Editing Elizabeth Taylor (section)

==Legacy==
{{quote box
|quote=More than anyone else I can think of, Elizabeth Taylor represents the complete movie phenomenon – what movies are as an art and an industry, and what they have meant to those of us who have grown up watching them in the dark... Like movies themselves, she's grown up with us, as we have with her. She's someone whose entire life has been played in a series of settings forever denied the fourth wall. Elizabeth Taylor is the most important character she's ever played.<ref>{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |title=Film View; Elizabeth Taylor – Her Life Is The Stuff Of Movies |work=The New York Times |page=1 |date=May 4, 1986 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/04/movies/film-view-elizabeth-taylor-her-life-is-the-stuff-of-movies.html |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref>|source=—Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'' in 1986
|bgcolor=#CCDDFF
|align=right
|salign=right
|width=20em
}}

Taylor was one of the last stars of [[classical Hollywood cinema]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/elizabeth-taylor-a-star-in-a-category-of-her-own-dies-at-79 |title=Elizabeth Taylor, a star in a category of her own, dies at 79 |date=March 23, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Seymour |first=Gene |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/23/seymour.elizabeth.liz.taylor/index.html |title=Elizabeth Taylor: The 'Last Star' |publisher=CNN |date=March 23, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> and one of the first modern celebrities.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gabler |first=Neal |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/25/entertainment/la-et-liz-celebrity-20110325 |title=Taylor's celebrity: her lasting legacy |publisher=CNN |date=March 25, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123033057/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/25/entertainment/la-et-liz-celebrity-20110325 |archive-date=November 23, 2015 |url-status=dead }}; {{cite news |last=Kuntz |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/23/is-it-harder-to-be-a-celebrity-now/elizabeth-taylor-was-the-original-modern-celebrity |title=Elizabeth Taylor Was the Original Modern Celebrity |work=The New York Times |date=March 23, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018 }}; {{cite news |last=Frankel |first=Susannah |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/elizabeth-taylor-a-life-less-ordinary-2252366.html |title=Elizabeth Taylor: A life less ordinary |work=[[The Independent]] |date=October 26, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018 |archive-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202073603/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/elizabeth-taylor-a-life-less-ordinary-2252366.html |url-status=dead }}; {{cite news |last=JohnJoseph |first=La |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/mar/24/elizabeth-taylor-icon-talent |title=Elizabeth Taylor: the icon's icon |work=The Guardian |date=March 24, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018 }}; {{cite news |last=Vaidyanathan |first=Rajini |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-12829861 |title=How Elizabeth Taylor redefined celebrity |work=BBC News |date=March 23, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018 }}</ref> During the era of the [[studio system]], she exemplified the classic film star. She was portrayed as different from "ordinary" people, and her public image was carefully crafted and controlled by MGM.{{sfn|Rojek|2012|p=177}} When the era of classical Hollywood ended in the 1960s, and paparazzi photography became a normal feature of media culture, Taylor came to define a new type of celebrity whose real private life was the focus of public interest.{{sfn|Cashmore|2006|p=75}}<ref name="LATceleb">{{cite news |last=Gabler |first=Neal |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/25/entertainment/la-et-liz-celebrity-20110325 |title=Taylor's celebrity: her lasting legacy |work=CNN |date=March 25, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123033057/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/25/entertainment/la-et-liz-celebrity-20110325 |archive-date=November 23, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="cashmoreint">{{cite news |last=Sweeney |first=Tanya |url=https://www.independent.ie/life/cult-of-celebrity-spreads-the-velvet-rope-revolution-30329843.html |title=Cult of celebrity spreads: The velvet rope revolution |work=[[Irish Independent]] |date=June 8, 2014 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> "More than for any film role," Adam Bernstein of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote, "she became [[famous for being famous]], setting a media template for later generations of entertainers, models, and all variety of semi-somebodies."<ref name="postob">{{cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Adam |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/screen-legend-elizabeth-taylor-dies-at-age-79/2010/09/21/ABPFCYIB_story.html |title=Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 27, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref>

Regardless of the acting awards she won during her career, Taylor's film performances were often overlooked by contemporary critics;<ref name="Gussow2" /><ref name="frenchobit">{{cite news |last=French |first=Philip |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/27/elizabeth-taylor-tribute-philip-french |title=Elizabeth Taylor: an enduring icon of Hollywood's golden age |work=The Guardian |date=March 24, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> according to film historian [[Jeanine Basinger]], "No actress ever had a more difficult job in getting critics to accept her onscreen as someone other than Elizabeth Taylor... Her persona ate her alive."<ref name="postob" /> Her film roles often mirrored her personal life, and many critics continue to regard her as always playing herself, rather than acting.<ref name="LATceleb" /><ref name="postob" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Mathews |first=Tom Dewe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/may/02/artsfeatures |title=She wasn't much of an actress, but... |work=The Guardian |date=May 2, 2000 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> In contrast, [[Mel Gussow]] of ''The New York Times'' stated that "the range of [Taylor's] acting was surprisingly wide", despite the fact that she never received any professional training.<ref name="Gussow2" /> Film critic [[Peter Bradshaw]] called her "an actress of such sexiness it was an incitement to riot – sultry and queenly at the same time", and "a shrewd, intelligent, intuitive acting presence in her later years."<ref>{{cite news |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/23/elizabeth-taylor-cleopatra |title=Elizabeth Taylor: born to be Cleopatra |work=The Guardian |date=March 23, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]] stated that "she had the range, nerve, and instinct that only [[Bette Davis]] had had before – and like Davis, Taylor was monster and empress, sweetheart and scold, idiot and wise woman."<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomson |first=David |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/24/elizabeth-taylor-david-thomson |title=Elizabeth Taylor: let the story melt away and just gaze |work=The Guardian |date=March 24, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> Five films in which she starred – ''Lassie Come Home'', ''National Velvet'', ''A Place in the Sun'', ''Giant'', and ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' – have been preserved in the [[National Film Registry]], and the American Film Institute has named her the seventh [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars|greatest female screen legend]].

[[File:PV, Jalisco, Mexico (2021) - 319.jpg|thumb|left|Bust of Taylor in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico]]

Taylor has also been discussed by journalists and scholars interested in the role of women in Western society. [[Camille Paglia]] writes that Taylor was a "pre-feminist woman" who "wields the sexual power that feminism cannot explain and has tried to destroy. Through stars like Taylor, we sense the world-disordering impact of legendary women like [[Delilah]], [[Salome]], and Helen of Troy."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.salon.com/2011/03/24/camille_paglia_on_elizabeth_taylor/ |title=Paglia on Taylor: "A luscious, opulent, ripe fruit!" |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |date=March 24, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> In contrast, cultural critic M.G. Lord calls Taylor an "accidental feminist", stating that while she did not identify as a feminist, many of her films had feminist themes and "introduced a broad audience to feminist ideas."<ref name="lord">{{cite web |last=Lord |first=M.G. |url=https://mglord.com/the-accidental-feminist-how-elizabeth-taylor-raised-our-consciousness-and-we-were-too-distracted-by-her-beauty-to-notice/ |title=The Accidental Feminist: How Elizabeth Taylor Raised Our Consciousness and We Were Too Distracted by Her Beauty to Notice |date=November 27, 2011 |publisher=mglord.com |access-date=December 1, 2018 |archive-date=March 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330021225/https://mglord.com/the-accidental-feminist-how-elizabeth-taylor-raised-our-consciousness-and-we-were-too-distracted-by-her-beauty-to-notice/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{efn|For example, ''National Velvet'' (1944) was about a girl attempting to compete in the Grand National despite gender discrimination; ''A Place in the Sun'' (1951) is "a cautionary tale from a time before women had ready access to birth control"; her character in ''BUtterfield 8'' (1960) is shown in control of her sexuality; ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1966) "depicts the anguish that befalls a woman when the only way she can express herself is through her husband's stalled career and children".<ref name="lord" />}} Similarly, Ben W. Heineman Jr. and Cristine Russell write in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' that her role in ''Giant'' "dismantled stereotypes about women and minorities."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/elizabeth-taylors-feisty-feminist-turn-in-em-giant-em/281024/|title=Elizabeth Taylor's Feisty, Feminist Turn in Giant|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=November 5, 2013 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref>

Taylor is considered a [[gay icon]], and received widespread recognition for her HIV/AIDS activism.<ref name="postob" /><ref name="glaadobit">{{cite news |last=Kane |first=Matt |url=https://www.glaad.org/2011/03/24/dame-elizabeth-taylor-remembering-a-trailblazing-hivaids-advocate |title=Dame Elizabeth Taylor: Remembering a Trailblazing HIV/AIDS Advocate |publisher=[[GLAAD]] |date=March 24, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018 |archive-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202075716/https://www.glaad.org/2011/03/24/dame-elizabeth-taylor-remembering-a-trailblazing-hivaids-advocate |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Green |first=Jessica |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/03/23/elizabeth-taylor-remembered-as-extraordinary-gay-rights-ally/ |title=Elizabeth Taylor remembered as 'extraordinary' gay rights ally |work=[[PinkNews]] |date=March 23, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Stein |first=Joel|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2062458,00.html |title=Is It Possible To Become A Gay Icon? |magazine=Time |date=April 9, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> After her death, [[GLAAD]] issued a statement saying that she "was an icon not only in Hollywood, but in the [[LGBT community]], where she worked to ensure that everyone was treated with the respect and dignity we all deserve",<ref name="glaadobit" /> and Sir [[Nick Partridge]] of the [[Terrence Higgins Trust]] called her "the first major star to publicly fight fear and prejudice towards AIDS."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-55823920110323 |title=Factbox – Reactions to death of Elizabeth Taylor |work=Reuters |date=March 23, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018 |archive-date=June 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626083043/https://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-55823920110323 |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to Paul Flynn of ''The Guardian'', she was "a new type of gay icon, one whose position is based not on tragedy, but on her work for the LGBTQ community."<ref>{{cite news |last=Flynn |first=Paul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/23/elizabeth-taylor-aids-gay-icon |title=Elizabeth Taylor: gay icon |work=The Guardian |date=March 23, 2011|access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> Speaking of her charity work, former President Bill Clinton said at her death, "Elizabeth's legacy will live on in many people around the world whose lives will be longer and better because of her work and the ongoing efforts of those she inspired."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-12846499 |title='Great legend' Elizabeth Taylor remembered |publisher=BBC News |date=March 24, 2011 |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref>

Since Taylor's death, House of Taylor,<ref>{{Cite web |title=House of Taylor |url=https://elizabethtaylor.com/house-of-taylor/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Elizabeth Taylor |language=en}}</ref> Elizabeth Taylor's estate, has preserved Taylor's legacy through content, partnerships, and products. The estate is managed by three trustees selected by Elizabeth prior to her death. They continue to be involved with The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation Team |url=https://elizabethtayloraidsfoundation.org/team/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> and oversee The Elizabeth Taylor Archive.

In 2022, House of Taylor released ''Elizabeth The First'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spangler |first=Todd |date=2022-09-15 |title=Katy Perry's 'Elizabeth the First' Series About Elizabeth Taylor Sets Premiere Date (Podcast News Roundup) |url=https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/katy-perry-elizabeth-taylor-podcast-premiere-date-news-roundup-1235373606/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> a 10-part podcast series with Imperative Entertainment and Kitty Purry Productions and narrated by [[Katy Perry]]. In December 2022, ''Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon'' by [[Kate Andersen Brower]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=2022-12-18 |title=Authorized Biography Shows How Elizabeth Taylor's Years In D.C. And Alarm Over The AIDS Crisis Led Her To Redefine Celebrity Activism |url=https://deadline.com/2022/12/elizabeth-taylor-biography-aids-activism-politics-ronald-reagan-1235201956/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> the first Elizabeth Taylor biography authorized by the estate, was released.

In 2019, it was announced that [[Rachel Weisz]] would portray Taylor in ''A Special Relationship'', an upcoming film about Taylor's journey from actress to activist written by [[Simon Beaufoy]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=McNary |first=Dave |date=2019-10-28 |title=Rachel Weisz to Play Elizabeth Taylor in Biopic 'A Special Relationship' |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/rachel-weisz-elizabeth-taylor-biopic-a-special-relationship-1203385147/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2024, it was announced that [[Kim Kardashian]] would executive produce and feature in a docuseries about Taylor. Commissioned by the [[BBC]], it's been given the working title ''Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ritman |first1=Alex |title=Kim Kardashian to Produce and Feature in Elizabeth Taylor Docuseries |url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/kim-kardashian-producing-elizabeth-taylor-docuseries-1235890247/ |access-date=29 January 2024 |publisher=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=29 January 2024}}</ref>