Elizabeth Taylor toned down her glitzy style after she married John Warner. Here, in 1972 with friend and former movie star Princess Grace (Kelly), Taylor's simple gold chain and diamond pendant seem understated next to the royal's pearl clusters. Photogr
Elizabeth Taylor, who died today in Los Angeles at age 79, will be memorialized for her iconic screen career. But her ties to Washington occupy another rich story line in her legacy.
Taylor may have been the greatest movie star of her generation, but she was well past the twilight of her film career by the time she showed up in Washington in the mid-1970s. That was before her marriage to then-senatorial aspirant John Warner of Virginia, when Taylor still possessed some of the glamour of her glory years. As a 1980 Washingtonian profile by Kenneth Schwartz and F. Peter Model noted, she attracted “admirers and photographers at such charity events as the American Ballet Theater fundraiser, where she appeared [in 1976] flanked by Liza Minnelli and Halston.”
But after Warner wooed and wed her, the leading lady took on a supporting role: “dutiful spouse of a serious-minded image conscious politician.” Her presence in Washington was sporadic—she spent most of 1979 abroad—and it was subdued.
Taylor and Warner divided their time between his farm near Middleburg and a half-million-dollar townhouse in Georgetown. But they spent a significant part of their brief marriage campaigning for Warner’s Senate seat. As his star rose, Taylor’s seemed to fade. She stashed in a safe her famous collection of diamonds and jewels—once estimated as being worth $15 million—and sold some of her most cherished items, including a Cartier diamond for which her ex-husband Richard Burton paid more than $1 million. (Taylor wore the 69.42-carat rock to the Academy Awards in 1970, a one-night outing that cost $2,500 to insure.)
As Taylor and Warner’s public appearances increased, she toned down her style. “She never quite donned the traditional Republican cloth coat,” the Washingtonian article said, “but on the campaign trail flaunted wealth is not appropriate. . . . ” The diamonds and emeralds were out of place at gland-handing rallies and country barbecues. Taylor looked “outfitted not by Tiffany’s but by Kay’s.”
The couple divorced in 1982 after four years together. But whatever star power Taylor may have lost in her stint as a politician’s wife she regained as an activist and fundraiser for people infected with HIV and dying of AIDS. That role may be the one Washingtonians most remember and embrace.
Taylor gets credit for prevailing upon her fellow actor and old friend President Ronald Reagan to finally utter the term AIDS in public, in a 1987 address. She invited Reagan to speak at a dinner honoring the American Foundation for AIDS Research, for which she served as national chairman. Reagan had been in office more than six years, and the diseased had killed more than 20,000 Americans.
AIDS activists and scientists have blamed the US government’s slow and cumbersome response to the disease for its rapid spread, but Taylor’s influence helped create a turning point in national policy. “Elizabeth Taylor was the first major Hollywood star to take up the banner of HIV/AIDS activism,” Don Blanchon, executive director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, said in a statement on her death. “At a time when most Americans thought of HIV/AIDS as something that didn’t affect them, her commitment to the issue and considerable star power helped to take the fight against HIV/AIDS right into the mainstream of American society.”
The clinic named its facility at 14th and R streets, Northwest, after Taylor in 1993.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Life in Washington Remembered
The icon, who died Wednesday at 79, had a relatively subdued presence in the city.
Elizabeth Taylor, who died today in Los Angeles at age 79, will be memorialized for her iconic screen career. But her ties to Washington occupy another rich story line in her legacy.
Taylor may have been the greatest movie star of her generation, but she was well past the twilight of her film career by the time she showed up in Washington in the mid-1970s. That was before her marriage to then-senatorial aspirant John Warner of Virginia, when Taylor still possessed some of the glamour of her glory years. As a 1980 Washingtonian profile by Kenneth Schwartz and F. Peter Model noted, she attracted “admirers and photographers at such charity events as the American Ballet Theater fundraiser, where she appeared [in 1976] flanked by Liza Minnelli and Halston.”
But after Warner wooed and wed her, the leading lady took on a supporting role: “dutiful spouse of a serious-minded image conscious politician.” Her presence in Washington was sporadic—she spent most of 1979 abroad—and it was subdued.
Taylor and Warner divided their time between his farm near Middleburg and a half-million-dollar townhouse in Georgetown. But they spent a significant part of their brief marriage campaigning for Warner’s Senate seat. As his star rose, Taylor’s seemed to fade. She stashed in a safe her famous collection of diamonds and jewels—once estimated as being worth $15 million—and sold some of her most cherished items, including a Cartier diamond for which her ex-husband Richard Burton paid more than $1 million. (Taylor wore the 69.42-carat rock to the Academy Awards in 1970, a one-night outing that cost $2,500 to insure.)
As Taylor and Warner’s public appearances increased, she toned down her style. “She never quite donned the traditional Republican cloth coat,” the Washingtonian article said, “but on the campaign trail flaunted wealth is not appropriate. . . . ” The diamonds and emeralds were out of place at gland-handing rallies and country barbecues. Taylor looked “outfitted not by Tiffany’s but by Kay’s.”
The couple divorced in 1982 after four years together. But whatever star power Taylor may have lost in her stint as a politician’s wife she regained as an activist and fundraiser for people infected with HIV and dying of AIDS. That role may be the one Washingtonians most remember and embrace.
Taylor gets credit for prevailing upon her fellow actor and old friend President Ronald Reagan to finally utter the term AIDS in public, in a 1987 address. She invited Reagan to speak at a dinner honoring the American Foundation for AIDS Research, for which she served as national chairman. Reagan had been in office more than six years, and the diseased had killed more than 20,000 Americans.
AIDS activists and scientists have blamed the US government’s slow and cumbersome response to the disease for its rapid spread, but Taylor’s influence helped create a turning point in national policy. “Elizabeth Taylor was the first major Hollywood star to take up the banner of HIV/AIDS activism,” Don Blanchon, executive director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, said in a statement on her death. “At a time when most Americans thought of HIV/AIDS as something that didn’t affect them, her commitment to the issue and considerable star power helped to take the fight against HIV/AIDS right into the mainstream of American society.”
The clinic named its facility at 14th and R streets, Northwest, after Taylor in 1993.
Subscribe to Washingtonian
Follow Washingtonian on Twitter
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
Most Popular in News & Politics
The Missing Men of Mount Pleasant
Another Mysterious Anti-Trump Statue Has Appeared on the National Mall
Muriel Bowser Defends Her BLM Plaza Decision and Looks Back on a Decade as Mayor
Yet Another Anti-Trump Statue Has Shown Up on the National Mall
Want to Search Donald Trump’s Truth Social Posts? A New Site Is Here to Help.
Washingtonian Magazine
July Issue: The "Best Of" Issue
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
How Would a New DC Stadium Compare to the Last One?
The Culture of Lacrosse Is More Complex Than People Think
Did Television Begin in Dupont Circle?
Kings Dominion’s Wild New Coaster Takes Flight in Virginia
More from News & Politics
A DNC Official Will Run for Eleanor Holmes Norton’s Seat
AC Problem Closes Four Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall
Epstein Files Fiasco Continues to Be Weird and Entertaining, GOP Congressman Sued Over Unpaid Rent, and Lotuses Hit Peak Bloom
I Tried to Train for American Ninja Warrior
Trump Wants to Rename Soccer, the Nationals Chose a Shortstop, and Virginians Are the US French-Fry-Eating Champions
Guest List: 5 People We’d Love to Hang Out With This July
The Washington Nationals Just Fired the Manager and GM Who Led Them to a Championship. Why Has the Team Been so Bad Since?
FBI Building Now on Track to Leave DC After All, Whistleblower Leaks Texts Suggesting Justice Department Planned to Blow Off Federal Court Orders, and NPS Cuts Leave Assateague Island Without Lifeguards