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Elizabeth Taylor, "The Driver's Seat" (part three)

It is believed that Dame Elizabeth flew to Rome to start production on 'The Driver's Seat', as she heard rumors that Richard Burton was interested in actress Sophia Loren, who was a happily married woman. In Los Angeles, her name was linked with 24 year old, Christopher Lawford (son of Peter Lawford), but through him she met the more age appropriate debonair used car salesman, Henry Wynberg...who would be steadily in her life for the next few years, in between Burton reconciliations. She described him as a gentle man ...not prone to violent temper outbursts, as life with Richard was. Dame Elizabeth never stopped loving Richard Burton. They couldn't live with or without each other though they were destroying each other's spirit. Elizabeth was interested in Henry, as he had nothing to do with the motion picture industry and she found this very refreshing. Though her role in 'The Driver's Seat' was dragging her all over the emotional barometer, somehow it was a bit representative of how she was living, and coping without Richard Burton. Even her in performance, there was an undercurrent of seething anger and hostility that one knew was deeper than on the surface. Henry Wynberg quickly moved into her suite at The grand Hotel. Artist Andy Warhol had a small cameo appearance in the life. One afternoon, he coaxed Elizabeth to get drunk...where she poured her heart out. He stated, " Gee...she has everything, magic, money, beauty, intelligence...why can't she be happy?" She was in ruff shape. There were days she would not get out of bed. It would be ten years before she really straightened out and had many more lessons to learn. After production ended, she fled to Los Angeles with Henry Wynberg , only to start keeping a bedside vigil at the bedside of good friend, Laurence Harvey (whom she appeared with in 'Butterfield 8' and 'Night Watch' ), who was dying of cancer. As he came close to death, she climbed into bed with him and told him that she wished it was she who was passing away. Laurence found this difficult to be around. No fear, a cancer scare of her own at Thanksgiving 1973 brought her into the hospital and Richard Burton at her side. By the time, "The Driver's Seat" premièred at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1974, she and Richard Burton were (once again) divorced. Playing a psychotic woman in this unstable time of her life was cathartic, in a way, as she could air her frustration out in the scenes of the film. Another acting technique that she was very skillful at.
By Richard Bassett

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