Burton/Taylor: Chaucerian Splendor
"These were two people who had been amply endowed--in every sense of the word--by their Creator, and who hid nothing, at any time, beneath any bush."
It has been said that most had a love/hate relationship with the Burtons--with Liz and Dick, as they were fulsomely addressed--but in my experience the hatred was short-lived, and it was fueled, primarily, by envy. These were two people who had been amply endowed--in every sense of the word--by their Creator, and who hid nothing, at any time, beneath any bush.
There was a Chaucerian splendor to their behavior. Demanding a particular sausage on a particular day at a particular time, and to watch as it was air-dropped in some outer region. Yes, it was insane: Fellini could not have done better, as some poor assistant was sent to an area to fetch sausage or chocolate or chili or a certain crocheted throw that would be of benefit to Elizabeth during a cold she was suffering. Out into a field or to a nearby tarmac they would go, and they would come back with the necessary goods.
But there was always incredible sharing as well, so right when everyone was locked in paralytic disdain, clucking over such waste, you would look and see that the sound stage had been stocked with salmon and Champagne; white chocolates; Coca-Cola, which could not be found in our particular region; cigarettes; and for one sad little production assistant, an array of American candies he missed, a fact known to Elizabeth only because she possessed extraordinary hearing abilities: She could hear Richard's zipper being pulled down across three continents.—Tennessee Williams/Interview with James Grissom/1982
Previously posted November, 2012