Elizabeth Taylor on Richard Burton: That Was Heaven

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France, 1967/Photographed by Henry Clarke/

Elizabeth Taylor

Interviewed by James Grissom

Hotel Carlyle

New York City

1991

There are so many theories of Heaven and Hell, and I think I know them all, and I think I may have been through quite a few of them. You know, Hell is right here on Earth, and Judgment Day arrives hourly. And Heaven is right here in your heart when you hold a child or help a friend or accept affection--real affection--from someone you also hold dear. I've also subscribed to the idea that Heaven is at the end of a long trip, a long tunnel, and I'll be reunited with my old friends and all of my family who have gone before me.

Who knows? It's a nice thing to think about; it's a nice thing to work toward. I try to provide little episodes of Heaven for those with whom I come into contact, and this may be what I was really put here to do.

There were lots of episodes--big and little--of Heaven with Richard. I was never as happy as I was in those times with Richard. Ours were two lives fully lived. We dove deeply into the lives we were allotted, and it was marvelous. Too much of a good thing? Well, as you once said, too much of a good thing is just about enough, right? That was Heaven. And I'd like to hand out little samples of that time as I scamper about the globe.

© 2014 by James Grissom