Turquoise waters, wild hair, a plunging white swimsuit. This image of Elizabeth Taylor in director Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Southern Gothic psychological drama Suddenly, Last Summer is unforgettable. Depicted on the film’s poster, the actor’s white swimsuit was reportedly deemed so risqué as to be controversial at the time. Nonetheless, it helped sparked a style trend that continues to this day.
A stunning beauty—famed for her deep blue, violet eyes—Taylor stands as one of those magnetic yet mysterious icons of American cinema whose turbulent career remains inextricably linked to Hollywood’s Golden Age. From the white sands of Malibu to the turquoise waters of Ischia, here is look back at the icon’s most striking summer appearances.
