Brian Pendreigh: Peerless actress played to her strengths

Elizabeth Taylor did not work much in later years. She was probably best known in recent times for her appearances in glossy celebrity magazines, her battle with her weight and other long-term health issues, friendship with the late Michael Jackson and eight marriages, including two to Richard Burton.

However, there was a time when Taylor was regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world, with that raven hair and those violet eyes. Her beauty was apparent even as a 12-year-old in National Velvet, the 1944 film that made her an international star.

She grew into a beautiful woman, with a womanly figure that predated the fashion for stick insects. She played the title role in the 1963 epic Cleopatra. It made a huge loss, but at the same time it was the highest-grossing film of the year. Someone got it wrong somewhere, but not necessarily Taylor. She was the definitive Cleopatra (Amanda Barrie and Carry on Cleo notwithstanding).

It was on the set of Cleopatra that her relationship with Burton began and to some extent she was overshadowed by him. He was the more intellectual, more articulate and it was generally agreed the more talented of the two.

Yet Burton never won an Oscar. Taylor won two. She got the first in 1961 for her performance as the man-eater Gloria in Butterfield 8. She had been rushed into hospital and put in an iron lung - it was thought she might die, so there was certainly a sympathy vote in play. It was one of a number of near calls, but she proved remarkably resilient.

Seven years later, she got a second Oscar for Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?, in which Burton was a university professor and Taylor was his wife. She invites another couple over and then spends the whole time rowing with her husband. The project seemed tailor-made for the Burtons, whose relationship was famously tempestuous.

Shakespeare provided them with a sequel - The Battling Burtons 2, aka The Taming of the Shrew. Taylor could hold her own against any man and overshadowed many. She was at her best when clashing with a strong co-star.

One of her very best roles was as Maggie the Cat, restless, sexy and infuriating, in the 1958 film version of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Paul Newman was equally impressive playing off her as Brick, driven to drink by taunts about his manhood.

In the right role Taylor was very good, but she was hardly the best or most versatile actress of her time. What she had was great beauty and an amazing determination, both of which were apparent on the big screen. Taylor and Burton may or may not have been made for each other. Taylor and Cleopatra definitely were.