Elizabeth Taylor's Dating History: From Conrad Hilton Jr. to Richard Burton (2024)

Conrad Hilton Jr.

Having met at Mocambo nightclub —perEntertainment Weekly— in Los Angeles the year before, Taylor was only 18 when she wed then-23-year-old hotel heir Conrad "Nicky" Hilton on May 6, 1950. However, theill-fated eight-month marriagebegan crumbling even before their 14-week European honeymoon was over. Hilton "became sullen, angry and abusive, physically and mentally," Taylor wrote in her 1988 autobiographyElizabeth Takes Off.

They divorced in January 1951, and Hilton later died of a heart attack in 1969.

Michael Wilding

The British actor, whom Taylor met in England while makingIvanhoe, was 20 years her senior when they wed on Feb. 21, 1952, and the calm presence she needed after her tumultuous first marriage.

A second marriage for both Taylor and Wilding, together, they had two sons — Michael Jr. (born in 1953) and Christopher (born in 1955).

"He was a wonderful father," Taylor told PEOPLE in 2006.

Still, after five years of marriage, the couple divorced.

Wilding's 1979obituary inThe Washington Postquotes Taylor as calling their split "a friendly divorce," whileThe New York Timesreportedshe was "very upset" when she learned he had died.

Mike Todd

Movie producer Mike Todd was a self-assured suitor who announced his marriage intentions clearly.

"He didn't ask me, he told me," Taylor recalled inElizabeth Takes Off.

At 25 years her senior, he was the first major love in her life.

"God, I loved him. My self-esteem, my image, everything soared under his exuberant, loving care," she wrote.

They attended the 1957 Oscars together, where Todd'sAround the World in 80 Dayswon Best Picture (pictured above). Taylor wore a tiara that Todd had given her to the ceremony, whichsold for $4.2 millionat a Christie's New York auction in December 2011.

Their marriage, which produced daughter Liza, came to a tragic end when the showman died unexpectedly in a crash on his plane, the Liz, on March 22, 1958.

"I honestly didn't think I would surviveand didn't much care if I did not," she later said of mourning Todd.

Eddie Fisher

Still reeling from Todd's death, Taylor found solace with her late husband's good friend, singer Eddie Fisher, who was married at the time to actressDebbie Reynolds—Taylor's own friendand matron of honor at her wedding to Todd. Fisher ended up leaving Reynolds and married Taylor on May 12, 1959.

"It was distressing to open the papers day after day and see captions under my photographs referring to me as a homewrecker," she later recalled in her autobiography, maintaining that Fisher and Reynolds' marriage was already in trouble before she and Fisher got involved.

In 1983, Reynolds told PEOPLE, "A man doesn't leave a woman for another woman unless he wants to go. You know, when Mike Todd died, I sent Eddie to help Elizabeth. I don't think she ever really loved Eddie. He was an interim interest during her mourning period."

In hindsight, Reynolds was right: Taylor's relationship with Fisher dissolved when she fell in love with herCleopatra(1963) costar, Welsh actor Burton. Taylor and Fisher divorced in March 1964.

Richard Burton

FilmingCleopatrawasn't the first time Taylor and Burton's paths crossed — he saw her in 1953 at a party in Hollywood,according toVanity Fair— but it was where sparks flew.

"I've always admitted that I'm ruled by my passions, and I can't pretend I didn't know what I was doing when I became involved with Richard," Taylor wrote in her memoir. The married actors' affair on the Rome set ofCleopatramade headlines around the world — and prompted the Vatican to accuse Taylor of "erotic vagrancy."

The couple eventually ended their respective marriages and walked down the aisle on March 15, 1964. Very much in the public eye, the pair traveled the world and spent millions on property, art and jewelry. They were as known for their lavish lifestyle as they were for their fighting.

What started out as bickering for sport led to arguments fueled by alcohol and jealousy. After nearly a decade and 11 movies together, their tempestuous relationship had earned them the nickname the Battling Burtons — and they divorced in June 1974.

Richard Burton

Though their fiery first marriage fizzled, Taylor and Burton (who had adopted a daughter, Maria, born in 1961) gave wedded bliss another shot — briefly — and remarried on Oct. 10, 1975. Some joked that Burton simply wanted to be near all the jewelry he had given his ex.

"Even though there were rough times, I wouldn't give up one minute of my time with Richard Burton," Taylor wrote in her autobiography.

Unlike their 10 years together before, this marriage lasted less than one. Both Taylor and Burton thought there was still something between them, though.

"In my heart, I will always believe we would have been married a third and final time," Taylor toldFurious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Centuryauthors Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, who were given permission by Taylor to publish letters Burton had written to her.

One letter Taylor kept private, however, she read it to aVanity Fairreporter— it was Burton’s final letter to her before his death in 1984. He had written that he was happiest when they were together and wondered about having another chance.

John Warner

A blind date to a bicentennial dinner withQueen Elizabeth IIat the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., started with Warner driving his own car to pick Taylor up at her hotel. The evening went well, and Warner told PEOPLE in 2011 that the actress liked that he owned a horse farm.

"I think she fell in love with the farm, and I guess I came along with the horses," he joked at the time.

They got engaged in September 1976 and married that December.

Taylor entered the political realm when she married the Virginia Republican (and former Secretary of the Navy), whose wife's star power helped get him elected to the U.S. Senate in 1979.

While farm life suited Taylor, the role of a senator's wife did not.

"I was told to wear tweeds," she recalled to PEOPLE in 2006. "I couldn't wear purple or Halston pantsuits."

Fashion aside, the relationship was never built on the kind of romance some of her earlier marriages had been.

"He knows he wasn't the love of my life. And I know I wasn't the love of his life. But we loved each other," TaylortoldThe New York Timesin 2002. "We got along wonderfully until he decided to be a politician. And then he married the Senate."

An unhappy Taylor ultimately divorced Warner in 1982, who retired from the Senate in 2009. They remained friendly after they parted, even after she married again.

"We always used to sign off, 'Hey, man, till we talk again.' " Warner revealed to PEOPLE. "She was always very informal."

Larry Fortensky

They were an unlikely match — the movie star and the construction worker. After meeting at the Betty Ford Clinic, Taylor tied the knot for the eighth time with Larry Fortensky, a high-school dropout and 20 years his famous wife's junior.

"I knew who she was, of course, but I can't tell you that I remember watching any of her films," Fortensky told PEOPLE in 2011 of first meeting Taylor in rehab. "She was funny and sweet, and the more I got to know her, the sweeter she became."

They were happy on their wedding day on Oct. 6, 1991. Thenuptials were a big eventattended by famous friends of Taylor's and hosted byMichael Jackson, who walked Taylor down the aisle with her eldest son, Michael Wilding Jr.

However, the pair eventually parted ways.

"Those cameras everywhere," Fortensky said. "Elizabeth was used to it. I never got used to it."

She added, "He stopped working. You can't have love without respect."

Similar to how things ended with Warner, Taylor and Fortensky stayed friends after their October 1996 divorce, speaking regularly to each other until her death.

Taylor vowed never to marry again after Fortensky — and she kept her word.