List $14.98

Written by J. Randy Taraborrelli - Audio book narrated by Lynne MacLean - Abridged Nonfiction - 5 COMPACT DISCS - 6 hours

Publisher, Hachette Audio (August 2007)

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She has been written about many times, but never like this...

For more than six decades she has been part of our lives. An American icon, Elizabeth Taylor has been surrounded by fame and notoriety since childhood. Now acclaimed biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli looks past the tabloid version of Elizabeth's life to the person she really is-and how she evolved from a child star to a woman in her own right.

At the heart of this impeccably researched work is the first fully realized portrait of Elizabeth Taylor's family: her canny, controlling mother, who, from the moment she laid eyes on her baby, began plotting her success; and her father, often portrayed as distant, but whose connection with his daughter was far more complex than people knew. As Taraborrelli brings to life the people around Elizabeth and her rise in 1940s Hollywood, he reveals the qualities that made her a star, the associations that put her at the right place at the right time, and the ways in which she was singularly unprepared for life out on her own.

While Elizabeth's eight marriages to seven men have been widely publicized, this author examines the psychological and emotional roots of each relationship, including her abusive marriage to Nicky Hilton, her attraction to swashbuckling Mike Todd, and the complex, incendiary Taylor-Burton love affair that continued for decades and never truly died.

Finally, Taraborrelli chronicles Elizabeth's most bravura performance of all. Despite the highly public battles with substance abuse and chronic illness, she achieved new success and sustenance in family, friendships, and philanthropy.

With never-before-published family photos by Taylor historian Tom Gates, as well as rare family photos, ELIZABETH is the story of a woman you thought you knew-and can now finally begin to understand.

About the Author: J. RANDY TARABORRELLI, is the author of eight books, including two New York Times best-sellers, "Call Her Miss Ross - The Unauthorized Biography of Diana Ross," and "Michael Jackson - The Magic and the Madness." The Los Angeles writer is also the author of the headline making 1997 biography of Frank Sinatra, "Sinatra - A Complete Life." Taraborrelli is not only a respected journalist, he is also a recognizable entertainment personality and in-demand guest on many television programs, including Today, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Larry King - Live, Entertainment Tonight, CNN - Headline News and Matt Lauer's Headliners & Legends. (Taraborrelli was the reporter who broke the world-wide exclusive on Michael Jackson's divorce for CNN). Additionally, Taraborrelli has appeared on major television programs all over the world in promotion of foreign editions of his books.

About the Narrator: Originally from New York, Lynne Maclean is a graduate of The North Carolina School of the Arts and has appeared on TV in Scrubs, Close To Home, and Providence. New York and regional theatre credits include The Trojan Women, Uncle Vanya, and Baggage Claim.