Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star

by Kitty Kelley

A biography of the successful American actress describes her marriages and the making of her films

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Film

459 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 1981

About the author

Kitty Kelley is an American investigative journalist and author of several best-selling unauthorized biographies of celebrities and politicians. Described as a "poison pen" biographer, her profiles frequently contain unflattering personal anecdotes and details, and their accuracy is often questioned. Though many of her books have topped the best sellers list, Kelley's credibility and sources have been called into question multiple times.

Time magazine reported that most journalists believe Kelley "too frequently fails to bring perspective or analysis to the fruits of her reporting and at times lards her work with dollops of questionable inferences and innuendos." In addition, Kelley has been described by Joe Klein as a "professional sensationalist" and her books have been described as "Kitty litter."

Her past subjects have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British Royal Family, and the Bush family. Although Kelley has been criticized and her books hotly debated, she has never been successfully sued for libel and has never been forced to retract a written statement.

Reviews

[Wednesday]

This book is CRAZY. I know rich people who have been rich since they were children get eccentric, but some of the stuff in this biography is so crazy, like how the Burtons used to leave their children's toys behind at whatever location they were shooting at, and then buy all new toys in the next place, because Liz had to travel with 146 suitcases of her own.

[Jon]

The great thing about Kitty is, you stop worrying about how factual it is and enjoy it for what it is.. pure unadulterated scandal-mongering. I had a blast ..Sorry Liz!

[Kimberly]

I am not a fan of biographies or of Elizabeth Taylor, but sometimes I’m in the mood for something gossipy & a Kitty Kelley book often fills that void. This book, however, did not. When it started I felt like I was starting in the middle & was missing something. That is how I felt throughout the entire book. It was very rushed & nothing was really fully explored. I listened to the audiobook & when I got to the part of her filming Cleopatra, I was certain that I had accidentally jumped ahead in the story & went back in the book to try to find where I may have jumped ahead. It turns out I hadn’t & ended up listening to a big chunk of the book over again. I didn’t really come away with a feeling that I knew who Elizabeth Taylor was. After reading Kelley’s book on Jackie Kennedy I did feel like I learned a lot about her & that book only covered her life up to the 1970s. The Last Star was written in 1990, but only covered Taylor’s life until the late 1970s or early 1980s, I’m not entirely sure which because it ended so abruptly. Given the publication date this could have covered her contributions to AIDS charities. That was such a huge part of her legacy that I felt was lacking, but could have been included given the date of publication. Again, I’m not a fan of Elizabeth Taylor, but I felt she was so much more interesting than this book portrays. Now I fear I will need to read a more comprehensive biography to fill in the gaps, even though I don’t want to. The Last Star read more like a tabloid hit piece on Elizabeth Taylor rather than a biography. I’m just glad it was a quick read.

[Natalie Fetzer]

I don't know what an "unauthorized" biography means. My initial reaction is that an "authorized" biography is essentially PR and a sanitized record, which would make an "unauthorized" biography better.

Most of the biographies I have read as an adult have been historical with a weight of research and scholarship. There is no indication of that here.

This is essentially a book of gossip with no real way of determining whether or not it is accurate beyond the obvious dates and figures.

Given my skepticism as to the authenticity of the quotes and incidents, the portrait that is presented is both consistently and not sycophantic.

In short, seems to have been emotionally stunted through both unhealthy fawning and indulgence and the commercialization and sexualization of her person from a very young age.

She is a complex contradiction of dependence and independence. On the one hand desperately needing to be accepted and loved, particularly by men, in order to feel alive and whole. This led to her enduring abusive and unhealthy relationships. On the other, choosing to demand her worth financially in her profession and in her personal life flaunting social norms in pursuit of happiness.

[Victoria]

I've been talking to friends about Elizabeth Taylor's children and grandchildren. I realized I had never read this book. It was enjoyable andcinformative as long as you remember it's not gospel. I read that Elizabeth wanted to sue Kitty Kelly for the distortions and lies. She was advised that more attention would be given the book if she did that. While she is not portrayed as perfect, the one who came off the worst to me was Richard Burton. It ends while she's married to John Warner so, there's a lot that isn't covered.

[Pamfrommd]

I read books like this one only at bedtime. That's when I need something extremely light and meaningless so I can lull myself to sleep. I learned a long time ago that reading a novel at bedtime is a very bad idea, at least for me. I never remember plot lines when I'm so close to sleep. Kitty Kelley is the *perfect* writer of soporific books! I've read all of her bios except for Jackie Oh! but that will be next up.

[Kathleen Blakely]

Not much new

Reading this became an effort. I must say however I was appalled at how very cheap she was in everything. Her continued bragging about donations that never happened, even for children. She could have helped so many, instead she took,took,took. She is and always will be, remembered for her beauty. She was hardly an involved parent and completely void of morals.

[Laura DeNardo]

Overall I liked it. I felt it was a little bit too long. The writer definitely didn't sugarcoat anything, and Elizabeth was often portrayed in an unflattering light. And maybe it was just the kindle version, but there were quite a few spelling errors in this book.

[Arlenea Higginbotham]

Reliable

I know if I pick up a biography by Kitty I will always enjoy the read.
I have already started another book by this author, and I do usually wait. I like to save the books I know I will love the most as the gems to look forward to.

[Edward]

Garbage. Kitty Kelley had a very clear agenda when she set out to write this book, which was to cherry pick the nastiest, most defaming quotes and anecdotes about Elizabeth Taylor. That ultimately says more about the author than it does about her subject.

[Mick Meyers]

Not as acerbic as the other Kelley books,a reasonably good read.what a drama queen Taylor became and lament the loss of Richard burton's talent sold out to Hollywood for the big money instead of becoming a great stage actor.

[Hillary BL]

Not really a book, more like an outline to a book, a brief summary of Liz Taylor’s marriages. But there’s more to one’s life than just the men they marry obviously.
Also, whose idea was it to hire a narrator that can’t pronounce ‘Bvlgari’ for an Elizabeth Taylor biography?!

[Pearl Levy]

A very salacious read. I hope Liz was not as terrible Kitty made her out to be. I read it as a Perez Hilton. Regardless Liz Taylor was a hot hot tartlet. The gluttony and debauchery of Hollywood is wild. It’s only got worse.
May all her diamonds and gems be in good hands, maybe in mine one day?!

[Janet]

read this years ago...

[Kathy Manns055]

How can you not like a book about Liz? Soap opera on a grand scale.

[Audrey Kane]

Gossip told at an annoying fast pace.

[Cathy M. Neal]

Life of a Spoiled Child STAR

TMI, some of minor "stuff" should have been left out. Did not enjoy as much as other books on Elizabeth.

[Paul Mastrodonato]

Audiobook. Whether or not it was true or embellished by Kelley, the "professional sensationalist" and the "consummate gossip monger," it was very entertaining.

[Laurie Stoll]

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. Although Elizabeth Taylor's heyday was before my time I stil enjoyed this biography more than I expected.

Also, this is an early book (1981). The information that would have interested me most, the mid 1980's on, is not included in this edition. I did enjoy it enough to seek out another biography that will include the later years.

[Kris]

I read this years ago before I really knew who Kelley was. Probably the least "Kitty Kelley" of her books from what I can tell, because it reads more as a good bio as opposed to third rate tabloid bio she became known for later.

[Georgine]

I really enjoyed this book. The author gave an objective perspective of one of the last great movie stars. Liz was both complex and simple at the same time, beautiful and selfish, liberal and independent while being so incredibly needy and dependent. Enjoy.

[Gary Turner]

Thank you Kitty Kelley for digging in to the life of Elizabeth Taylor. What a story. I could hardly put the book down. Liz went from one episode to the next, with hardly time to catch her breath. "The Last Star" sounds spot on to me. WOW.

[Amber]

I hadn't realized exactly how erratic and crazy Liz Taylor was until this book. She's fairly reprehensible.

[Rachel]

Wow! I had NO idea what Elizabeth Taylor was like ... and after reading this book, I can see she was more than just Michael Jackson's friend. What a disturbed woman she was ...

[+ Dragonfly+]

This could have been the first book I read by Kitty Kelley. So much info on one of favortie actresses.

[Adrienne Burko]

This is one of, if not THE best celebrity bio's ever written. She wasn't a musician, but Elizabeth Taylor was the biggest rockstar who ever lived. Kitty Kelley tells it like no other!

[Marylu Sanok]

A lackluster bio of Liz. Little if anything new was disclosed. Skip this book

[Linda]

One of those tell-all bios in the over-the-top life of Elizabeth Taylor's first 49 years.

[Azalia]

not bad...

[Sally N. Inglis]

Absolutely read this back in the day, just don't remember when! What a life! What a legend!