Elizabeth Taylor: The Queen is Dead. Long Live the Queen.

One of the last remaining Goddesses of the Silver Screen passed away yesterday, and to me the greatest, Elizabeth Taylor.  

Perhaps the most beautiful presence ever to grace the moving picture was Ms Taylor, it was not only her incredible looks and grace, but her intelligence and compassion that set her apart, not to mention phenomenal acting talent.  

I am not going to go into any detail as so many other will do that better than I can,  I just want to express how sad it was to hear the news of her passing, and what she meant and still means to me. 

Of course, to me she will always be Queen Cleopatra and this performance of hers will forever be the yardstick of comparison for this role.  Not to mention the sheer number of costume changes that took place, holding the record for 53 in one movie, up until Madonna filmed Evita.


She was role-model and inspiration to me as a child in my fantasy world (what gowns, what makeup, what wigs!) and in my teens helped me realise that it was ok to be gay, that some of her greatest friends were, and there were people like her that were willing to help us in the fight for equality and for the dignity of those living with HIV/AIDS.


Just writing this now makes me so sad, to me she was immortal, the one who would always be there, live on.  She is now truly a star in the firmament and her immortality forever assured through the legacy of her work. 

I leave you with the one scene from Cleopatra that truly epitomises her qualities as Screen Goddess.  A friend of mine and I used to dream of staging this at Mardi Gras, it would truly be an amazing spectacle: Cleopatra’s entrance into Rome.