The 42nd Annual Academy Awards

Elizabeth not only attended the 42nd Academy Awards on April 7, 1970, to offer moral support to husband Richard Burton (he was a Best Actor nominee for his performance as Henry VIII in Anne of the Thousand Days). She also had presenting duties during the ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion that evening as she handed out the Best Picture Oscar.

“We, who make films, members of the Academy, are terribly proud of the world’s serious and dedicated filmmakers and their product,” she said from the podium. “And each year, when the Academy announces the nominations for awards, film critics, and fans alike, find as much to disagree about as to agree with, which [is], of course, as it should be. That’s why we make melodramas, musicals, historical pageants, comedies, westerns, and documentaries. There is no disagreement, however, that each year films are intensified and refined and more widely accepted as a really true art. And from an abundance of excellence, we have nominated, the Academy, these films as the five best pictures of the year.”

The Oscar went to Midnight Cowboy.

Elizabeth wore a plunging periwinkle blue and violet faille crepe evening dress. It was designed by her friend, legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head, to showcase the dazzling Taylor-Burton Diamond. She would later donate this dress to the Christie’s charity auction “Unforgettable: Fashion of the Oscars,” which was held in March 1999 and benefited amfAR. The hammer fell at an astonishing $167,500—at that time, the second-highest price ever paid for a dress at auction. It was purchased by Mattel, who used it as the inspiration for an Elizabeth Taylor doll that could only be purchased after buying a bottle of Elizabeth’s iconic White Diamonds fragrance.