Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor's Unlucky Loves: Husband #2 (Michael Wilding)

After her disastrous first marriage to Nicky Hilton, Liz would meet the gentle English actor Michael Wilding while filming the movie Ivanhoe. After five months of dating and a two-month engagement, the pair married. But there was a catch..Wilding was bisexual and 20 years her senior. But if any woman could get a man like Wilding to the altar, it would be Liz. It was actually Liz who proposed to Michael while having dinner at the swank LA restauraunt Romanoff's. Rumor has it was more of a buckle than an acceptance by Wilding but either way they were soon married. And despite Wilding's sexual preferences, he and Taylor would have two children over the course of their five year marriage. Compared to her first marriage with Hilton, Wilding was not abusive or a gambler. But his career was not a great one and the family breadwinner soon became all Liz. And Wilding also had epilepsy. But even after they divorced he would come to her aid during the turbulent marriage years of Liz and Dick. He would act as a buffer for the two during their many fights and arguments. So Liz's second marriage did last a lot longer than the first and it did produce two children. On that note, it would be one of her more successful unions. Wilding himself would marry two more times and would pass away in 1979 at the age of 66 due to an epileptic seizure.

6 comments:

  1. A great article :-) I never knew he was bisexual! Michael was also involved with Marie McDonald.

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  2. I never knew he was bisexual either.

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  3. Aww, poor guy.... I also didn't know he was bisexual but he seemed a thousand times kinder than Nicky Hilton... it's too bad about his sexual preferences and the epilepsy... and I am sure it didn't boost his ego for her to be the breadwinner... it seems to me it's harder for men who are actors to deal with that than men in other careers.... that's what it seems like anyway.

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  4. Where did the bisexual information come from I wonder?
    There is a certain delicacy about him but he isn't listed in GayForToday.com.
    I fell in love with him about 2 months ago when I saw Stage Fright and I don't care if he was bisexual or not!
    Barbara

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  5. Hey Barbara. I found that information in one of the many news articles about Liz's career when she passed. And I'm like you I don't care if he was bisexual or not. The man could act.

    Monty

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  6. No one's sure if he was bisexual this is just a rumor and he and Elizabeth Taylor had two beautiful children who she loved and he loved and adored

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