According to a provocative new HBO documentary called Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, the glamorous star was slammed by the Vatican for having an extramarital affair with actor Richard Burton. She was married to singer Eddie Fisher at the time and Burton was married as well.
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Elizabeth Taylor's love life was certainly hectic. She was married eight times to seven men. Perhaps the greatest flame of all of them was Burton. Elizabeth wedded him twice. It seemed like she had a combustible "can't live with him, can't live without him" relationship with this man, who, like her, was utterly brilliant at his craft and troubled in his private life.
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Met While Filming 'Cleopatra' In The Early 1960s
In The Documentary, Taylor Reportedly Talks About The Fierce Criticism She Got From The Vatican
Per foxnews.com, Elizabeth Taylor was subjected to "a blistering attack" from the Church's higher-ups for her illicit relationship with Richard Burton, which evidently began on the set of the splashy historical epic Cleopatra.
According to the documentary, which showcases recently-resurfaced audio recordings of interviews Taylor did with each of two writers, "The Vatican newspaper had come out with an item saying that I was so despicable [of a] woman that my own children should be taken away from me. [It's] an attack that really — well, it made me vomit."
Taylor Was Allegedly Vilified By Her Own Father
She ReportedlyDecried The Cruel Remarks She Received
"My father called me a whore," Taylor reportedly said in the documentary. "I met such opposition from everyone."
Per foxnews.com via Town & Country, Vatican City's weekly newspaper declared Taylor guilty of "erotic vagrancy" because she was involved with Burton while she was married to another man, Eddie Fisher. The Vatican reportedly condemned "this insult to the nobility of the hearth."
Elizabeth Taylor Also Got Backlash From Prominent Politicians
She Was Blamed For America's "Moral Slide"
A book called Furious Love cited by foxnews.com reported that "Congresswoman Iris Faircloth Blitch called on Congress to make "Miss Taylor and Mr. Burton... ineligible for reentry into the United States on the grounds of desirability." Congressmen in New York and North Carolina agreed, blaming the nation's 'moral slide' on the affair." Wow, that's a whole lot of moral decay to heap on two people for falling in love!
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton divorced their spouses and got married to each other in 1964. They divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975, and divorced again in 1976. They lived and loved large every step of the way.
