Letters to fiance bare Liz Taylor's love at age 17
Source: Agencies |
March 30, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN newly revealed love letters, a 17-year-old Elizabeth Taylor shared her dreams with her fiance before later agonizing about returning an engagement ring when the relationship soured.
The handwritten letters are from 1949, when Taylor was engaged to William Pawley Jr, who was in his 20s and the son of a wealthy American businessman and ambassador.
Taylor, who died last week aged 79, was already a famous Hollywood actress at the time, having starred in the 1944 movie "National Velvet."
The correspondence, which New Hamphire-based RR Auction is selling in May, open a window to Taylor's view of life and love, before she was to be married and divorced eight times throughout her life.
"I received your wire this morning about sending the ring and bracelet to New York," Taylor wrote Pawley in a letter dated September 20, 1949, when their relationship was ending. "I have the ring on now. It is sparkling so beautifully in the sunshine - I suppose this will be the last time I have it on - for a while at least - take good care of it, Darling - for my heart is embedded [sic] right there in the center of it."
Taylor died on March 23 of congestive heart failure. She won an Oscar for "Butterfield 8" (1960) and another for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?" (1966).
RR Auction obtained the letters two years ago from a representative for Pawley.
There are 66 letters from Taylor and 20 letters from her mother, who told Pawley to leave her daughter alone when the engagement ended, said Bobby Livingston, vice president of sales and marketing at RR Auction.
The auction was scheduled before Taylor died and the items had been expected to sell for US$25,000 to US$30,000, but that figure is likely to rise, Livingston said.
Pawley is still alive, but has said little publicly about his decades-old relationship with Taylor, he added.
The letters began in March 1949, soon after Taylor had met Pawley while vacationing in Florida with her family.
The handwritten letters are from 1949, when Taylor was engaged to William Pawley Jr, who was in his 20s and the son of a wealthy American businessman and ambassador.
Taylor, who died last week aged 79, was already a famous Hollywood actress at the time, having starred in the 1944 movie "National Velvet."
The correspondence, which New Hamphire-based RR Auction is selling in May, open a window to Taylor's view of life and love, before she was to be married and divorced eight times throughout her life.
"I received your wire this morning about sending the ring and bracelet to New York," Taylor wrote Pawley in a letter dated September 20, 1949, when their relationship was ending. "I have the ring on now. It is sparkling so beautifully in the sunshine - I suppose this will be the last time I have it on - for a while at least - take good care of it, Darling - for my heart is embedded [sic] right there in the center of it."
Taylor died on March 23 of congestive heart failure. She won an Oscar for "Butterfield 8" (1960) and another for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?" (1966).
RR Auction obtained the letters two years ago from a representative for Pawley.
There are 66 letters from Taylor and 20 letters from her mother, who told Pawley to leave her daughter alone when the engagement ended, said Bobby Livingston, vice president of sales and marketing at RR Auction.
The auction was scheduled before Taylor died and the items had been expected to sell for US$25,000 to US$30,000, but that figure is likely to rise, Livingston said.
Pawley is still alive, but has said little publicly about his decades-old relationship with Taylor, he added.
The letters began in March 1949, soon after Taylor had met Pawley while vacationing in Florida with her family.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
