Poll: Elizabeth Taylor should’ve won an Oscar for …?

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Elizabeth Taylor bagged two Oscars: one deserved (‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ 1966) and one that should be returned to the academy with an apology note from her estate (‘Butterfield 8,’ 1960).

She was nominated three other times: ‘Raintree County’ (1957), ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ (1958) and ‘Suddenly, Last Summer’ (1959). In my unhumble opinion, she should’ve won for ‘Cat,’ and should never have accepted bids for the other two.

She deserved nominations, maybe even wins too, for ‘A Place in the Sun’ (1951), ‘Giant’ (1956), ‘Cleopatra’ (1963) and possibly even ‘Taming of the Shrew’ (1967). ‘Shrew,’ granted, is overblown Shakespearean camp, a guilty pleasure of mine that was pooh-poohed by movie critics 40 years ago. But they were wrong. It’s terrific, especially considering what shrews Taylor and Richard Burton were in real life. Thus, they’re in on the joke, and by adding the Bard to the mix -- that’s magic.

Critics love to lambast ‘Cleopatra’ as one of Hollywood’s biggest film fiascos, but, sorry, they were wrong about that too. Nowadays it’s proven to be an enduring masterpiece. ‘Cleopatra’ and ‘Virginia Woolf’ are probably the two films Taylor will be most remembered for in history. In the poll below, I voted for ‘Cleopatra.’ What gets your vote?

RELATED

Elizabeth Taylor had a love-hate fling with Oscar

Elizabeth Taylor won an Oscar for a real stinker

Flashback: Elizabeth Taylor wasn’t afraid of ‘Virginia Woolf’

-- Tom O’Neil