Elizabeth Taylor left us to meet her maker

"In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty", said American poet Christopher Morley. Generating tumultuous vibrations of her rapturous and stunning beauty, radiating a magical aura through her postures and movements, seducing millions of young boys into living in their fantasy worlds and dazzling generations of moviegoers by her fabulous performance for long 70 years since her first appearance in the silver screen at age 9 the legendary cinema icon Elizabeth Taylor, whose name was synonymous with Hollywood glamour, has passed away on Wednesday, March 23, 2011 in Los Angeles at age 79. I spent not less than Rupees (Rs) 20 every month out of Rs75, my monthly scholarship money, for buying tickets to see movies at Balaka, Modhumita and Naz, three popular cinema halls in Dhaka I frequented, when I used to study in Dhaka College from 1968 until 1969, two turbulent years of my adolescence. As I now think back to those tumultuous years in my college life some faces familiar in the world of movies reappear in my mind. Peter O'Toole, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck are among those faces that still warm the cockles of my heart as I try to recollect the stories and the magnificent men and women who performed in those classic movies like 'Night of the General', 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof', 'Roman Holiday', 'The Guns of Navarone' and many more. Yes, Elizabeth Taylor was to some extent responsible for my becoming a little precocious and a bit naughty. Liz, as she was known, to be honest, opened my eyes to the beauty of a woman the way Vladimir Nabokov by his novel "Lolita" helped flare the flames of my youth. Who, when I was in my teens, among my peers, could keep the floodgate of their emotions closed after reading the intro of "Lolita"? "Lolita", light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin; my soul! Lo-Lee-Ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita." Considered one of the greatest cinema actresses Elizabeth Taylor in her career spanning more than 70 years and more than 50 films had won two Academy Awards as best actress, for her performances as a call girl in "Butterfield 8" and as the acid-tongued Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Her sterling roles in "National Velvet", "A Place in the Sun" and "Cleopatra" and in dozens of other movies will remain indelible in the memories of the past, present and future moviegoers. In a world of flickering images, Elizabeth Taylor was and will remain a heartthrob. In the movie world Marilyn Monroe had earned a name as the sex goddess, Grace Kelly as the ice queen, Audrey Hepburn as the eternal gamine and Elizabeth Taylor had earned the name: "The beauty incarnate". The media world made fabulous money by publishing stories on her scandalous behaviour. Gossips were aired in electronic media to win clients. Galaxies of her photographs with luscious stories were printed on miles of newspapers and magazines to mint tons of money. But behind her seemingly scandalous conducts she was a woman with a clear sense of morality. When it was a fashion for a man or a woman to spend hours, days and months with someone lovable under one roof but not under a marital obligation, Elizabeth had a habit of not waiting to marry a guy she fell in love with. Elizabeth Taylor was married eight times to seven husbands, with all but one ending in divorce. Her third husband Michael Todd's death in 1958 ended Taylor's only marriage to no result in divorce. Her marriage and remarriage to and her first and second divorce from the same husband, Richard Burton, the then most famous actor, was interesting. Her marriage to Michael Wilding was also fascinating as Wilding was 20 years older than Taylor. When asked why she married so often she replied to a journalist: "I don't know, honey. It sure beats the hell out of me." Elizabeth Taylor was not only a beautiful, self-effacing and incredibly talented movie star she was above all a true humanitarian. She devoted much time and energy to AIDS-related charities, and helped raise more than $100 million to fight the disease. She also created her own AIDS foundation, the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation (ETAF). March 23 will remain a sad day for Taylor's many fans and the people she touched with her kindness and services in both her real life and her film career. Activists and philanthropists and AIDS patients will find it difficult to forget the contributions she made to the fight against AIDS at a time when it was not popular to take such a stance. Elizabeth Taylor was blessed with a rich interpretive talent. She could convey her role character like no other lady in Hollywood. Moviegoers were never tired of Liz Taylor. There's a comfort in the ease of her glamour. She was one of a kind. Her preternatural violet eyes, her porcelain skin, her acting, her beautiful anger, her strength, her childlike honesty, her character, her inner strength, her courage, her femininity and her charismatic expressions are timeless and unforgettable. There were certainly many actresses like Garbo, Bergman, Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, to name a few, who could be a bit better performers, but no one could really captivate the moviegoers the way Elizabeth Taylor mesmerized them by her charismatic induction . The film world must have been an emptier and less glamorous place now that she's gone. She will always be missed. E-mail: maswood@hotmail.com