Furious Love
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century
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Narrated by:
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Paul Boehmer
About this listen
The definitive story of Hollywood's most famous couple.
He was a tough-guy Welshman softened by the affections of a breathtakingly beautiful woman; she was a modern-day Cleopatra madly in love with her own Mark Antony. For nearly a quarter of a century, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were Hollywood royalty, and their fiery romance - often called "the marriage of the century" - was the most notorious, publicized, and celebrated love affair of its day.
For the first time, Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner and acclaimed biographer Nancy Schoenberger tell the complete story of this larger-than-life couple, showing how their romance and two marriages commanded the attention of the world. And for the first time, in exclusive access given to the authors, Elizabeth Taylor herself gives never-revealed details and firsthand accounts of her life with Burton.
Drawing upon brand-new information and interviews and on Burton's private, passionate, and heartbreaking letters to Taylor, Furious Love sheds new light on the movies, the sex, the scandal, the fame, the brawls, the booze, the bitter separations, and, of course, the fabled jewels. It offers an intimate glimpse into Elizabeth and Richard's privileged world and their elite circle of friends, among them Princess Grace, Montgomery Clift, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Peter O'Toole, Michael Caine, Marlon Brando, Rex Harrison, Mike Nichols, Laurence Olivier, Robert Kennedy, Tennessee Williams, Noel Coward, John Huston, Ava Gardner, the Rothschilds, Maria Callas, and Aristotle Onassis. It provides an entertaining, eye-opening look at their films, their wildly lucrative reign in Europe and in Hollywood, and the price they paid for their extravagant lives.
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Using remarkable new sources, Sarah Bradford has written a timely celebration of a life that was more private than commonly supposed. Revealing new testimony from many of the couple's friends shows the complexities of this apparently very public relationship and of her controversial marriage to Aristotle Onassis. Here is the private Jackie - neglected wife, vigilant mother, and working widow - whose contradictory and fascinating nature is illuminated by all that Bradford has discovered.
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American Royalty
- By Kindle Customer on 06-10-16
By: Sarah Bradford
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By Myself and Then Some
- By: Lauren Bacall
- Narrated by: Lauren Bacall
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Abridged
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The epitome of grace, independence, and wit, Lauren Bacall continues to astound generations with her audacious spirit and on-screen excellence. Together with Humphrey Bogart, she produced some of the most electric scenes in movie history, and their romance on and off screen made them Hollywood's most celebrated couple.
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Wish it had been unabridged
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By: Lauren Bacall
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Can I Go Now?
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- By: Brian Kellow
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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A lively and colorful biography of Hollywood's first superagent - one of the most outrageous showbiz characters of the 1960s and 1970s, whose clients included Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, and Candice Bergen. Before Sue Mengers hit the scene in the mid-1960s, talent agents remained quietly in the background. But staying in the background was not possible for Mengers.
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A little long.
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By: Brian Kellow
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In Black and White
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- By: Wil Haygood
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 23 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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This biography of entertainment legend Sammy Davis, Jr. is an enthralling portrait of one of the most recognizable figures from the golden age of American show business. Davis, a guarded man who protected his private life with great vigor, lived an extraordinary life in the limelight, while also forging new uncharted paths across racial lines.
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Sammy Plus
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By: Wil Haygood
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Everybody Thought We Were Crazy
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- By: Mark Rozzo
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Los Angeles in the 1960s: riots in Watts and on the Sunset Strip, wild weekends in Malibu, late nights at The Daisy discotheque, openings at the Ferus Gallery, and the convergence of pop art, rock and roll, and the New Hollywood. At the center of it all, one inspired, improbable, and highly combustible couple—Dennis Hopper and Brooke Hayward—lived out the emblematic love story of ’60s L.A.
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Wonderful!
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By: Mark Rozzo
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She Made Me Laugh
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- By: Richard Cohen
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Award-winning journalist Richard Cohen, wrote this about his "third-person memoir": "I call this book a third-person memoir. It is about my closest friend, Nora Ephron, and the lives we lived together and how her life got to be bigger until, finally, she wrote her last work, the play, Lucky Guy, about a newspaper columnist dying of cancer while she herself was dying of cancer. I have interviewed many of her other friends - Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington.
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Loved it!
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Something Wonderful
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They stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play.
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Fabulous book about Rodgers & Hammerstein!!!
- By BigWally on 06-27-18
By: Todd S. Purdum
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Orson Welles's Last Movie
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In the summer of 1970, legendary but self-destructive director Orson Welles returned to Hollywood from years of self-imposed exile in Europe and decided it was time to make a comeback movie. It was about a legendary self-destructive director who returns to Hollywood from years of self-imposed exile in Europe. Welles swore it wasn't autobiographical.
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Engaging and human portrait of Welles
- By TrevorTrujillo on 06-20-20
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My Autobiography
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- Unabridged
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Take an unforgettable journey with the man George Bernard Shaw called "the only genius to come out of the movie industry" as he moves from his impoverished South London childhood to the heights of Hollywood wealth and fame; from the McCarthy-era investigations to his founding of United Artists to his "reverse migration" back to Europe.
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Finally Chaplin’s auto is available!
- By Ryan Baumbach on 04-28-22
By: Charles Chaplin, and others
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Not Young, Still Restless
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- By: Jeanne Cooper
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The long-awaited memoir from one of daytime television's most celebrated and beloved actresses.
Three or four days a week, Jeanne Cooper drives from her Hollywood Hills home to the job she's held for more than three decades: bringing life to the character of Katherine Chancellor, the outspoken, powerful, and insanely wealthy force of nature who, along with Jeanne herself, has become a legend in the world of daytime television and its number-one show, The Young and the Restless. Now, for the first time, her fans will get to know the woman behind the iconic character.
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Grand Dame of soaps
- By Harry R. on 01-07-15
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Double Life
- A Love Story from Broadway to Hollywood
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Gay marriage is at the forefront of America's political battles. The human story at the center of this debate is told in Double Life: A Love Story, a dual memoir by a gay male couple in a 50-plus-year relationship. With high profiles in the entertainment, advertising and art communities, the authors offer a virtual timeline of how gay relationships have gained acceptance in the last half-century.
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Portrait of a Marriage--Before Gay Liberation
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What Fresh Lunacy Is This?
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Oliver Reed may not have been Britain's biggest film star - for a period in the early 70s he came within a hairsbreadth of replacing Sean Connery as James Bond - but he is an august member of that small band of people, like George Best and Eric Morecambe, who transcended their chosen medium, became too big for it even, and grew into cultural icons. For the first time Reed's close family has agreed to collaborate on a project about the man himself.
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Ollie!
- By GK on 12-28-14
By: Robert Sellers
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What listeners say about Furious Love
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jeremy
- 09-10-12
Insight into MEGAstardom
Would you listen to Furious Love again? Why?
I wouldn't listen to Furious Love again only because I don't think I have ever listened to an audiobook twice.
What did you like best about this story?
It showed the beginning of megastardom and the fascination with the private lives of celebrities even more than their work as actors. Just like reality stars of today (although they had talent) Liz and Dick began to take their stardom more seriously, I think, than their work.
Have you listened to any of Paul Boehmer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I havent- but I will say he does a tremendous job. He has a voice for every character. It puts you off for 2 minutes but after listening you really appreciate his enthusiasm for the characters and the story.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It made me feel like I was in this 60's world of excess and appreciate how we have changed as a culture. There have always been stars, whether royalty or movie stars- we need them for inspiration, hope, escape.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Patrick Braue
- 02-23-24
Great narrator
He does a great Richard Burton impression! Gave their love story the tender hand it deserved!
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Overall
- Heather Pollock
- 09-15-10
Narrator makes this work
I loved this book. I might have taken it just as tabloid except for the effective narration. Paul Boehmer manages to "be" both Elizabeth and Richard without resorting to annoying voices. I was particularly struck with the power that Richard had with language which comes through in his letters and the delivery with a deeper voice and a lovely accent.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Tereia S. Joe
- 11-08-18
Entertainingly tragic!
It was a struggle to finish because it was to "bloody" long just to repeat the same horrible behaviors. Most memorable moments where the theatrical word Burton enjoyed using and his journal entrys. Though I have no doubts that he loved "E" as he called Elizabeth Taylor along with so many other names, I also believe that sometimes within that love affair were selfish motives which maybe one of the reasons his specific desire was never accomplished. As for Mrs. E.T. Burton what a sad soul.
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Overall
- Meghan
- 03-23-11
Appauling bad narration
I was SO excited about this book, but the little voices that Boehmer does for Burton and Taylor are so offensively bad.... he makes Taylor out as a whiny school girl and Burton (whose voice and wit are arguably his best traits) as weak and soulless. Burton's words (ever the poet) are mangled and rhythmless in Boehmer's rendering.
Unfortunately the sample isn't a sample of the book, but of the opening credits- otherwise I could have avoided this unfortunate purchase.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- CAGallagher
- 07-18-10
What a tragic love story.
Couldn't stop listening to this! What a tale of glamour, addiction, talent, ego, excess and passion. If it were fiction, no one would believe this story to be true. Such a pity they were never able to conquer their demons at the same time to make a go of it.
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3 people found this helpful
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- JAANIKA
- 10-29-12
A great tale about passion and glamour.
Did Paul Boehmer do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?
The book is the one you want to be as quickly as possible to be continued once you have put it aside. It is a good pastime, relaxing and entertaining. Could have had a stronger analysis of the characters but it may have reduce its enjoyment.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Marion
- 02-01-13
Fans of Liz&Dick will like it
I knew nothing about the lives of Liz and Dick, and found it interesting. If you're a great fan, you will probably eat this up. If not, it's an autobiography of two people who didn't blaze any new trails, so not much to be gained from reading it.
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Overall
- Emily
- 07-03-10
I enjoyed it!
The narrator took me a little while to warm up to, but then I liked him a lot. Subtle, good accents. It was wonderful hearing the letters that Richard wrote to Elizabeth, some of them even written when she was in the same room or suite. Enjoyed it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 09-17-21
Good story-VERY detailed
I enjoyed it. I'm a painter and im always on the hunt for something to listen to. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor have been a mild curiosity of mine for quite awhile now.
Don't think I've ever finished a biography/autobiography leaving with a significantly diminished view of the subject(s)
It has always annoyed me to no end how the Hollywood overlords clearly seemed to fawn all over the likes of Elizabeth Taylor vs in heavy contrast to the horrid and downright cruel way that they regarded Marilyn Monroe among other "stars" in that era
The insider favoritism and nepotism has always been so blatant to me, that I was hoping to gain insight into *WHY* this Hollywood caste system existed and *WHY* Taylor was treated like insider royalty.
Unfortunately, instead of having some of those questions answered for me, the book only exacerbated them. Producers and executives bestowing Elizabeth with the expensive jewels that she demanded after every film...A near BANKRUPT FOX STUDIO continually flying her out her favorite chille from LA to ROME, 1 million dollar salaries+perks and script approvals.
Industry perks in which other Actresses had to fight tooth and nail to win.
Overall a really great book, although I had to pause it a few times and step away bc my annoyance levels would periodically hit the roof.
It dawned on me a few chapters in that
thier grotesquely pampered and self- indulgent lifestyles were propped up against a backdrop of extreme economic hardship, wars, and turmoil for the rest of the global peasantry.
Did they give back?
NOT REALLY.
In fact, true for Hollywood even today,
the author casually informs the listener that they were constantly jet setting around the world and bouncing from Country to Country to exploit every possible tax loophole on the books.
Why this woman is continually praised for being such a noble charitable Philanthropist is beyond me.
The last notable issue ive pieced together is the cozy relationship that the Burtons among so many other "stars" seem to have with key political figures, the Rothschilds, Queen of England and Royal members from all over the planet.
It seems as though there wasn't a Communist leader they didn't schmooze and booze with either.
Why did the American "Revolution" happen again, exactly?😆
Fortunately, the book reassures us by the end that all of the Burton/ Taylor spawn have safely inherited their "birthright" without a hitch.
Curiously, in spite of the childrens chaotic upbringing ( in which the rest of us mere mortals would struggle to keep up scholastically,)
THEIR children were miraculously eligible to attend the fanciest and most intellectual schools,
they were evidently so talented that they were bestowed with Hollywood careers too.
Alas, the Burtin Taylor legacy shall continue with their progeny.
Perhaps this will give readers comfort as they absorb the last few chapters which are bleak and depressing.
The weight of their lifestyle eventually collapsed and crashed on their heads towards the bitter end.
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