Tag Archives: Mike nichols

So I finally got to see “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966) last night.

There is much to admire about Mike Nichols’ 1966 adaptation of Edward Albee’s 1962 play — but nothing stands out like Elizabeth Taylor’s performance.  That woman’s skill as an actress was stunning.  She was indistinguishable from the doomed character she portrayed, opposite her then-husband, Richard Burton, in a tragedy about a baroquely twisted marriage.  I would  easily place her on par with the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Hopkins or Sissy Spacek.

When I was a kid in the 1980’s, I thought of “Liz” Taylor as some “old” actress from my parents’ time.  (And she frequently seemed like some sort of joke to adults on television who traded in celebrity gossip.)  But now I understand that she had genius-level talent.  Damn.

Postscript — the 1967 poster below was obviously produced in France.

Postscript 2 — I am linking below to Fábio Camargo Corrêa’s Youtube channel.