Elizabeth Taylor was not just Hollywood icon, but prolific actress in'Cleopatra,''Virginia Woolf'

There were always headlines swirling aroundElizabeth Taylor, obsessions that focused on her beauty, her love life, her scandals, her health.

Perhaps she didn't mind; to some extent, especially in the 50s and 60s, she actively courted it. But she left a professional legacy as well, as a bold, conflicted actress who dared to acknowledge the dark side of beauty and adulation.

She carried both with varying degrees of ease from the start: Though only 12 when she played a young equestrian in 1944's"National Velvet,"she was so stunning that her violet eyes and dark hair became almost instantly iconic.

That film was formative in more ways than one: while shooting, she experienced a fall that led to lifelong back pain. And from then on, personal and professional struggles intertwined so completely, she was never able to untangle them.

At first, it appeared she would follow the paths of other studio starlets, with safe choices like"Little Women"and"Father of the Bride."But as her fame grew she wanted more, risking audience resistance by playing a spoiled socialite in 1951's"A Place in the Sun."

In the latter, she exploited her character's advantages with such assurance that instead of alienating viewers, she earned the deepest critical respect of her career thus far. 

MGM was resistant to push things further, and used her as eye candy in films like"Rhapsody"and"Beau Brummell."Even here, though, you can see her straining against convention. Shading her famous eyes, she keeps a bit of herself from us, creating the illusion of depth even when there's little in the script itself.

By 1956, she had enough clout to demand the sort of parts she wanted to play. In"Giant,""Raintree County,"and"Suddenly, Last Summer"she portrayed women who were complex, unhappy, openly sexual. Most of all, she acknowledged not only the promises but the punishments of privilege.

She pushed this dare even further with her still-searing work in 1958's"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."As the tortured Maggie and Brick, she andPaul Newmanexpose the fear and insecurity that lurks beneath those admired solely for their beauty and sexuality. At the time, there was no one else who could have delivered such a bitter lesson with so much conviction. 

It's telling, however, that"Cleopatra"— which she started filming in 1960 - is the movie for which she'll always be best known. It wasn't her strongest work, by any means. But it best represented the split she always fostered between work and life.

This was the movie that made her the highest-paid actress of the time, and the most notorious, given that she and costarRichard Burtonfell in love while married to others. (Imagine the fever pitch aroundAngieandBradtimes 10, and then double that.)

Source