Biography

Biography, an award-winning TV series that began in syndication before moving to its permanent home on A&E in 1987, explored the lives of a wide array of influential people. Its first episode devoted to Elizabeth, which aired in 1995, was said to be the long-running series’ highest rated, so taking a second look at the queen of Hollywood was a given. What sets 2003’s Elizabeth Taylor: Facets—an apt title for a woman who was as multi-faceted as the diamonds in her legendary collection—apart, however, is that Elizabeth herself is interviewed about her legendary life and career.

Facets also features reflections from a handful of former co-stars: Janet Leigh, Shirley MacLaine, Anthony Geary, Jimmy Lydon, Margaret O’Brien, Keith Baxter, and Martin Landau. Also included are biographer Alexander Walker, Richard Merryman (her collaborator on Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal Memoir), journalist Virginia Campbell, George Stevens, Jr., Brad Geagley, Jack Brodsky, and Christopher Mankiewicz.

“I think we all have lived our lives through her,” Shirley MacLaine muses towards the end of the program, which aired in a two-hour time slot. “Every time she got a divorce, we thought about the divorce we were engaged in. Every time she fell in love, we felt the same way.” “I feel very lucky,” Elizabeth explains. “Sometimes I think my heart will crack, but all in all, I consider myself the luckiest woman in the world.”