Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Taylor?

by Brenda Maddox

Portrays Elizabeth Taylor as a living symbol of the American mythology about sex and womanhood in the late forties and fifties, supplying much detail on her career and private life, and showing her to be a warm, loving woman who has survived

Genres: History, Nonfiction

252 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1977

About the author

Born in Brockton, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1932, Brenda Lee Power Murphy graduated from Harvard University (class of 1953) with a degree in English literature and also studied at the London School of Economics. She was a book reviewer for The Observer, The Times, New Statesman, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and regularly contributed to BBC Radio 4 as a critic and commentator. Her biographies of Elizabeth Taylor, D.H. Lawrence, Nora Joyce, W.B. Yeats, and Rosalind Franklin have been widely acclaimed. She received the Los Angeles Times Biography Award, the Silver PEN Award, the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, and the Whitbread Biography Prize.

Maddox was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999.

Maddox lived in London and spent time at her cottage near Brecon, Wales, where she and her husband, Sir John Maddox (d. 2009), were actively involved within the local community. She was vice-president of the Hay-on-Wye Festival of Literature, a member of the Editorial Board of British Journalism Review, and a past chairman of the Broadcasting Press Guild. Maddox had two children and two stepchildren.

Her biography of the scientist James Watson was published in 2016.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Erin Tuzuner · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author often switches from biography to personal remembrance, which detracts from the narrative.

[Angie · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a dated biography- I was looking forward to 1970s colloquialisms, some current references to (at that time) news pertaining to our titular subject, etc.
The author, instead, told the life story of Elizabeth Taylor- sparing no grace nor complete inappropriate opinion. As a reader of autobiographies and biographies, I expect facts with some possible lean. Here, we had a very purulent view. She spewed negative opinions throughout the book about Taylor’s looks. I would anticipate some criticism regarding some questionable acting/movie choices or even her marriage history. I lost count though in how many times she name calls Ms. Taylor. It was offensive to the 2020 reader. Maybe this was common for biographers in the 70s- to mention ad nauseum, one’s opinions of another’s appearance on almost every chapter albeit almost every page.

I was hoping this book would discuss Taylor’s childhood, citizenship questions, movie choices, juicy relationships and being a mother. Instead, I was hit with 204 pages of a seemingly jealous(?) and overly oft critical author. Boo.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read several biographies of Elizabeth Taylor and this is one of the better ones. It was written in 1977, when Taylor was 45, and has the advantage of capturing her when her fame was still at its height. Her film career would be over within a few more years though she later made TV movies. The Betty Ford Clinic, the business ventures and AIDS foundation, Larry Fortensky, Michael Jackson, and being a Dame were still ahead of her, but the Hollywood legend was already in place. This was one of Brenda Maddox's first books, and she has gone on to become a successful journalist and biographer. Her writing style is considerably more elegant than that of Taraborrelli and other modern celebrity-watchers. Maddox's take on Taylor's life is refreshingly irreverent, considering that most writers are still in awe of her immense fame. At times, Maddox is downright catty, and while amusing, this is also distracting. She considers Taylor to be a movie star first and an actress second, and this is probably correct. But what a great star she was!

[Peter Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written.Really it was a piece of movie nostalgia for me to relive some of the events that are described.Good on her background and early career.Written in 1977 so there's possibility of a career assessment but interesting to see how she was perceived then.I felt a bit sad for her - her love of presents and jewellery,her ignorance of literature until Richard Burton appeared,the difficulty of finding decent film roles,her exploitation by the studios even if she got well paid.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A warts and all biography.