Elizabeth Taylor's Relationship History Is Littered With Red Flags

Elizabeth Taylor is a Hollywood icon known for her classic beauty, eyes famous for appearing violet, and her dark hair. Of course, she was also known for her legendary acting roles, in movies such as "Cleopatra" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" She achieved several awards and nominations for her roles on the big screen. Perhaps even more talked about than her movies are her relationships off-screen.

Taylor was married eight times to seven different men. It may seem as though she married for love each time. The actress told Barbara Walters in 1997: "When I have fallen in love, it's always ended up being a marrying kind of love." Two of her marriages produced children, and seven of her marriages ended in divorce. Each marriage came with its own sort of scandal or red flag. There are clear patterns of destructive behavior in her relationship history, from substance abuse to escapism.

Taylor's first marriage was to Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr. Yes, he's Paris Hilton's great-uncle. According to an interview with Taylor, he allegedly had a drinking problem. He wasn't the only one of Taylor's husbands with a drinking problem, though. Taylor and Richard Burton were married twice. Their first marriage was in 1964, but the pair divorced in 1974. Then, they married again in 1975 and divorced again less than a year later.  When Taylor first met Burton on the set of Cleopatra, one of the things she found endearing was that he was shaking so badly due to a hangover that he couldn't even raise a cup of coffee to his mouth. Taylor was asked to help him, which she did, and strangely fell for him in that moment. But alcoholism (from both sides) seemed to define their marriages.

Burton drank heavily, allegedly consuming multiple bottles of vodka per day. Taylor also had worsening alcoholism during her relationship with Burton. In a recent biography, "Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon" by Kate Anderson Brower, the actress's struggles with alcohol and pills are detailed. Brower wrote (via Page Six): "Elizabeth's own growing problem with alcohol was easy to overlook because Richard's was so debilitating."

Burton sadly passed away in 1984, and Taylor was devastated. She admitted that she never fully stopped loving him. She shared: "I don't want to be that much in love ever again...I gave everything away...my soul, my being, everything." Taylor's drinking and drug addiction worsened during her marriage to Warner, which also ended in a divorce. Taylor's friends and family finally intervened, and she went to rehab in 1983. 

It's not uncommon for relationships filled with substance to also be toxic and intertwined with abuse. Taylor and Hilton Jr. were only married for eight months, and during this time, Hilton Jr. was reportedly abusive towards Taylor. According to People, in "Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes," Taylor has a conversation with journalist Richard Meryman, in which she recalls that she suffered a miscarriage after a drunken Hilton kicked her in the stomach. She also alleged that he was indifferent and emotionally abusive towards her.

Taylor and Burton's previously discussed alcohol use also often led to intense fights and screaming matches. Their relationship was so volatile, in fact, that Taylor had a specific phrase for it: "atom bombs." Taylor noted (via CNN): "We were like two atom bombs, and when we'd go off together, there'd be this tremendous explosion." It all seemed too much for the couple to handle, as they divorced for the second time less than a year after their second marriage to each other.

After her third husband, Mike Todd, died in a plane crash in 1958, Taylor began an affair with his friend, Eddie Fisher. At the time, Fisher was married to actress Debbie Reynolds. Just three hours after their divorce, Fisher would marry Taylor. According to People, in "Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes," Taylor reveals that the only thing she and Fisher had in common was Mike, as Fisher was a great friend of his. Taylor later admitted that she never loved Fisher, and that the relationship was a mistake.

Taylor's relationship with Burton was so controversial that even the Vatican weighed in on it! The pair met while filming "Cleopatra," but the issue is that they were both married to other people at the time. Taylor was married to Eddie Fisher, and Burton was married to Sybil Williams. Taylor and Burton's affair became public when the two were photographed on a yacht kissing in 1962. The Vatican newspaper (via Parade) condemned the affair, charging the actress with "erotic vagrancy." Eventually, they each divorced their partners and married each other. At the height of their fame, they were one of the most famous couples in the world.

According to analyses of her love life and addiction specialist Stanton Peele, Taylor used love as an "addictive resolution for life's problems." Taylor herself has admitted that she is one to fall in love over and over again, stating: "I've been in love with almost every man I've met." That is not difficult to believe, as the actress has married eight times. But, she does seem to jump from one relationship to another, perhaps in an attempt to escape dealing with her true emotions. For example, when her husband, Todd, passed away, she quickly jumped into a relationship with his friend, Fisher. 

Taylor has revealed that she had a lonely childhood with no friends or dating allowed. This led to feelings of insecurity and an adult life filled with periods of loneliness. Taylor's biographer, Brower, indicated that Taylor used relationships as a way to escape. We can assume that being one of the most famous figures in the world must have also led to periods of isolation, and relationships served as a refuge. Taylor eventually channeled her energy into AIDS activism, as she knew what it was like to experience pain and did not want others to feel abandoned.