Elizabeth Taylor, who died Mar. 23, was an iconic actress, a great philanthropist, successful perfume pitch-woman and the center of the 20th century pop culture universe.
She also really liked dudes. In her 79 years of life, she had eight marriages with seven different men. Her mates included hotel heirs, construction workers, politicians and fellow actors. But they weren't created equal. So instead of revisiting Elizabeth Taylor's many men in chronological order, we've ranked them by awesomeness and how their respective unions have stood the test of time. Let's begin...
7. Michael Todd (1957-1958) Poor Michael. Having fathered one of Liz's four children should spare him from being in last place, but, alas, he's the only husband of Taylor's who exited the marriage by dying. Little more than a year after their 1957 wedding, his unfortunately-titled plane, "Lucky Liz," crashed in New Mexico, killing him and three other passengers.
6. Michael Wilding (1952-1957) A British actor who gave Liz her two sons, Michael and Christopher, Wilding seemed to exist solely in the shadow of his wife. His IMDB profile certainly pales in comparison.
5. Conrad Hilton Jr. (1950-1951) You never forget your first. Hilton may have marked Liz's shortest marriage, but that makes him no less of a pioneer. Also? His dad was briefly a character on "Mad Men."
4. John Warner (1976-1982) One of just two Liz exes to survive her, Warner was the thinking man's Mr. Taylor. He served in World War II, held the title of Secretary of the Navy and for the last three years of their marriage, he was a United States Senator -- a title he held until his retirement in 2009.
3. Eddie Fisher (1959-1964) You've got to hand it to Eddie just for guts he had in becoming husband #4 to Liz. Not only was the famous singer the best friend of newly-deceased Michael Todd, he left his wife Debbie Reynolds to marry her. Their union wasn't what you would call "well-received."
2. Larry Fortensky (1991-1996) Wait. Who is Larry Fortensky? Only the last man to tame Liz Taylor's wild heart. The curly-mullet-ed construction worker was 20 years younger than Taylor when they married on Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The five-year free ride he had with her, before slipping into obscurity, makes him one of the biggest winners on this list.
1. Richard Burton (1964-1974, 1975-1976) Nothing compares to Richard Burton. They married twice, and during their run, they were debatably the most important couple on the planet. They starred in intense movies ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?") together, which people constantly speculated mirrored their private lives. We also have an especially soft spot for what a candid drunk Burton was. He admitted to "trying" homosexuality and suggested that all actors were really gay, they just "cover it up with drink." ... Drink and marriages to Elizabeth Taylor?
