Taylor’s poignant breakdown came as she was interviewed by the BBC for a special May 26 program. It swept you up and carried you away,” she said.Īnd Todd’s son, Mike Todd Jr., said: “They were made for each other.”

“Mike’s courtship was like being hit by a tornado.

Taylor has always admitted that her marriage to Todd was as intense as it was tempestuous. When asked why he bought Taylor a huge, 29-carat engagement ring, he answered: “Thirty carats would have been vulgar.” “Liz and I have more fun fighting than most people have making love,” Todd once said. The cigar-smoking producer was known for his flamboyant personality and his trademark wisecracks. Todd, only 48 when he died, was said to be the love of Taylor’s life – although her most famous husband was actor Richard Burton, whom she divorced and then remarried. Taylor had planned to go with him, but a bout with pneumonia prevented her from flying – and saved her life.

Just over a year later, Todd’s private plane crashed as it tried to outrun a fierce thunderstorm in New Mexico. He fell in love with Taylor, as her marriage to second husband Michael Wilding was crumbling, and married her in 1957. Todd was a maverick producer who made the smash movie “Around the World in 80 Days” and backed numerous Broadway hits. “The next morning, the door opened at 6 and my secretary and doctor walked into the room and I just screamed, ‘He’s not …’ “As Mike left, he said goodbye to me five times,” the beloved Hollywood diva began as her eyes began to well with tears. Taylor was in the middle of taping an interview with the BBC, when she was asked about Todd, who died in a plane crash in 1958.

The 68-year-old screen legend – married eight times – burst into tears as she recalled the tragic death of Mike Todd, her third husband, more than 40 years ago. Elizabeth Taylor discarded husbands like old milk cartons – but one of them still has the power to trigger uncontrollable tears of anguish.

Mike todd on relationships