Elizabeth Taylor, a name synonymous with Hollywood glamour, captivated audiences with her performances in classics like National Velvet, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Cleopatra. Beyond her acting prowess, Taylor was admired for her striking beauty, particularly her violet eyes. Her personal life, marked by eight marriages to seven different men (including two unions with Richard Burton), was as captivating as her on-screen roles. While some malicious gossip circulated about her weight, she took control of her health and diet, and even wrote a book about it.
Early Life and Career
After a couple of smaller film roles, Taylor got her big break starring in National Velvet. At 12 years old, she played a horse-mad, wannabe jockey. Growing up in Hollywood, Taylor seemed ready to embrace womanhood and marriage earlier than many of her peers. In 1949, she landed her first romantic lead in The Conspirator, starring opposite Robert Taylor. Some people think of Taylor as one of the most beautiful American women ever.
Marriages and Personal Struggles
Taylor loved and lost many times throughout her life. It’s not surprising that Taylor felt ready to become a woman and wife before many of her peers. Taylor's first marriage, to Conrad Hilton Jr., was a lavish affair with 3,000 guests, rose petals galore, and a five-tier wedding cake. However, the marriage was short-lived and turbulent. Before our honeymoon was over, my eyes were opened… By the end of the voyage, it was clear that my husband was having great difficulty in reconciling himself to me, as well as my celebrity. He became sullen, angry and abusive, physically and mentally. [And] he began drinking.
In 1958, while working on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Taylor faced the tragic loss of her third husband, Mike Todd, in a plane crash. Consequently, she lost a dangerous amount of weight. When she eventually returned to the set of Cat, she no longer fit in the costume.
Taylor eventually swore off alcohol and became one of the very first celebrities to openly discuss her addiction to booze and pills. She also publicly checked into the famous Betty Ford Center in 1983. Taylor had to hit the bottom before she picked herself back up. But she was a born fighter.
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Taylor faced a few near-death moments in her life. Perhaps the most serious occurred in 1961 when she contracted pneumonia that put her in a coma. Doctors initially declared her dead but finally saved her with an emergency tracheotomy. But it briefly turned on her. And a bone wedged itself in her throat. She tried to shift it with bread, but that made things worse.
Taylor's Diet Philosophy
Despite her love for food, Taylor understood the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. However, even when she was trying to cut calories, she made no apologies for loving food. In her 1987 book, Elizabeth Takes Off, she shared her personal weight-loss journey and diet plan.
Taylor believed it’s much easier to lose weight when you feel satisfied with other aspects of your life. Every woman knows it takes less effort to diet when she is happy. Though I always adore good food, the call of the double-chocolate fudge in the freezer is a lot softer when I’m busy and content. She emphasized sensible dieting and diligent maintenance over starvation and deprivation. “Sensible dieting and diligent maintenance are one thing, starvation and abject deprivation are quite another,” she wrote firmly. As someone prone to extremes, Taylor was seriously against the message that thin is always better. Banish pipe dreams about your ideal weight. Just because you weighed 115 pounds at 18 doesn’t mean you should weigh the same at 35. Pick a reasonable weight for your age and bone structure… Remember, when you diet, you are the only judge and jury.
Taylor seemed to think that she used food as an emotional crutch. But our mashed potato-munching, fried chicken-feasting food lover was not about to starve herself.
Taylor wasn’t afraid to laugh at herself. And she believed that not taking herself too seriously helped put her diet into perspective. After Mike Todd’s death, Elizabeth Taylor got close to his best friend, actor Eddie Fisher, who was married to Debbie Reynolds. She used it as motivation to not give in to comfort food. Taylor had the last laugh, though. She copied the trick, sticking a similar photo of herself on her own fridge door. That sight was an excellent deterrent to bingeing. If you think a picture of me as Miss Lard will inspire you, go ahead and put it on your refrigerator, I have no objections.
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One trick I learned the moment I started maintenance was either to take in or give away the old sacks, pup tents and tarpaulins I used to conceal my bulk. I know I’ll never again buy clothes with elastic waistbands. I think you should dress yourself with pride and interest even if you plan to start your diet only next week.
The "Taylor-Made Diet"
Taylor's diet, developed with nutritionists and her personal chef Liz Thorburn, was tailored to her preferences and included her favorite dishes.
A typical day on the "Taylor-Made Diet" might include:
- Breakfast: Dry toast, a piece of fruit, or cottage cheese and sour cream mixed together and poured over fruit.
- Lunch: A "Taylor Sandwich" (puffed-wheat crackers topped with low-fat cheese and wrapped in lettuce) with a side of dill pickle and cherry tomatoes, or low-fat cottage cheese with skinless chicken breasts.
- Dinner: Fish, shellfish, chicken, or occasionally red meat, accompanied by green, yellow, or red vegetables.
Taylor’s book includes a more detailed two-week meal plan based on what the actress actually ate and recipes for several of the dishes. She also invented something she called the “Taylor Sandwich,” which consisted of puffed-wheat crackers topped with a low-fat cheese, then wrapped in lettuce. This is something she recommended for lunches, with a side of dill pickle and handful of cherry tomatoes. As for that “fabulous low-cal mayonnaise” her chef made, it seems similar to most mayo recipes with a base of one whole egg and an extra egg yolk, but is then mixed with balsamic vinegar, the juice of one lemon, two cloves of crushed garlic, half a teaspoon of dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce each, a cup of safflower oil, salt, pepper, a sprinkle of artificial sweetener, and half a cup of skim milk.
She also emphasized eating as slowly as possible. “I’ve discovered that the longer it takes me to eat, the more it seems I’ve eaten,” she wrote. “When I dine with others, I try to be the last one finished, never the fist. When I am alone, I prefer to concentrate on the food rather than combine eating with other activities that might interfere with my enjoyment, such as watching television or talking on the phone. I even try to clear my head of plans, projects, problems.
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Indulgences and "Controlled Pig-Outs"
Despite the structured diet, Taylor allowed herself one "controlled pig-out" meal per week after reaching her goal weight. For one meal a week, she would eat whatever she wanted, returning to her healthy diet the rest of the time. “My splurges usually consisted of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cornbread. I’ve also eaten an entire pizza, followed by a hot fudge sundae,” she wrote. “And don’t forget it’s just one meal. And it’s probably best to schedule your pig-out for midday rather than evening.
The Importance of Self-Esteem
Most importantly, Elizabeth said the key to keeping the weight off is having good self-esteem. “You have to try to get your head at the right place,” she said in a 1986 New York Times interview. ”Where you can make it click. Without that inner click it doesn’t matter how many fad diets you go on.”
A Glimpse into Taylor's Culinary World
Elizabeth Taylor was a woman who knew her own appetites and how to satisfy them. Founded by ex-vaudeville performer Dave Chasen, the restaurant that stood on Doheny and Beverly in West Hollywood catered to the rich and famous. Notorious FBI director J. Edgar Hoover thought of it as the best chili in the world. Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt requested a batch (and got it for free). But Taylor proved to be the most committed fan. The chili is so good. All gone now. Please send me ten quarts of your wonderful chili in dry ice to 448 Via Appia pignatelli.
Apparently, Elizabeth Taylor loved mashed potatoes. From her Giant days to her diet days, Taylor could always find time to enjoy her favorite side dish. With mashed potatoes, gravy, sides of cornbread, biscuits, green peas, and trifle for dessert.
That’s made for Taylor, not by her. The actress didn’t know how to cook! Unbeknownst to the couple, the meal came courtesy of famous chef Anton Mosimann.