Elizabeth Taylor |

Elizabeth Taylor sailed Trans-Atlantic many times aboard Cunard Line.

March 24, 2011 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Elizabeth Taylor sailed Trans-Atlantic many times. These are photos of her voyages aboard Cunard Line.

1950: Aboard the Queen Mary… Newlyweds Elizabeth Taylor and hotel heir Conrad “Nick” Hilton Jr. set a course for romance when the Queen Mary set sail on May 24, 1950, 18 days after the couple said “I do” at the Church of The Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. Her 5-carat diamond engagement ring and platinum-and-diamond wedding band sparkling in the light as she waved good-bye, the honeymooners headed out on a 14-week excursion which would take them to Monte Carlo, Cannes and Cap d’Antibes, according to Kitty Kelly, the author of Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star. While the newly dubbed Mrs. Hilton may have felt, like so many other just-married lovebirds, as though she and her husband were the only two on board, the luxury liner’s passenger list also contained the names of another twosome whose wedding caused a media frenzy in 1937– the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

1964: Aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth… Richard Burton (1925-1984) with his wife, the screen actress Elizabeth Taylor, waiting to board the liner, ‘Queen Elizabeth’ at New York. (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images)

1968: Aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth… Actress Elizabeth Taylor boards a train at London’s Waterloo Station bound for Southampton, where she will catch the transatlantic cruise liner Queen Elizabeth. She is recovering from a recent partial hysterectomy operation and is accompanied by her husband Richard Burton (1925 – 1984) and his daughter Kate. (Photo by Ted West/Central Press/Getty Images)

ELIZABETH TAYLOR (1932-2011)

Screen legend and social activist Elizabeth Taylor died early Wednesday morning, a rep for the actress announced. She was 79.

The actress died peacefully at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, Calif. surrounded by her children Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton. In addition to her children, Taylor is survived by 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Aristotle Onassis, Jackie Kennedy, Sir Winston Churchill, Maria Callas and the fabulous CHRISTINA O – the greatest yacht of them all.

November 22, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

SOCIAL HISTORY: CHRISTINA O – the greatest yacht of them all. Aristotle Onassis, Jackie Kennedy, Sir Winston Churchill, Maria Callas and the fabulous boat. The famous yacht heads up the Hudson River – 1960s…

(Left: Aristotle Onassis aboard the Christina O in 1950s.) His hospitality was legendary, his charm mythical, his prowess unstoppable, his power formidable, his fortune unsurpassed.

In 1954 Aristotle Socrates Onassis created the greatest yacht of all, Christina.

Named after his beloved daughter, she was a sleek, 325-foot, shimmering-white masterpiece proudly displaying the Onassis signature, the yellow funnel.

(Above: Aristotle Onassis and Churchill in the yacht’s swimming pool. It doubled as a dance floor – Onassis’ party trick was to flood it while people were still dancing.)

While the ship had begun life in 1943 as the Canadian naval frigate Stormont, a convoy escort, Onassis purchased her in 1948 for just $34,000 and converted her during the early 1950’s into the most sumptuous private yacht that the world had ever seen, at the cost of more than $4 million.

(Above: CHRISTINA O’s canopied decks are the ideal venue for any extra special occasion – 1950s.) When Onassis bought the yacht in 1954, he converted the yacht at an expense of over $4 million, into the largest, most modern and most exalted yacht of her era. CHRISTINA O became his floating mansion and headquarters for over two decades until his death in 1975. Onassis’ guests on board the yacht were some of the most famous and influential people of the time. At night, CHRISTINA O served as the stage for Onassis’ celebrated social life, as he played host to Presidents and Prime Ministers, royalty and film stars.

(Above: Elizabeth Taylor and Aristotle S. Onassis aboard the yacht.) CHRISTINA O’s fame owes itself to names such as Maria Callas, The Begum of Aga Kahn, John Paul Getty, John D Rockefeller, Eva Peron, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Rudolf Nureyev, John Wayne, Greta Garbo and Dame Margot Fonteyn.

SOCIAL HISTORY: Pop culture crooner icon from the 1950s – Eddie Fisher is gone. Made famous by marriages and recording of WISH YOU WERE HERE.

September 24, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

SOCIAL HISTORY: Pop culture crooner icon from the 1950s – Eddie Fisher is gone – made famous by vocal from Broadway musical WISH YOU WERE HERE.

Eddie Fisher sings WISH YOU WERE HERE in this youTube video. It covers his life, hits and career. The recording is the title song of the Broadway musical by the same name. Fisher’s rendering helped the box office of the stage show and this song proved to be Fisher’s signature tune.

Elizabeth Taylor, left, with Eddie Fisher and Ms. Reynolds, the couple she came between, in 1958. Fisher wrote in his biography: “I was bullied into marriage with Reynolds, whom he didn’t know well; became nursemaid as well as husband to Taylor, and was reluctant to marry Connie Stevens but she was pregnant and he ‘did the proper thing’…” The marriage damaged his career, especially with Taylor. Of course today – his dalliances, divorces and private life would be the norm!

Eddie Fisher: 1928-2010 RIP

Pop singer and 1950s icon Eddie Fisher, whose clear voice brought him a devoted following of teenage girls in the early 1950s before marriage scandals overshadowed his fame, has died at age 82.

He passed away Wednesday night at his home in Berkeley of complications from hip surgery, his daughter, Tricia Leigh Fisher of Los Angeles, told AP reporters.

America’s once most happy couple: Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher with children – Carrie and her brother Todd

“Late last evening the world lost a true America icon,” Fisher’s family said in a statement released by publicist British Reece. “One of the greatest voices of the century passed away. He was an extraordinary talent and a true mensch.”

The death was first reported by Hollywood website deadline.com.

In the early 50s, Fisher sold millions of records with 32 hit songs including ”Wish You Were Here,” “Thinking of You,” ”Any Time,” ”Oh, My Pa-pa,” ”I’m Yours,” ”Lady of Spain” and “Count Your Blessings.”

Eiddie Fisher’s recording of the signature song from WISH YOU WERE HERE reached number one on the charts. It popularized and helped the show’s box office. The Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on June 25, 1952 and closed on November 28, 1953 after 598 performances. Directed and choreographed by Logan, uncredited show doctoring was by Jerome Robbins, with scenic and lighting design by Jo Mielziner.

The cast included Patricia Marand as Teddy Stern, Jack Cassidy as Chick Miller, Phyllis Newman as Sarah, Larry Blyden, Harry Clark as Herman Fabricant, Florence Henderson, Reid Shelton, Tom Tryon, Sheila Bond as Fay Fromkin, John Perkins as Harry “Muscles” Green, and Sidney Armus as Itchy Flexner.

His fame was enhanced by his 1955 marriage to movie darling Debbie Reynolds — they were touted as “America’s favorite couple” — and the birth of two children.

Their daughter Carrie Fisher became a film star herself in the first three “Star Wars” films as Princess Leia, and later as a best-selling author of “Postcards From the Edge” and other books.

Cruise Line History: Three great videos of newsreel footage of Cunard Line’s RMS QUEEN MARY’S. Her launching, first voyage, final voyage and departure from Southampton in 1967.

February 12, 2009 By Michael L. Grace

There great videos featuring newsreel footage of the RMS QUEEN MARY.

The great liner RMS Queen Mary sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line). Built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, she was designed to be the first of Cunard’s planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, in answer to the mainland European superliners of the late 1920s and early 1930s. World War II started before the RMS Queen Elizabeth could join the Mary.

After their release from World War II troop transport duties, the RMS Queen Mary and her running mate RMS Queen Elizabeth commenced this two-ship service and continued it for two decades until Queen Mary’s retirement in 1967.

The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is permanently berthed in Long Beach, California serving as a museum ship and hotel.

The Queen Mary celebrated the 70th anniversary of her launch in both Clydebank and in Long Beach during 2004, and the 70th anniversary of her maiden voyage in 2006.

Video of the RMS Queen Mary launching, film of her first crossing and arrival in New York. Includes the British Liner Song: Horatio Nicholls’ “Queen of the Sea”, 1936.

Video newsreel footage of the RMS Queen Mary arriving in Southampton for the last time from New York. Her 1001st Atlantic crossing final trans-Atlantic voyage. She was a triumph of British shipbuilding.

Video newsreel footage showing departure on the final voyage of Cunard Line’s RMS Queen Mary from Southampton on October 31st 1967. The greatest merchant vessel ever built.

27th May 1950: British-born actress Elizabeth Taylor aboard the SS Queen Mary during her honeymoon with her first husband, hotel heir Nicky Hilton. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Filed Under: CRUISING THE PAST VIDEOS, CUNARD LINE Tagged With: CUNARD LINE, Elizabeth Taylor, england, final voyage, liners, Long Beach, Nicky Hilton, Paris Hilton, rms queen mary, southampton, Steamships