Before Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie, Before Ryan Phillippe left Reese Witherspoon for Abbi Cornish, there was Eddie Fisher left Debbie Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor. This triangle is not as clean cut as it appeared to be at the time. Elizabeth was not necessarily the vixen that she was made out to be at the time.
Elizabeth met Eddie and Debbie from second husband Mike Todd, who also happened to be Eddie's best friend. Many people say that Elizabeth was the most content when she was with Mike. On March 22, 1958 her life would be altered forever and surprisingly would be the beginning of the twisted, tortured triangle. That was the day when Mike's plane
The Lucky Liz would crash. Before he took off he kissed her several times, not wanting to let her go. She told author J. Randy Taraborelli , that she recalls him saying "I'm too happy, and I'm afraid that something's going to happen because I'm too happy."
Elizabeth was very ill that night and as her temperature rose, so did her gut feeling that something wasn't right. Mike was suppose to call her at 6 in the morning when he landed in Albuquerque but that call never came. The plane had crashed and burned everyone in it. The only that was recovered from the wreck was Mike's wedding ring.
Elizabeth was so struck with grief she almost didn't make it to the private funeral in Chicago for her beloved. She got the courage from Eddie Fisher. Since Eddie and Mike were so close, Eddie understood the impact Mikes death was having on Elizabeth. Reynolds offered to stay with Elizabeths kids when she tried to use them as an excuse not to attend the funeral. During the flight from LA to Chicago Elizabeth clung to Eddie, using hm as both literal and figurative support.
Despite being the "perfect" couple, problems plagued the marriage of Eddie and Debbie from the beginning. Their daughter Carrie was born the first year, so they were trying to keep the marriage going, and they did so with inspiration from Elizabeth and Mike. However with Mikes death a bond began to form between Elizabeth and Eddie.
A few months after the tragedy that brought them closer both Eddie and Elizabeth began to wonder f they could be a couple. In her thinking she wanted to replace Mike with his best friend Eddie. Debbie Weighed in on the triangle many years after it happened "In the old days, if Elizabeth saw a man she wanted, she got him, no matter who she stepped over, She laughs a lot about why in the world she wanted Eddie. It was just because Mike Todd had died, and Eddie was his best friend. She thought she should be with him so they could talk about Mike Todd all the time."
In her thinking Debbie and Eddie were doomed anyway, So Elizabeth decided to go full force ahead. "She's in show business and didn't get to the top of he profession by being weak kneed. She must have some inherent strength," She also concdes now "We did whatever the hell we wanted to do and then waited for the consequences." And the consequences would not be far behind. The press and fans who had once been very sympathetic to the newly widowed Elizabeth began to call her a "hussy" and "homewrecker."
Even though the press and some fans had called for a boycott of her movies, Elizabeths career didn't suffer. In fact her loyal fans came out in droves to help her movies make money and keep her a viable Hollywood "property"
A movie offer would ultimately once again change the course of Hollywood history. She would sign on to play the title character in Cleopatra, where should meet Richard Burton. That relationship is fodder for another story though. At the end of their marriage Eddie asked for spousal support from Elizabeth, which ticked her off. Since his divorces from both women he has not spoken with either. Despite feuding for years, earlier this decade Debbie and Elizabeth made up and are once again friends!
