She's one of the world's most iconic movie stars, with a pair of rare violet-colored eyes to boot, but a new-to-TV documentary manages to reveal the woman behind the name Elizabeth Taylor.
One of the biggest celebrities of the 20th century, Elizabeth Taylor was a teen star turned Oscar-winning actress, known for famed roles in '50s and '60s films like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, Last Summer, BUtterfield 8, Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? And she was equally as known for her personal life, especially her eight marriages to seven men, infamously on-and-off relationship to actor Richard Burton.
And in the new HBO documentary Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, premiering tonight, August 3 at 8pm Eastern Time, you'll get to hear that life story narrated the enigmatic star herself, "inviting audiences to rediscover not just a megastar of Hollywood’s Golden Age but a complex woman who navigated lifelong fame, personal identity, and public scrutiny on a global stage from an early childhood," per HBO.
Forty hours of rarely heard interview tapes, which Taylor recorded in 1964 during an extensive sit-down with journalist Richard Meryman, were unearthed and turned into a 100-minute film, revealing "the complex inner life and vulnerability of the Hollywood legend while also challenging audiences to recontextualize her achievements and her legacy."
Directed by Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes, American Teen), the compelling documentary utilizes personal photos, home movies and clips from her famous films alongside those interview tapes to chronicle Taylor's rise from the childhood beginnings of her career to being one of the planet's most recognizable and scrutinized figures, as well as the legacy she's left behind since. (The actress died in 2011 at age 79.)
To watch Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, you’ll need access to HBO—thankfully, the channel is available with most cable TV subscriptions. However, if you've cut the cord, you can watch live simulcasts of HBO channels via several live TV streaming service options, including Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream. You also have access to HBO programming, including the Elizabeth Taylor doc, through the network's streaming platform, Max.
Take an early look at Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes with the official trailer above before tuning into the documentary tonight on HBO.
