Elizabeth Taylor: Republicans, Pride, and Love

Interview with Elizabeth Taylor

Conducted by James Grissom

Hotel Carlyle

New York City

1991

You know, Republicans weren't always so bad. Hell, I married one! But now they're growing so pinched and mean, envious and petty, like the extras on the set, giving the evil eye to the star.

If you live your life or craft a philosophy around the idea that you've been unfairly denied something, then you operate out of spite, and you take things away from people that you feel aren't deserving or they've got things that weren't fairly distributed. 

It's how you look at things. I can't sing, God knows, but I benefit from those who can. Would I try to take away the voice of Leontyne Price? The world wins because we have Leontyne Price. Or Olivier. Or Richard Burton. Or Picasso. Or Graham Greene. Is it fair that I can't do what they do? I don't deal with questions like that. I ask, Is it fair that I get to wallow in all that they've given me? Everybody is blessed by their gifts.

No one can take anything away from me, from anyone. But the world is now broken down the middle, with one side believing that their stuff is being purloined by another group.

I want a world, a government, that loves its people and takes care of them. I want a world that recognizes that the cost of ignoring the sick and the hungry and the uneducated is bigger  than any tax. I want a world that is safe, so we listen to those who can show us how to protect it. I want a world that is set, like a perfect gem, on the ideal setting, to display and to remind everyone that this is theirs, this is ours.

I want a world where you get older and have a little something set aside, and then you go out in the world and hold people, read to people, help people on the street. Did you see that yesterday when I helped that woman with her stuff? She didn't know--didn't give a damn--that I was Elizabeth Taylor. I was a pair of arms. I was someone who smelled good and gave a shit.

©  2016  James Grissom