Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1963)

Liz Latest Accident! continued, “Very Important Persons'’ — and that this was one of the outfits she wears in the picture.) A second reporter made sure to note that “Richard Burton, meanwhile — Miss Taylor’s co-star in ‘Very Important Persons’ as well as in real life — waited to hear the news of her condition at the nearby Devonshire Arms, where he was busily engaged downing a few pints.” No one, however, wrote anything about the fear that obviously swelled inside Liz right now, as the pain in her left knee went from bad to worse to excruciating ... as she remembered what a doctor back in Hollywood had once warned her about the knee. That had been six years ago, when the trouble had started. Liz had been getting dressed to go to a party one night, she’d slipped, she’d landed on her left side. There’d been a swelling in the left knee, and pain. She’d phoned for the doctor. He’d come, examined her, found that the cartilage was probably tom and suggested surgery for the knee. But Liz had had her fill of hospitals and operations back then (This was at the time her spine was giving her so much trouble.) — so even after the doctor had warned her that the knee could give way again if the condition weren’t corrected — (He told her that even years from then, she could be walking or maybe standing still and suddenly her knee would give way. And he told her that the condition would truly be aggravated by then. And there would even be a chance that a recurrence might leave her crippled for a long, long time.) — even with this warning, Liz had shrugged off the doctor, saying simply that she’d rather skip the idea of undergoing an operation. And now, six years later, it had happened again: right here in London, at the studio, standing still and suddenly the knee buckling under her, the pain flooding her leg, the moaning, the rush for the wheel chair, the trip to the hospital. And now, as they lifted her from the chair and carried her into the examination room of the London Clinic, she remembered the word “crippled” and she remembered her earlier indifference to the word — and a deep chill ran through her body. She remained silent during the examination that followed. Then, the doctor, a stranger to her, though one of England’s top men, told her what she feared — there would be more pain, she could be crippled, surgery was necessary. And surgery could be dangerous. Any operation has its elements of seriousness. And the time element was serious, too. For Liz could not afford to be long inactive. She would have to be off her feet for a week — in the hospital. And then she’d be up on crutches for a couple of months, depending on how well her thigh muscles react. Of course, with her past medical history, it’s hard to be too optimistic about a speedy recovery. And that’s why for Liz an operation, at this time, is out of the question. She was in the middle of a picture, for one thing. And, perhaps more important, there was someone else involved, someone she had <o think about before making her plans. Richard Burton is working on an extremely tight schedule right now. They’ve got to finish their scenes together within four weeks because Richard was scheduled to do some rushed additional work on “Cleopatra.” And, immediately after that, Burton was committed to go into rehearsal for a play he’ll be doing in London. Liz’ operation would interrupt his schedule. And, apparently, she didn’t want to do that. The doctor warned her — she would be in severe pain lots of the time. And still Liz was firm. There’d be no operation now, but maybe there was another way to help her. In England, there is a man named Danny Blanchflower. He is quite a man in those parts. Danny’s a soccer star — who captains Ireland’s national eleven and Britain’s leading club, the Tottenham Hotspurs. And he recently was in the same position as Liz ( Continued on page 74 ) 48