The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts

In December 2002, Dame Elizabeth was one of five recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, “the nation’s highest award for lifetime achievement in the arts.” She received the Honors during a weekend of festivities, which culminated in a gala held at Washington’s Kennedy Center Opera House in the presence of President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. (Her fellow honourees were Paul Simon, Chita Rivera, James Levine, and friend and former and future co-star James Earl Jones.) It aired later that month on CBS as The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts.

John Travolta was one of a handful of luminaries on hand to pay tribute to Elizabeth. “I stand here tonight for every person who ever admired Elizabeth Taylor,” he said. Travolta shared that he “had a dream once about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and that white dress you were wearing—well, you weren’t wearing it.”

“On film,” he continued, “Elizabeth Taylor has given us her extravagant beauty, her powerful determination, and her amazing grace. Those qualities have been the driving forces, not just of her career, but of her life. So when all is said and done, it is not her violet eyes that are her best feature, it is her heart.”

A short biographical film followed, narrated by George Stevens, Jr., the creator of the Kennedy Center Honors and son of Elizabeth’s three-time director George Stevens. “We all fell like hopeless schoolboys,” he said of Elizabeth, the child actress. “Her movies shaped our afternoons, and our memories.” Speaking of the leading lady: “She conquered us as surely as Helen had conquered Troy. Her films hold pride of place in motion picture history. Elizabeth Taylor owned the top spot at the box office, star and symbol of the movies, honoured by her peers.” Of her onscreen union with Richard Burton: “In the cinema of love, their names shall always be spoken. Nine films together. She played queen to his king. Kate to his Petruchio. They played love in all its seasons. She won her second Oscar for playing Martha to his George.” And, finally: “Was there ever a time we didn’t know her? A movie screen that was not lit up by her face? And when she spoke out on behalf of those she loved [with AIDS], her voice rang above the rest.”

At the film’s conclusion, the audience stood in unison and turned to applaud Elizabeth. Elizabeth also stood, and blew Travolta a kiss. Veteran newsman and the evening’s host, Walter Cronkite, then appeared on stage to introduce the musical portion of the tribute. It began with a song by Stephen Sondheim (who wrote the music and lyrics for A Little Night Music), the title of which, Cronkite explained, uses “a phrase, well, not generally associated with Miss Taylor. The phrase was ‘Not Getting Married [Today].’” This drew a large laugh from the audience, especially from Elizabeth herself.

This “lighthearted bouquet from one distinguished Kennedy Center honoree [Sondheim] to another” was performed by Matt Bogart, Patricia Ben Peterson, Billy Hartung, and Alice Ripley (who wears a wedding dress and spritzes herself with White Diamonds). Elizabeth’s friend, Burt Bacharach, appeared on stage and explained that when he and Dionne Warwick were recording the song ‘That’s What Friends Are For,’ “it just so happened that particular night Elizabeth Taylor came by the studio and when she heard the song she had this vision that this record could be potentially very strong for amfAR AIDS research. The idea was born in the studio that night. Couldn’t have done it without you, Elizabeth.” He was then joined by Warwick and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC for a performance of the song. Finally, the Gay Men’s Chorus rounded out Elizabeth’s tribute with a rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘There Is Nothing Like a Dame,’ changing some of the lyrics to “Elizabeth Taylor is a Dame, an official Dame” to her delight. All the participants of Elizabeth’s tribute returned to the stage and the audience gave her another well-deserved standing ovation.

Dame Elizabeth later revealed that she had suffered a longitudinal spiral fracture the morning of the Honors Gala, and was in considerable pain throughout the evening, but you wouldn’t know it. Despite being in agony, Elizabeth, who wore a Gianfranco Ferré evening gown of black devoré velvet, “trimmed with lilac, white, and black tulle flowers”, seemed genuinely thrilled with each of the performances and as if she was enjoying every minute.