Newly discovered interviews shed light on Elizabeth Taylor's tumultuous marriage to Eddie Fisher, including allegations that Fisher taunted her with a gun.
Newly discovered interviews with Elizabeth Taylor have revealed disturbing details about her marriage to Eddie Fisher, including allegations that Fisher taunted her with a gun during their union.
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
The revelations come from the upcoming HBO documentary "Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes," which features audio from a series of interviews with journalist Richard Meryman beginning in 1964, as well as a 1985 interview with Dominick Dunne.
In one of the interviews, Taylor claimed that Fisher once taunted her with a gun while they were in bed.
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
"I was surprised by some of the things that [Elizabeth Taylor] did and admitted to doing," director Nanette Burstein told Fox News Digital. "Like attempting suicide, for example. Because she was so unhappy with her marriage to Eddie Fisher and the fact that he put a gun to her head and said, ‘You’re much too pretty to shoot.’ Some of these tidbits of really tumultuous moments in her life were revelations to me."
Burstein said that Taylor felt so "trapped" in her marriage to Fisher that she was ready to take her life. The guilt stopped her.
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
"She was so upset with herself for attempting suicide because of her children," said Burstein. "She felt it was so selfish. But a lot of it was feeling trapped, like, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve publicly divorced so many men at this point, and I’m still in my 20s, early 30s.' She was so ashamed. She married Eddie Fisher because she was reacting to the death of [her third husband] Mike Todd, who tragically and suddenly died in a plane crash."
"She was madly in love with [Todd]," Burstein continued. "She was experiencing terrible grief and obviously made a very bad decision in the midst of that. Then she didn’t know how to get out of it. And then she was falling in love with Richard Burton and having another affair, one that became more public and scandalous."
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
In the documentary, Taylor described how her marriage to Fisher was "like being locked up."
"Eddie made sure that I felt lonely," she is heard saying. "We never went out. It’s like he didn’t like me to mingle with other people… I started to sleep 14-15 hours at once. I was trying to avoid everything. I was trying to avoid life. But I was so desperate at one time that I did take some sleeping pills. I did it deliberately, calmly and in front of Eddie. I was fed up with everything. I couldn’t face the thought of divorce. I’d rather be dead than face going through a divorce."
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
"A doctor came to the hotel," she said. "And thank God. I’m so deeply ashamed."
During her marriage to Fisher, Taylor fell in love with Burton, her "Cleopatra" co-star. Fisher made his feelings known.
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
"Eddie at nighttime would sit up," Taylor recalled. "He had a gun. Every time I started to close my eyes... he would stroke my arm and say, ‘I’m not going to kill you. I’m not going to shoot you. You’re much too pretty.’ All night long… I was so scared."
Burstein said it was clear Taylor "did not like Eddie."
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
"The way she described it, he was cruel to her," said Burstein. "He seemed very controlling. He probably sensed that she wasn’t in love with him, and he was reacting… in a very jealous, controlling way. [But] she never loved him to begin with. Now she’s stuck in a loveless marriage in which the guy is putting a gun to her head."
Singer Eddie Fisher kisses his wife Elizabeth Taylor before he goes onstage, circa 1959. (Getty Images)
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
In the 2011 book, "Furious Love," obtained by Fox News Digital, authors Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger wrote that one night, Taylor woke up to Fisher "watching over her, pointing the gun at her head. ‘Don’t worry, Elizabeth,' she heard him say. ‘I’m not going to kill you. You're too beautiful.' That's when she fled. She gathered up her children… and never went back."
Fisher's son, Todd Fisher, told Fox News Digital this was the first time he had heard this claim.
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
"I never discussed this with him when he was alive," Todd explained to Fox News Digital. "We obviously had talked about Elizabeth... He was very obsessed with her and had basically scuttled his whole life and career for her. And Richard Burton was quite a formidable foe in terms of someone to compete with. My father was not in his league at all. My father was super charming, an amazing singer. But Richard Burton was far more cerebral and charismatic in different ways... He was also very intense. My father was not like that at all."
Todd Fisher told Fox News Digital that Elizabeth Taylor was the love of his father's life. (Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
"Richard Burton was an in-your-face kind of a person, whereas my father was super mellow," he shared. "But when it comes to him losing Elizabeth... I know that he was crazy in love with her. He said [she] was the love of his life, but he was not the love of her life."
Todd said that while his father had a small collection of guns "from his service days," he was never violent. He also noted that Taylor, whom he befriended over the years, never shared this story with either him or his sister. Still, he also knows that Taylor would never have said anything "salacious" to "gain points."
Elizabeth Taylor's 'Traumatic Marriage' with Eddie Fisher Revealed in Lost Tapes
"My father was more like that," he admitted. "My father would do things to attract the press, like gnats to a wine glass. He would try to think of salacious things to say, but that really wasn't Liz. I would have a tendency to... possibly believe this story based upon how worked up he was about what had happened in his mind. He had given up everything for her. He had scuttled his family, his career - everything... And he was using drugs... Do drug addicts and
