The Juiciest Bits from 'My Life with Cleopatra'
On this day in 1963, Cleopatra was released.
Even though it wasn't much of a critical success, and pretty much ruined 20th Century Fox, it launched one of Hollywood's greatest and most scandalous romances: the all-consuming love of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
I've been fascinated by this love story ever since I got into old movies, and when I found this book at Chapters probably ten years ago, written by the producer of Cleopatra, I knew I needed it. I've re-read it a few times since, and so today, I present to you some of the juiciest details from Walter Wagner's diary of the making of Cleopatra.
May 12, 1961— "JLM cabled Skouras saying he was deeply disturbed and disheartened by his refusal to approve Richard Burton as Mark Antony. JLM pointed out that we do not have to face the problem of box-office attraction (because of Elizabeth) so it does not matter whether Burton is not considered a box-office star."
May 19, 1961— "JLM and I have finally convinced Skouras that Burton is the right man to play Mark Antony. Now it's a question of negotiations, which will probably be complicated, as he is a hit on Broadway in Camelot."
May 21, 1961— "Called Liz in Las Vegas. The papers report she is there every night for Eddie's show, arriving at the room where he is entertaining just before he goes on. He sings his last song, 'That Face', directly to her. The audience loves it. So does Liz.
"I sent some of Irene's costumes to Liz for fittings but her back is still bothering her. We will send the fitters to Vegas."
June 8, 1961— "Went to see Camelot and Richard Burton. I thought him dynamic and forceful—a perfect Mark Antony, as JLM conceives him.
"After the show I visited Burton in his dressing room. He was surrounded by fans, autograph seekers, and well-wishers. He was very affable. A young lady named Pat remained behind after the others had left, and Burton asked if she could join us at 21. Burton entered the restaurant like a football hero at a college prom with the prettiest cheerleader at school on his arm. He exuded confidence, personality and sex appeal."
June 30, 1961— "We are to shoot all of Cleopatra in Italy!
July 27, 1961— [excerpt of letter to JLM in Rome] "Eddie's opening was not nearly as effective as Vegas because the room was so large and the whole rat pack was there and they finally got up on stage and it became a real Hollywood evening, if you know what I mean."
source unknown
September 11, 1961— "Negotiations finally concluded for Rex Harrison to play Caesar, at $10,000 a week plus expenses, a car and driver, and co-star billing.
"Roddy McDowall, Hume Cronyn, and half a dozen others signed for co-starring and feature roles."
September 29, 1961— "Circus owner, Ennio Togni—uncle of our production man, Magli—is suing us for $100,000 because we supposedly broke his contract for supplying us with elephants. He is also claiming we slandered his pachyderms when we called them wild."
October 1, 1961— "[Richard] Burton's wife, Sybil, has arrived with his children and brother and taken a villa. Nice family.
"Rachel Roberts, Rex Harrison's fiancée, called me late at night to get a doctor for Rex Harrison. She blames his troubles on food and weather."
December 7, 1961— "Rex crisis.
Rex Harrison had been in England for a few days, and when he returned, he found that Sid Rogell, who was active in cutting costs, had changed his trailer and refused to pay for his Cadillac on the grounds that the car company jacked up the mileage. Rex's chauffeur refused to work because he hadn't been paid. Rex called me and said he didn't intend to report to work himself until he got his trailer and car back and his driver was paid."
December 23, 1961— "Gave a story to Variety and United Press that Cleopatra will be great and will gross $100 million."
source unknown
January 8, 1962— "Rex has found out that Elizabeth's chauffeur has all his expenses paid by us. He wants the same courtesy for his chauffeur. If we don't agree, Rex says he won't work tomorrow. I tried to get hold of Rogell to handle these matters and, in the meantime, tried to smooth things over."
January 15, 1962 (9:00pm)— "Guilio Ascarelli called to say Louella Parsons has a front-page story in Los Angeles that Eddie and Liz are going to get a divorce.
"She didn't quote any specific source but said she had it on good authority—the Roman press. The papers here, on the other hand, are now printing the story using Louella as their source.
"We issued a denial to the effect that nothing could be further from the truth. There is always gossip—and someone to print it."
January 22, 1962— "Liz and Richard Burton played their first scene together."
January 26, 1962— "Distressing news from JLM, who asked me to come to his room. 'I have been sitting on a volcano all alone for too long and I want to give you some facts you ought to know,' he said. 'Liz and Burton are not just playing Antony and Cleopatra!'
February 1, 1962— "Eddie Fisher on the phone three or four times.
"He said he has heard rumours but he finds it impossible to believe them. Liz is as sweet and devoted as always. He doesn't know what to do, whether to stand by or go to New York as planned.
"He loves the children and doesn't want anything to happen to his marriage."
February 3, 1962— "Liz and Eddie to Paris for the weekend. Burton to Naples with his brother, leaving Sybil here.
February 5, 1962— "Ascarelli says he needs to issue a statement or a denial about Liz and Burton, because the press is driving him crazy. I told him the rumours were unfounded. There is no romance, therefore nothing to deny."
source unknown
February 14, 1962— "I asked JLM if he knew what was troubling [Liz]. He said he heard Eddie had called Sybil Burton before taking off for Switzerland.
February 16, 1962— "I went to see Richard in his dressing room to ask him what we can do about the stories. 'I'll put an end to the gossip,' he promised.
"8 p.m. Dick Hanley, Elizabeth's secretary, called me after dinner to say she will be unable to work tomorrow."
February 17, 1962— "...I sat in the living room and listened to Liz, who was perfectly reasonable but upset about her life and future. She could not have been calmer. She told me, 'I feel dreadful. Sybil is such a wonderful woman.'
"I said something corny about the tides of life, and how hard it is to swim against them.
"'Funny you should say that,' said Elizabeth. 'Richard calls me Ocean.'"
source unknown
February 21, 1962— "Liz sent word to me that she will not work until she meets with Burton at one o'clock today. She wants to try to reach an understanding before they meet on set."
February 27, 1962 (Liz's 30th birthday)— "Eddie obviously planned it to show the world everything was all right between him and Liz. His gifts to her were a large diamond ring and an antique mirror."
March 1, 1962— "St. David's Day, the great Welsh holiday.
"Burton, who had been out all night pub-crawling and celebrating, arrived on set at 7 a.m. and promptly went to sleep."
March 9, 1962— "Eddie Fisher called, upset over a story by Louella Parsons saying he and Liz will dissolve their marriage as soon as a property settlement is worked out, which is why her agent, Kurt Frings, is in town. Not true—Kurt is her agent, not her lawyer."
March 10, 1962— "Skouras arrived in Rome today on the same plane with Jackie Kennedy. He was most excited, since she asked him to come down and talk with her on the flight."
March 11, 1962— "Only one good thing emerged from the meeting: Skouras is now talking quality rather than budget when he speaks of Cleopatra. He realized only a great picture can save his situation with the Board of Directors."
March 22, 1962— "Rex Harrison married Rachel Roberts, a marvelous actress, in Genoa today. We gave them permission to honeymoon for a few days."
March 24, 1962— "Liz told me if she gets the same letter that Burton received [from Skouras telling them to be more circumspect in their behaviour] she will quit the picture. 'I won't take that kind of nonsense,' she said."
March 26, 1962— "The news weekly Gente, of Milan, published a photo of Liz and Burton kissing on the Cleopatra set.
March 31, 1962— "Early today while on set Liz got a telephone call from Eddie, who was in New York holding a press conference. She was busy and didn't take the call."
April 3, 1962—"Elizabeth under fire of the Vatican.
"She said she had been in touch with Louis Nizer, her lawyer in New York. He is to issue a statement saying, 'Elizabeth and Eddie Fisher announced that they have mutually agreed to part. Divorce proceedings will be instituted soon.' Perhaps now we can all concentrate on our principal project—finishing a great motion picture."
April 4, 1962— "Just when everything seemed to be quieting down, Burton cabled his wife in London. The message, written in Welsh, said, 'Love to all. Everything fine.' Although Burton thinks he's the only one in Rome who speaks Welsh, the message was instantly translated and put into headlines here."
April 12, 1962— "The Vatican City weekly Osservatore Della Domenica published an open letter which was a cruel and unmistakable attack on Elizabeth."
April 13, 1962— "Received a six page letter from Skouras today, who was extremely upset about the unfavourable publicity Liz and Burton are getting. He urged me to keep them out of the headlines and quoted at length from attacks in the national newspaper columns and editorials."
April 21, 1962— "Elizabeth and Burton, who had promised to stay out of the public eye for a few days, took off without telling us where they were going and ended up at Porto Santo Stefano for an Easter holiday.
"Since we didn't know anything about the trip, we were unable to provide them with any protection against the press. Result: they were in the papers today sitting on the rocks overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea sharing kisses and a bag of oranges."
May 3, 1962— "Asked by Sheliah [Graham] if he was going to marry Elizabeth, Burton gave a resounding one word answer: 'No.'
"Burton candidly admitted that the publicity had hard cash value—his agent is now asking $500,000 per picture for him, based on his new image as a great lover.
"'Maybe I should give Elizabeth Taylor ten per cent,' he joked."
May 5, 1962— "Elizabeth's housekeeper sold a gossipy story to one of the local magazines. I should say, Liz's ex-housekeeper sold a story."
May 12, 1962— "David Lewin of the London Express interviewed Sybill and Burton at their villa. 'There is no question of a divorce between Rich and me. There never has been and there is not now,' she insisted."
May 17, 1962— "Dick Hanley called to say Liz cannot work today because she has swollen eyes.
"I heard that Elizabeth had an argument with her parents. Her father apparently spoke harshly to her, and Liz, who adores her mother and father, was so upset she spent the night crying."
May 18, 1962— "More melodrama not in the script.
"Liz received a letter at her villa threatening her and the children with death. The letter, written in Italian, came from Canada."
Later that day— "Jayne Mansfield has given an interview to a Hearst reporter, criticizing Liz for her 'inexcusable behaviour.' Called Jayne, who is in Rome. She said she didn't mean the piece to be so critical, that Liz is a good friend of hers!"
May 20, 1962— "Received many press calls over a rumour that Skouras will be out of 20th Century Fox."
May 24, 1962— "Now a Congressman is getting headlines suggesting that Liz not be allowed to return to the United States."
May 25, 1962— "Frank Sinatra was in Rome for a benefit. Liz, Burton, and some other friends went ot the show, then visited Frank in his dressing room at a party. Something happened and Burton left.
"George Stevens, Jr. brought Liz back to her villa at 3 a.m."
March 7, 1963— "Elizabeth and Burton are now in London making Very Important Persons, a modest-budget film in which they are partners, and which MGM is rushing to completion to capitalize on their tremendous publicity.
"Thanks to Elizabeth and Cleopatra, Burton has become a very big star. His salary has more than tripled in the past two years.
"As for Elizabeth, one thing is certain: she is made of far sterner stuff than most of us. When the day comes that she knows what she really wants from life, she will—I am sure—get it."
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