times to seven different men. Above all, she was a survivor—by the time she was twenty-six she was twice divorced and once widowed. Her life was a soap opera that ended in a deeply meaningful way when she became the first major celebrity activist to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS. A co-founder of amfAR, she raised more than $100 million for research and patient care. She was also a shrewd businesswoman who made a fortune as the first celebrity perfumer who always demanded to be paid what she was worth.

In the first ever authorized biography of the Hollywood icon, Kate Andersen Brower reveals the world through Elizabeth’s eyes. Brower uses Elizabeth’s unpublished letters, diary entries, and off-the-record interview transcripts as well as interviews with 250 of her closest friends and family to tell the full, unvarnished story of her remarkable career and her explosive private life that made headlines worldwide. Elizabeth Taylor captures this intelligent, empathetic, tenacious, volatile, and complex woman as never before, from her rise to massive fame at age twelve in National Velvet to becoming the first actor to negotiate a million-dollar salary for a film, from her eight marriages and enduring love affair with Richard Burton to her lifelong battle with addiction and her courageous efforts as an AIDS activist.

Here is a fascinating and complete portrait worthy of the legendary star and her legacy.

pre-order now

Praise for Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon

“Many should be inspired by all that Elizabeth accomplished as an HIV and AIDS activist. Brower’s book took me back to the early days when Elizabeth fought so hard against the stigma surrounding people living with HIV and AIDS. She lived by the credo, ‘To whom much is given, much is required.’ Elizabeth was not perfect, but she always tried to improve and be better. Her true nature is revealed here in these pages.”
— Magic Johnson

“Brower’s behind-the-curtain look at the most private thoughts of such an enormous cultural icon is a true page turner! I feel like I know what made Elizabeth tick after reading it.”
— Andy Cohen
“Elizabeth’s heart, mind, and passion come vividly alive on each page. We see her as a woman who struggled and ultimately survived to rewrite the playbook on celebrity and power. I never wanted it to end!”
— Brooke Shields
“The last great movie star of the Hollywood studio system, the legendary Elizabeth Taylor was as complex and captivating as any role she ever played. Kate Andersen Brower vividly captures the icon throughout her eventful but tempestuous life, as an accomplished actress, much-married wife, devoted mother, loyal friend, savvy businesswoman, compassionate humanitarian, and international celebrity.”
— Mark K. Updegrove, president & CEO of the LBJ Foundation and author of Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency