There have been several moments that have marked a before and after for women in the film industry. The entry of director Dorothy Arzner into the machinery Hollywood from the 30s and 40s, the first Oscar won by a female director and which went to Kathryn Bigelow (In hostile land) or the audience records of the premiere of Wonder Woman These are some of the most notable milestones. But for today’s stars to be able to boast of being the creative force behind the highest-grossing projects, and of salaries that finally resemble those of their male counterparts, it was Elizabeth Taylor who dared to stand up to the systemic sexism that dominated the offices of film studios. This February 27, the 90th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest icons ever seen on the big screen, we remember how she managed to become the highest-paid actress in the history of cinema to date.
“If someone is stupid enough to offer me a million dollars to make a movie, I am not stupid enough to turn it down,” said the British actress, who celebrated the milestone she achieved in 1963, when 20th Century Fox made her the highest-paid woman in film history for her role in Cleopatra. To date, only Marlon Brando, a year earlier, had been able to secure a similar paycheck for appearing in a film (Mutiny on the Bounty). To give you an idea of what Taylor achieved, that year President John F. Kennedy’s salary was not more than $150,000; and Bill Russell, the biggest NBA star at the time, barely reached $100,000. The actress was so skillful that she also guaranteed herself 10% of the takings from the Mankiewicz-directed peplum. The box office success of the film ended up increasing her pay to seven million dollars. Her final salary, adjusted for inflation, would be equivalent today to a dizzying 66 million euros, three times more than what Jennifer Lawrence, the highest-paid actress of 2021, earned for her role in Don’t look up.
Taylor, who had already had a long career in the hills of Los Angeles when she made her debut in front of the camera as a child, was known in studio offices for her brazenness in negotiations. At just 15, the actress sent Louis B. Mayer, the legendary and tyrannical president of MGM – he was known as “the lion of Metro” – “to hell” for disrespecting her mother in a meeting. Despite the affront, Mayer did not dare retaliate against his emerging star. “At that moment she realized that everything was about the commodity of being Elizabeth Taylor. From a very young age she understood the value of money and the freedom it can give you,” confessed in an interview Tim Mendelson, his chief of staff for 25 years.
His astronomical salary for Cleopatra Taylor’s casting was a result of the privileged status that the actress enjoyed in the early 1960s, refusing for several years to accept the role. Taylor was then 29 years old and had just married for the fourth time to actor Eddie Fisher, who in turn had been unfaithful to Debbie Reynolds, causing a media scandal. Despite the fact that hiring Taylor for a production of the magnitude of Cleopatra It was quite a risk considering the tabloids had already tagged him with the ‘homewrecker’ label, the critical and commercial success of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof either Suddenly, last summer were still holding out for the candidacy. The star’s negotiating strategy was revealed by one of his best friends in the mecca of cinema, actor Burt Reynolds.
“She was at my house taking a hot bath because she was tired and she asked me: ‘What am I going to do? Those bastards want me to make this movie (Cleopatra), but I don’t want to do it”, evoked Reynolds in the magazine Peoplewho advised her to ask for a million dollars, an exorbitant amount, so that they would not bother her again about the issue. “No one until that day had asked for so much money and she did it. She went to another room, I heard a scream and when she came back I asked her if she was okay. And she answered me: ‘I have achieved it, they are going to give it to me.’”
What came after that agreement is as remarkable a page in the history of cinema as the film of immense scale in which she met her fifth and sixth husband, Richard Burton. It was a cursed shoot that lasted more than two and a half years, that was on the verge of ruining the studio due to the production overruns, that had two directors in charge and that almost ended Taylor’s life, hospitalized with pneumonia that forced her to stop filming for six months. The total cost of the film would today exceed 350 million dollars, more than any other film. blockbuster of Marvel superheroes. Despite being the highest-grossing film of the year, 20th Century Fox failed to recoup its investment and was only saved from disappearance by the surprising reception of a modest low-budget production, Smiles and tears.
Elizabeth Taylor’s negotiating skills in the mecca of cinema, which marked a turning point in an industry dominated by men, paved the way for successors such as Barbra Streisand and Meryl Streep. “For her, going into negotiations was like going into battle. She never backed down until she got what she wanted and she listened more than she talked, but when she did talk, she did so with great intention. She never showed weakness or vulnerability,” confirmed Mendelson. Taylor, who died in 2011, continued to make headlines several years after her death. British actor Michael Caine, who co-starred with her in the film Wild and dangerousevoked the difference between their salaries to criticize the recent complaints made by several actresses about the existing wage gap between men and women. “It’s rubbish. I worked with Elizabeth Taylor and she was paid ten times more than me. And that was 30 years ago,” declared. In 2020, the production of a new film biopic like Cleopatra was announced, this time with Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) as the famous queen of Egypt and Kari Skogland as director.
