IN HER OWN WORDS

Elizabeth Taylor speaks from beyond the grave in a new documentary based on recently discovered tapes

- DENNIS CAVERNELIS

SHE was the quintessential superstar, a glamorous, gorgeous S woman with raven hair and legendary blue eyes whose box-office allure was matched only by her sex appeal.

Her many romantic dalliances and multiple marriages were seized on by a fascinated world - but behind the dazzling façade lay a woman who longed to be herself, not only the person the relentless Hollywood machine portrayed her to be.

And now Elizabeth Taylor is resurfacing to tell her story in her own words 13 years after she died of hear failure at the age of 79.

A new HBO documentary, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, revolves around 40 hours of previously unheard taped interviews with Liz, conducted by late journalist and author Richard Meryman who recorded the interviews in 1964 for the actress' autobiography which he ghost wrote.

"You rarely have such a legendary figure speak so frankly from beyond the grave," the doccie's acclaimed director Nanette Burstein says.

"The tapes are confessional and intimate. If she thought they were going to be shared, she wouldn't have spoken in the same way. Her family wanted the world to hear that side of Elizabeth."

Few truly knew the woman behind the movie star, says Quinn Tivey (38), Liz's grandson who's a producer of the documentary and a co-trustee of her estate. "The woman I knew wasn't Elizabeth Taylor the movie star - she was simply a wonderful, fun, silly and caring grandmother.

"I remember watching movies with her in bed, chatting about dating advice and just hanging out with a very cool person.

The documentary shows how his gran "protected the difference between Elizabeth Taylor the brand name and Elizabeth Taylor the person and she talks about this in the documentary to great effect".