ELIZABETH TAYLOR ARCHIVES: Television Appearances: 1950s

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TV Appearances: 1950s

The 25th Annual Academy Awards
Aired: March 19, 1953 on NBC
The first year the Oscar's were televised. Filmed at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood and the International Theater in New York.

The 26th Annual Academy Awards
Aired: March 25, 1954 on NBC
Elizabeth presented the documentary awards. Filmed at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood and the Century Theater in New York.

A Star Is Born World Premiere
Aired: September 29, 1954 on NBC
Elizabeth and husband Michael Wilding, as well as a host of other stars, came out to support their friend Judy Garland at the premiere of her film A Star Is Born. NBC aired footage of the premiere as a television special called A Star Is Born World Premiere. Fans can find this special as a bonus feature on the film’s DVD.

What’s My Line?
Aired: November 14, 1954 on CBS
In 1954, Elizabeth appeared on the hit game show What’s My Line? hosted by John Daly. The regular celebrity panelists, Dorothy Kilgallen, Fred Allen, Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf, all wearing blindfolds, had to figure out the identity of the famous “mystery challenger” (Elizabeth) by asking a series of questions that were answered by Elizabeth in a disguised voice. After her identity was guessed correctly by Dorothy Kilgallen, Elizabeth revealed that she was in New York for the premiere of her latest film, The Last Time I Saw Paris. Aired live from New York.

A clip from Elizabeth’s appearance on What’s My Line? can be seen on the television special, Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration of Life, which aired in 1997. It has also repeated more recently on the Game Show Network.

Toast of the Town
(Season 8, Episode 10)
Aired: November 14, 1954 on CBS
Elizabeth appeared as a guest on Toast of the Town, (or as it was later renamed, The Ed Sullivan Show) a popular variety show. Elizabeth and Van Johnson were interviewed by Ed Sullivan about their new film, The Last Time I Saw Paris. It was aired live from CBS Studio 50 (later renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater) in New York.

The 29th Annual Academy Awards
Aired: March 27, 1957 on NBC
During The 29th Annual Academy Awards, a pregnant Elizabeth presented the award for Costume Design. Elizabeth’s husband, Mike Todd won the Best Picture Oscar for his blockbuster film, Around the World in 80 Days. The awards aired live from the Pantages Theater in Hollywood and Century Theater in New York—the last time the Oscars were held in both New York and Los Angeles.

Person to Person
(Season 4, Episode 30)
Aired: April 5, 1957 on CBS
Elizabeth and husband Mike Todd were interviewed at home by Edward R. Murrow on Person to Person, one of the original celebrity interview programs. According to the DVD release: “From 1953 to 1959, Edward R. Murrow informally welcomed television viewers into the houses of the twentieth century’s most well-known stars on Person To Person. Utilizing perhaps the simplest set in television—a chair, a table, an ashtray and a picture window—Murrow greeted two guests a week in remote interviews that candidly revealed the private lives of America’s elite.”

This interview can be seen on the DVD, Edward R. Murrow: The Best of Person to Person.

Playhouse 90
(Season 2, Episode 6)
Episode: Around the World in 90 Minutes
Aired: October 17, 1957 on CBS
Playhouse 90 was a series that aired live dramatic productions in ninety minute episodes. In an episode called Around the World in 90 Minutes the program aired not a play, but coverage of the first anniversary party of Mike Todd’s Around the World in 80 Days, which was dubbed as “an intimate little party for a few chums”. CBS shelled out $300,000 in order to air the show that was watched by 50 million people on CBS. Portions of this program can be seen on the Around the World in 80 Days DVD.

The party, held at Madison Square Garden (“one of the few places Liz and I have never fought”) was attended by 18,000 people. Vincent Korda, a London based set designer, bedecked the Garden with an Oscar made from rust chrysanthemums that soared twenty-four feet high. A fourteen foot high cake that required $15,000 in cake mix, and two thousand eggs, was covered in 150 pounds of pale blue icing so it would appear appetizing to viewers watching on their black and white television sets. One candle adorned the top of the cake that was cut by Elizabeth.

The show was hosted by George Jessel, and the orchestra was lead by Arthur Fiedler. According to biographer Donald Spoto, the other entertainment included “the clown Emmet Kelly, Scottish Highland Pipers, juggler Deeter Tasso, marching bands, menageries, Texas baton twirlers, Thai dancers, Harlem Elks, Minnesota Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) and, atop a woozy and uncertain elephant, actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke”.

Celebrity guests included Shelley Winters, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, George Jessel, Emmett Kelly, Senator Hubert Humphrey, Ginger Rogers, Elsa Maxwell, Bert Lahr, Steve Allen, and Jayne Meadows. Nearly each attendee would bring home one of the fourteen thousand door prizes, which ranged from the extravagant (a Cessna airplane) to the everyday (a Havana cigar).

Although Todd said the evening would be “the biggest goddamned birthday party the world has ever seen,” it quickly turned into a disaster. Many of the prizes were stolen, and the free champagne was being sold for profit. The whole thing turned into a circus, almost a giant food fight, with expensive party frocks being ruined. The waiters took the free champagne and resold it for $10 a bottle. Hungry guests served as targets when food fight consisting of franks and buns and pastries ensued.

“The whole thing was an unmitigated disaster,” said Elizabeth. The Todds left early. As awful as the evening turned out, it was still a larger than life night. “He made me feel like a queen that night,” Elizabeth would recall years later. “But he made me feel like a queen every day.” Coverage in the press even surpassed Queen Elizabeth II’s trip to Washington.

The 31st Annual Academy Awards
Aired: April 6, 1959 on NBC
Elizabeth was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but unfortunately lost to Susan Hayward for I Want to Live! However, she did present the Academy Awards in the writing categories. This was Elizabeth’s first time attending the Oscars as a nominee. She was nominated for Raintree County the previous year, but didn’t attend as the awards were too close to the tragic death of Mike Todd. Aired live from the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.

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