Authors: Sam Kashner
At the premiere of
Lawrence of Arabia,
starring Richard's friend and
Becket
co-star, Peter O'Toole, at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, June 1963. Their school for scandal did not faze the French, who were quick to celebrate the famous couple. [A.P. Images]
Richard, Elizabeth, and Welsh actor Stanley Baker fishing on Elizabeth's boat, the
Taffy
, christened after one of Elizabeth's pet names for Richard. [from the Private Archives of Dame Elizabeth Taylor]
On location in Mexico for
Night of the Iguana.
They bought Casa Kimberly in Puerto Vallarta, where Elizabeth “bloomed in hot climates,” Richard noted. October
1963. [Gjon Mili/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images]
Richard, his dresser, Bob Wilson, Stanley Baker, and Elizabeth. Their presence in Puerto Vallarta changed the sleepy fishing village forever. [from the Private Archives of Dame Elizabeth Taylor]
Richard and Elizabeth enjoying the sea near their villa in Puerto Vallarta. [Courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Press]
Elizabeth cutting Richard's hair during the run of Burton's
Hamlet
on Broadway. She loved to fuss over him. [William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images]
“You're the one they've come to see,” Elizabeth teased. “You're the Frank Sinatra of Shakespeare.” Burton in stage makeup as Hamlet, in the longest-running production of the play on Broadway. [© Henry Grossman]
Backstage at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater for
Hamlet
on Elizabeth's thirty-second birthday. The cast and crew adored Elizabeth, who attended most of the rehearsals and performances. [© George Silk/Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images/from the Private Archives of Dame Elizabeth Taylor]
“I love not being me, not being Elizabeth Taylor, but being Richard Burton's wife,” Elizabeth said on the occasion of their March 15, 1965, marriage in Montreal. [© The New York Daily News]
One of Elizabeth's favorite wedding photographs. She's wearing the emerald-and-diamond brooch from Bulgari, Richard's engagement present to her. [William Lovelace/Evening Standard/Getty Images]
The Burtons in Richard's dressing room in Montreal, playfully getting ready for their wedding reception. [© Henry Grossman/from the Private Archives of Dame Elizabeth Taylor]
Richard and Elizabeth onstage. Elizabeth made her first stage appearance in a triumphant poetry reading with Richard, to benefit Philip Burton's drama school in New York. [© Estate of David Gahr]