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Hey,

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podcast listeners, Meredith Davis

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here. Here's an exclusive preview episode

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of the new series Elizabeth the first.

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It's the new podcast from imperative entertainment

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about a truly remarkable Elizabeth

0:44

Taylor, the very first influencer.

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Katie Perry such a fan she is hosting

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this series and you will learn

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1:03

on any podcast platform or click

1:05

the link in the description of this episode.

1:08

But let's begin your preview right

1:10

now.

1:12

This is your little spooky listening, shitty

1:15

bitty bean.

1:58

That

1:59

was Elizabeth at age eight.

2:02

The audio you're hearing is one of her

2:04

earliest known recordings, never

2:06

shared with the public, and it gives us the earliest

2:08

sense of her spirit and artistry.

2:12

She was born in in nineteen

2:14

thirty two. We had a house

2:16

in London, and my father

2:18

was a

2:18

very prosperous Our

2:22

dealer had a wonderful on

2:24

Old Bond Street, and

2:26

we had a lovely house in

2:30

Amsterdam. So it was

2:32

like being in the country, although

2:34

you were in the heart of London. Then

2:36

we had a country at home that

2:39

was on my godfather's

2:42

estate in

2:44

Kent. When I were a bare back,

2:47

that was my favorite. And I

2:49

just took off and my parents

2:51

trusted me enough. I was a very

2:53

good rider. And I'd

2:55

go riding around the property,

2:58

round all the lakes that were in that

3:00

area. I can't

3:02

My name is Tim Mendelson, and

3:05

I am a trustee for Elizabeth

3:08

Taylor's estate. where I'm also an officer

3:10

of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, and

3:12

we work on the brand, and the storytelling,

3:15

and the archive this is

3:17

all a Elizabeth Taylor world. It's

3:19

a very big world. I

3:22

mean her story is just so

3:24

epic with so many twists and turns,

3:26

there's this this incredible amount of

3:30

story there. Because unlike

3:32

a lot of other kind

3:34

of iconic people on her level,

3:36

Elvis Presley or Judy Garland

3:39

or Princess Diana or

3:41

Marilyn, you know, they didn't live long

3:43

lives. and Elizabeth lived

3:45

a complete life. So she was able to have

3:47

every stage of it and she has a huge

3:49

family, you know, who I know really well

3:51

from all my years of working for her directly.

3:54

I still work for her. And

3:56

I mean, that's definitely how I consider my

3:59

job. she had eight

4:01

marriages. Those are all chapters.

4:03

It doesn't define her life, but

4:06

it does it does break it up into

4:08

parts. mean her mother explained

4:10

her when she was a little girl. I mean Elizabeth

4:12

told me this. She said you're a nice looking

4:14

girl. You have lovely eyes.

4:17

but it's what's behind the

4:19

eyes. It's what's in your heart that's

4:21

going to make you truly beautiful. And

4:23

Elizabeth was a stunning little girl.

4:25

In England, the tailors worked among

4:28

London's high society set. From

4:30

artists to members of parliament, they

4:32

were clients and friends. In

4:34

nineteen

4:34

thirty nine, with a World War

4:36

at hand, Elizabeth's parents, Francis

4:39

and Sarah, returned to the states on

4:41

the advice of prime minister, Chamberlain,

4:43

Initially, they landed on Sarah's

4:45

family farm in Pasadena, California.

4:48

What we know about Elizabeth's earliest

4:50

years comes from both the memories that she

4:52

shared as an adult. and the childhood

4:54

items she left behind, some

4:56

in her own impeccable handwriting.

4:59

All of it's preserved in the Elizabeth Taylor

5:02

archive. So

5:03

I'm Mitch Erzinger, and I'm the

5:05

archivist for the Elizabeth

5:07

Taylor archive and House of Taylor.

5:10

I started it there in two thousand fifteen

5:12

and I was brought in by Charlie

5:15

Shipes. He put together a team to

5:17

start working on cataloging and

5:19

digitizing their collection of photographs.

5:22

And we worked on that for the better

5:24

part of the year. And once we

5:26

started winding that down,

5:29

getting close to ten thousand

5:31

photographs digitized and

5:34

individually cataloged in our database.

5:36

we started to look at

5:38

expanding it, expanding the scope

5:41

to the papers, the

5:43

personal papers.

5:44

which ended up including over

5:47

six hundred bankers boxes

5:49

in storage

5:52

that we're still going

5:55

through. And we haven't even gotten

5:57

into touching on the personal

5:59

effects,

5:59

things like the thousands of

6:02

of books that she had in her collection.

6:05

The over sixty full

6:08

rolling racks of wardrobe

6:11

items, fashion.

6:14

Elizabeth had a huge life

6:16

in every sense and

6:18

that is reflected in

6:21

the archive and what we have. The

6:23

papers include correspondence going

6:26

back to her childhood, her

6:29

mother kept things. I mean, we we always

6:31

say like her mother was almost like

6:33

our first archivist because thanks

6:35

to her, we have all of these

6:37

gems from her childhood that

6:39

we wouldn't have had otherwise. like

6:41

little drawings that

6:43

she would

6:44

draw and give to her her

6:46

mother, little notes, and Valentine's

6:49

Day cards she would give to her parents or

6:51

her brother, two

6:52

essays that she wrote as

6:54

a student at the MGM School.

6:56

When I look at some of these letters

6:58

and notes that she wrote to

7:01

to her mother, for example, there's

7:03

this sense of honesty

7:06

and respect that was a

7:08

little surprising to see so so

7:10

early on that apologizing

7:13

for going to

7:14

bed ten minutes later than,

7:17

you know, mother had had

7:19

suggested or had her had asked her

7:21

to because she she needed to wash

7:23

her her face or just

7:26

these profound expressions of

7:28

love that, oh, mommy and daddy

7:31

dear, I I love you so

7:33

so much with all my heart. just

7:35

so darling and and full of

7:37

love at such an early age.

7:39

After fleeing England for the outskirts of

7:41

Los Angeles, Francis Taylor

7:43

needed to establish himself. For

7:46

an

7:46

art dealer of his caliber, there was

7:48

only one place that paralleled Bond

7:50

Street in London. Elizabeth's

7:52

father opened a gallery in

7:54

the historic Beverly Hills hotel and

7:56

the

7:56

Taylor settled in Beverly

7:58

Hills.

7:59

It was

7:59

there in the playground of Hollywood's

8:02

most powerful that

8:03

Sarah's daughter with a violet eyes,

8:05

charming accent, and impeccable

8:07

manners caught everyone's attention.

8:10

My

8:11

name is Jill Sherry Robinson,

8:14

and I'm delighted to talk to

8:16

you about one of my most

8:17

favorite people in the whole

8:19

world, Elizabeth

8:20

Taylor, and the

8:22

unique fortitude and

8:24

honor

8:25

of her character. She was a rare,

8:27

a magnificent person. And

8:29

I love telling these Hollywood

8:31

stories. She's not a Hollywood

8:33

story. She's it's a story of

8:35

a great

8:36

consequential woman, you know, a really

8:38

magnetic presence. that

8:40

gave something special to

8:41

every film she made, and to every

8:43

room she walked in, everywhere she

8:46

was the immediate center of

8:47

her room.

8:48

And without any sort of

8:51

awareness,

8:51

she wasn't conscious. I am

8:54

Elizabeth and

8:54

I'm here. She was I'm just this

8:56

beautiful work of art. It different

8:58

thing. It was a different thing.

9:00

She

9:00

was particularly special because

9:03

first of all, she was so astonishingly

9:05

beautiful. I mean, nobody had those They

9:08

were like translucent royal blue

9:10

and just exquisite. And she

9:12

was she was really sweet.

9:14

Yes, Elizabeth was beautiful,

9:17

a striking child, but it was

9:19

something else within her that

9:21

captured people's attention. She

9:22

was unique, a little

9:24

British girl, who

9:26

had the intellect and fortitude to

9:28

hold her own with adults.

9:30

And

9:30

the Taylor's clients at the gallery could

9:33

not help but suggest to Sarah that

9:35

she should take her daughter on auditions.

9:37

Elizabeth was clearly a

9:39

star. She was a

9:41

star. She was in charge. She was

9:43

not a little girl. Some of

9:45

the others you know, were little

9:47

girls. And and

9:48

she didn't get preyed upon

9:51

by bullies and stuff or

9:53

people who were jealous because

9:55

they knew

9:56

that there was just no, you know, she was like

9:59

queen Elizabeth. And

9:59

in those days, this was

10:02

the time when Princess

10:04

Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose

10:06

were the thing that everybody was talking

10:08

about. And so Elizabeth

10:10

was our queen. our little queen, and

10:12

it was really cool. Before

10:14

marrying Elizabeth's father, Sarah was an

10:16

actress on Broadway. She used the

10:17

stage names Sarah Southern

10:19

and continued to go by it for the rest of

10:21

her life. But perhaps

10:24

because she was an actress, Sarah was

10:26

initially hesitant to take the advice of their

10:28

new social set and parade

10:30

Elizabeth through an audition circuit.

10:32

Then war broke out all over

10:34

Europe. A return to England

10:36

was unthinkable. Sarah

10:38

considered the idea that acting could help

10:40

her special unique child find a

10:42

place of her own and her new homeland.

10:44

The door opens serendipitously.

10:47

Thanks to a friend of Elizabeth's

10:50

father.

10:50

My father was an air raid warden.

10:52

and Sam Marks, who is

10:54

a fellow air raid warden

10:56

on the next

10:58

block. and there was a part for

11:00

a little English girl. And

11:03

naturally, they had started

11:06

at

11:06

the beginning.

11:08

and she was

11:11

that

11:11

high. And at the

11:13

end of the film, she

11:16

was that high. so

11:18

they desperately had to

11:20

find a child, an

11:22

English child that

11:24

was, you know, the right height.

11:27

and I

11:27

fell onto that cabin Sarah

11:29

took her daughter onto her first studio

11:31

lot. It's unclear if either one,

11:33

mother or daughter had

11:35

any idea the world that they were about

11:37

to step into. By the

11:39

nineteen thirties, Hollywood, the

11:41

cultural and economic sun of

11:43

the entertainment universe, had grown

11:46

into a multibillion dollar

11:48

American industry. Entertainment

11:50

was a titan in a

11:52

transforming economy The

11:55

industrial age of steel and textile

11:57

dominance gave way to a modern era

11:59

of services and consumer products like

12:02

movies. It was a golden age

12:04

of cinema and film studios were

12:06

the planets that orbited the

12:08

sun. Paramount, RKO,

12:11

Fox Warner Brothers and Loews

12:13

Incorporated, which own the crown jewel

12:15

of them all. Metro Goldman

12:17

mayor, MGM. MGM

12:19

was founded and run by the infamous

12:22

Entertainment Mogul, LB

12:24

Meyer. In this world, he

12:26

was Zeus.

12:28

He

12:28

was a colorful, swollen,

12:31

but

12:31

also magnetic presence.

12:34

He

12:34

had to be in

12:35

charge of everything. It was

12:37

his studio. Our dad went to

12:39

work for an intro while, and they got along

12:41

really well because they loved reading and they

12:43

loved literature. I

12:45

don't think Elbie Maynard read

12:47

a lot of books, maybe

12:49

ever. And

12:51

There there was a

12:53

sense

12:54

throughout it. There was they were like

12:56

it

12:56

was like a miniature United States

12:59

Hollywood, where

13:00

everybody had their own country.

13:02

you know, their own territory. And

13:05

that was theirs. And

13:07

God helped you if you were gonna have a Preview

13:09

at somebody else's favorite theater.

13:11

you know, that wouldn't work. And it

13:14

was it

13:14

was so organized

13:16

and so

13:18

It was so real and it felt

13:21

like we were the capital of

13:23

everything.

13:24

It felt it

13:26

felt like everybody knew about it.

13:28

And

13:29

we also knew that the only street

13:31

that we'd like to drive on was sunset

13:33

Boulevard. The

13:34

magic came from what is known as the studio

13:37

system. or actors

13:39

or property and executives or

13:41

gods.

13:42

When Elbie Mayer

13:44

put Elizabeth Taylor under a seven year

13:47

contract in nineteen forty three,

13:49

she was his.

13:50

She belonged literally to his

13:53

studio, and she was only

13:55

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15:05

her

15:05

life was at the studio. Her

15:07

school was at the studio. So

15:09

she didn't have your

15:11

typical childhood or adolescence

15:14

where you go to school and you hang out with your

15:16

friends, you go out and you play. She

15:18

was working at the studio. She was going to school at the

15:20

studio. She made friends there,

15:22

of course, but outside of that

15:24

world. I guess it was

15:26

very insular. My

15:28

father, Dory Sherry, was

15:31

the only writer to ever

15:33

run a studio, which

15:34

was a remarkable achievement.

15:37

Yes. And he

15:38

he loved it and he did not

15:40

regard Anyone as

15:43

merchandise,

15:43

merchandise he

15:45

knew that these

15:46

were artists that he was working

15:48

with. and

15:49

it was MGM studio and I

15:51

was so glad when he told me,

15:53

I remember when I was little and

15:55

he came home at some point and he said, well,

15:57

I've changed the studio. He was telling

15:59

my

15:59

mother, and it's now going to

16:02

be

16:02

MGM that I'll be working for. And

16:05

Jill will be really happy because she

16:07

loves lions. And I

16:09

said, well, maybe

16:09

you could get me a lion and he got

16:11

me a stuffed

16:12

lion. Dory Sherry ran

16:14

MGM's film department for L. B.

16:16

mayor.

16:16

His daughter, Jill, was one of

16:19

Elizabeth's first friends. I think I met

16:21

it when I was in the wardrobe department

16:23

because I wanted to be a costume

16:25

designer for the theater. And so

16:27

after school, I would

16:29

get our governess to drop

16:31

me off at the studio. And

16:33

my father would always find out that I was

16:36

there. and I was always wearing

16:38

costumes. And I think the first time

16:40

I met her, but it was a western

16:42

movie, cowboy and and it was

16:44

lavender and it had

16:45

bugle bead fringes. and it was

16:47

just divine. And so

16:49

after they finished the shoot and everything, they let

16:51

me have the costume and I

16:52

was wearing it. and

16:54

Elizabeth liked it very much. She said,

16:56

that's really great. And I said,

16:58

I'm so glad. I'm so glad you like

17:00

it. And it was it made me feel

17:03

yeah,

17:03

I could do that. You

17:04

know, it was she

17:07

didn't. She knew who

17:09

she should pay attention to a

17:11

little. and

17:12

because my dad was a big deal at

17:14

the studio at that time. And he was

17:16

gentle and the stars loved

17:19

him. because he didn't treat them like

17:21

merchandise.

17:21

today People

17:23

were

17:23

scared. Nobody got away with

17:26

anything. and they had that

17:28

were almost like not nursery schools,

17:30

but little schools for the kids.

17:32

Mostly, we didn't play with kids from

17:35

other studios. And then there was a lot of class system

17:37

there. They'll

17:37

be would be particularly vicious

17:39

and crazy and bossy with the

17:41

stars. And my father

17:43

I always

17:44

knew when dad had had a war

17:46

with LB

17:46

Meyer because we'd be home from

17:49

school and he'd come home. early,

17:51

and

17:51

he'd run upstairs and throw

17:54

up.

17:54

My dad was often sick.

17:56

I

17:56

mean, literally, Elbi made him sick

17:58

to his stomach. Jill's

17:59

father may have known in his heart that the

18:02

actors under contract at

18:04

MGM were artists, not

18:06

products. But on paper, they

18:08

were owned. Their

18:09

lives were completely controlled by the studio,

18:12

especially child actors like

18:14

Elizabeth. The actors of

18:15

the talent was channel back then.

18:17

they didn't have rights. The

18:20

studio took over their

18:22

lives. Tim Mendelson

18:23

worked with Elizabeth as her executive

18:26

secretary for

18:26

over twenty years. Elizabeth

18:28

chose the secretary title

18:30

not to designate an old fashioned assistant,

18:32

but to signify the role of

18:34

a chief executive's cabinet. She

18:36

was once married to former secretary of the Navy

18:38

after all. Despite the

18:41

formality

18:41

of Tim's position, their relationship

18:43

was much closer than the job

18:45

title indicates. Tim was a close

18:48

confidant and dear friend of

18:49

Elizabeth. And what they

18:52

shared and navigated together was both the

18:54

public's experience and

18:56

the behind the curtain life of the

18:58

biggest star in the world.

18:59

I'm never

19:00

gonna feel like she's not

19:03

here, and I'd better

19:05

be doing the right thing. And I wouldn't

19:07

even be talking about her

19:09

except that she's not here to talk for

19:11

herself. Because when she was alive,

19:13

she did not want people to speak for

19:16

her, but she's not

19:18

here now to speak for herself

19:20

being as close to her as I

19:22

was, like, I have to do that.

19:24

And I get that, and I'm

19:26

not

19:26

uncomfortable with it anymore. But it

19:29

was a hard decision to make to

19:31

start to talk in

19:32

my formative

19:33

yes years, I

19:36

was very much dominated by

19:39

my family. Her

19:40

mother was very controlling and it's not a

19:42

surprise that she had probably one

19:44

of the biggest stage mothers of all

19:47

time. I mean her mother was with her

19:49

always every day she had

19:51

she was paid by the studio to watch

19:53

Elizabeth and take care of Elizabeth and

19:56

bring her set every day, bring her to the studio every day, and

19:58

take her home every day, and watch her

20:00

virginity. I mean, that was Sarah, I'm

20:02

sure. And not I don't know if the studio

20:04

said that that had to be done, but Watch

20:06

her like a hawk. She was absolutely

20:08

a virgin when she got married.

20:10

But through all of this, Elizabeth

20:13

is learning her value In

20:15

many cases, most of

20:17

the executives treated

20:20

stars like merchandise. They were

20:22

the contract players She

20:24

was

20:24

special. She was she knew

20:26

she was special. There was no question

20:29

about that. In

20:31

Clay, in those days,

20:33

if you were British, you got

20:35

a whole different treatment. The other

20:37

stars were mostly young

20:40

girls you know, from, like, regular schools and

20:42

all that sort of stuff. And they didn't have

20:44

the little boys. They didn't

20:46

have the elegance of the voice and

20:48

she had an assurance within

20:51

her that only

20:51

people who are really great

20:53

stars have. and

20:55

she she had this

20:57

this pride. My father used to

20:59

we had a projection room

21:01

And then

21:02

my father would Clay,

21:04

no no no

21:07

motor, no motor, nothing.

21:09

not interesting, and I was grateful that none of them

21:11

were ever there to hear that. But when

21:13

she came, you know, she had

21:16

that Regal, oh,

21:18

truth. That was that was it. And

21:20

she had it all the time. She

21:22

could hold an audience. She could hold

21:25

anything. and people loved her and yet she didn't

21:27

disappear within herself.

21:30

She knew she was beautiful and

21:32

it

21:32

didn't embarrass her.

21:34

It didn't

21:35

the difference between Elizabeth and

21:38

everybody else is everybody else

21:40

would be embarrassed or uncomfortable

21:42

about that being different. because

21:44

kids don't wanna be different. She

21:46

knew she was different, and it

21:48

was very special. And

21:49

she knew that she

21:52

had command.

21:53

and she could do she could turn it on, but she could turn

21:55

it off.

21:57

She she really didn't

21:59

want to You

22:02

know, she

22:02

wasn't a kid that you'd say

22:05

come over and let's go bike riding or

22:07

something. She was she was a

22:09

different kind of animal. and

22:11

she was she didn't circulate

22:14

with the

22:15

particular kids that I circulated

22:17

with because she was always working.

22:20

There wasn't

22:21

a time that she wasn't

22:23

being fitted or working

22:25

on something or helping someone

22:29

she cared for another star or

22:32

someone to

22:32

be not frightened about what

22:34

was going on. or to really

22:36

study another way of maybe

22:39

saying a line that she didn't like.

22:41

I think Elizabeth

22:42

had so much

22:45

Confidence had an

22:48

interior sense of glamour.

22:49

She didn't have to be, you know, she'd be

22:52

made up, but she didn't have to be

22:54

made up. She really just had it and the

22:56

accent was a big part of it

22:58

and the fact that she had the name of

23:00

the queen of England. where

23:02

the person who was gonna be the queen of England,

23:04

and that was a big deal.

23:06

And she she kind

23:08

of got along with Shirley Temple

23:10

but not much because Shirley wasn't interesting to

23:13

talk to. Elizabeth's

23:15

presence and talent soon landed

23:17

the film roles that exposed her

23:20

to audiences across America.

23:23

Beverly Hills was right, Elizabeth

23:25

was a star. As a

23:27

child actor, she now had

23:29

her own money. Her parents managed it for her, but she

23:31

had an allowance to spend on her

23:34

own. And that is how two of

23:35

Elizabeth's most special traits were

23:38

first expressed her generous

23:40

spirit and her love

23:42

of jewelry. As

23:44

those letters and little notes from the

23:46

archive show us, Elizabeth loved

23:48

her parents. She wanted to

23:51

do something special for her mother on

23:53

Mother's Day, so

23:59

Elizabeth's

23:59

elizabeth

23:59

father had an art gallery at the Beverly

24:02

Hills hotel. and Elizabeth would hang out

24:04

there sometimes, you know,

24:06

after she got home from the studio. She'd

24:08

already made National Velvet. And

24:10

she liked Peak

24:12

into the stores and see, and

24:14

one day she saw this brooch

24:16

that she fell in love with, and she

24:18

wanted to buy it for her mother.

24:20

And so she

24:21

got twenty

24:22

five cents a a week allowance.

24:25

When she went in to to

24:27

to look at the broach, she talked

24:29

the salesperson and she said, I want to get this for

24:31

my mother, but I don't have the money

24:33

yet. Can I pay it on layaway?

24:36

little by little because I gotta get this

24:38

from my mom. And when Elizabeth told

24:40

this story, decades later she

24:43

had that little girl like quality of

24:46

how excited she was

24:48

just still to buy this brochure for her

24:50

mom. Even after mom had passed, you know, it

24:52

was just this innocent childlike need

24:55

to do something great for

24:57

somebody and something with so

24:59

much love And

25:01

so the lady of the story said, Clay,

25:03

I will hold this for you and

25:05

I will let you pay it as

25:07

You can. I won't sell it to anyone else. And as

25:09

a matter of fact, I'll take it out of the

25:12

window. And so Elizabeth went

25:14

on and managed to save the money, which

25:16

was twenty five dollars. She was

25:18

so proud of herself. And she

25:20

bought it for mom, and they wrapped it

25:22

up. And she actually, she went to her dad's art

25:24

gallery and said, dad, this is a surprise, but

25:26

she kept it a secret. And, you

25:28

know, she didn't want she wanted to be a surprise.

25:30

She didn't want anyone to know. So it was like something

25:32

she could hold within her self

25:34

for a period of time to just

25:36

feel the excitement of

25:38

of doing this and

25:41

so she brought it to her her mom was obviously

25:43

thrilled. Then when Sarah Elizabeth

25:45

mom died, she left it back

25:48

to Elizabeth. and we

25:50

sold it, so it cost twenty five dollars

25:52

originally. It was sold in Elizabeth

25:56

auction at Christie's in two thousand

25:58

eleven. for seventy five thousand

26:00

dollars. That was her first

26:02

time negotiating a

26:04

deal, and it was her

26:05

first jewelry purchase. And it was

26:07

a

26:07

gift for her mom. That story

26:10

illustrates yet another unique

26:13

characteristic of our first influencer.

26:16

Elizabeth

26:16

had a mind for business. She could

26:18

cut a deal. But it

26:20

was her acting, her artistry, that

26:22

would actually pave the way for her eventual success

26:25

as a business woman. Through her career as an artist,

26:27

she would learn how to harness herself

26:30

as a commodity. And

26:32

just like influencers of today, the journey

26:34

for learning that meant she

26:36

would first have to build

26:39

her following. Lasse

26:41

was one of her first big pictures, and

26:43

the

26:43

budget was four hundred thousand

26:46

dollars. The picture

26:47

made four million. which

26:50

in those days was a very, very big

26:52

deal, and it was all because of Elizabeth.

26:54

I mean, lastly was adorable

26:56

too, but she was just

26:59

phenomenal. The

26:59

success of Lassy was a

27:02

breakout moment for Elizabeth at

27:04

MGM,

27:04

and it helped position her at the

27:06

studio for a star making role. national

27:09

velvet. It it was

27:10

like magic. I

27:13

could live out every

27:16

young girl's fantasy,

27:19

you know, playing

27:22

with dogs doing

27:24

national velvet was my life.

27:27

Sandra

27:27

Berman, the producer called me into his

27:30

office. And I

27:33

was always a very small

27:36

child. And

27:37

he said, He

27:40

lives with you just too

27:42

small. And he said I'm gonna

27:44

measure you on my

27:46

wall. And he said if

27:48

you can grow three

27:50

inches the roll

27:51

is yours. I

27:54

said, alright, mister Guillermo.

27:57

I'll be back in

27:58

three months, and I

28:00

came back in three months,

28:03

and I had

28:03

grown three inches. I

28:07

willed myself to

28:09

grow. I'm very a

28:11

very determined person. I

28:15

think that's why I'm still alive. I

28:18

chose the horse, which was

28:20

real and real life, a

28:22

tougher renegade. and

28:24

I tamed him. And the studio brought

28:27

him on my recommendation

28:30

because nobody else could ride

28:32

him. And at the end of the film,

28:34

they gave him to me.

28:39

When she

28:39

was younger, her real

28:41

independence came from riding horses.

28:43

That was her time where no one

28:45

was watching her or controlling her and

28:47

she could ride free and she had this incredible connection

28:49

with animals. I mean, she was respectful to

28:52

them and she loved them and she

28:54

took care of them. And

28:57

so that was her only real

28:59

freedom when she was a little when she was

29:01

young.

29:03

I

29:05

loved writing. I loved things.

29:08

Introspective, I I love the fantasy

29:11

world that I was thrown into, and

29:13

I could separate it from

29:16

reality.

29:21

That's probably where I rode so much.

29:23

I I would get Clay. and

29:25

it was me and the animal. And I'd commute

29:28

with nature. And that

29:30

way, I could hold onto

29:33

myself. Elizabeth

29:43

Elizabeth of Family and

29:45

of her horses was never more apparent

29:47

than when she wrote this school essay

29:49

in nineteen forty eight, at the age

29:51

of sixteen.

29:54

I love

29:57

my parents, because they're the kindest

29:59

most wonderful

29:59

parents a girl could have. We do everything

30:02

together as a family should. They

30:04

hardly go anywhere without my brother

30:06

and me. You should see the funny we make when we go

30:08

horseback riding, or bicycleing all

30:10

four of us with the three dogs

30:12

happily yipping and yiping close

30:14

behind. I'm so lucky that both

30:16

mommy and daddy love animals and all

30:18

my pets as much as I do.

30:20

Even as

30:21

a child, Elizabeth had the

30:24

ability to clearly express herself

30:26

what

30:26

she loved, her passions.

30:29

At this age, it was family, horses, and

30:31

all animals. The girl from the

30:33

English countryside simply loved the

30:36

natural world. Although

30:38

still that girl in spirit, Elizabeth was

30:41

now gaining fame and making

30:43

serious money for

30:43

the studio.

30:45

MGM would renew and up her

30:48

contract two more times. In

30:50

nineteen forty six and later in

30:52

nineteen fifty two, Elbie Mayer

30:54

made sure he maintained complete control

30:56

over the girl becoming his biggest

30:59

star. As a

31:01

child, Elizabeth didn't much notice her care. National

31:03

velvet and Lassy had brought

31:05

her joy. But life changed

31:07

after national velvet for

31:10

Elizabeth not only because she was

31:12

now one of MGM's biggest stars,

31:14

but because she was

31:17

changing.

31:18

Time, that singular force of

31:21

nature that none of us can stop.

31:23

The little girl with more fortitude and

31:25

composure than most adults was

31:27

growing up.

31:34

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