Liz Taylor Stand-in Recalls Working With the Legend

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- Far from the glare of Hollywood, an 82-year-old woman living quietly in this beachside community reacted to news of actress Elizabeth Taylor's death with tears and an overwhelming sense of sadness.

It was a lifetime away, but memories of Hollywood's golden age started flooding back to Sydney Mack as she recalled working with legends such as Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif.

Although Mack retired from Hollywood 50 years ago, she vividly remembers key events from working behind the scenes in movies, including "Cleopatra," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Suddenly, Last Summer."

"I owe everything to her," said Mack, who went by the name Patricia Beattie. "If I didn't work on 'Cleopatra,' I wouldn't have met my husband on the set, moved to California, and had my children."

Mack was Taylor's stand-in during the filming of "Cleopatra," the 1963 epic film costarring Burton and Harrison. She worked for an entire year with the stunning violet-eyed actress in Italy, where the blockbuster was filmed.

Mack saw firsthand the beginnings of Taylor's great love affair with Burton, also witnessing the actress' vulnerable side. Taylor was known for her steely resolve in battling innumerable health problems, raising money to find a cure for AIDS, and surviving seven failed marriages.

Taylor died of heart failure in Los Angeles on March 23. She was 79.

Mack first met Taylor in 1958 during the filming of "Suddenly, Last Summer." Born in Hampstead, England -- the same as Taylor -- Mack spoke several languages and loved to travel. While in Madrid, she noticed the film crew and hit them up for a job.

She became a translator for assistant director Ted Sturgis, who didn't speak Spanish. Taylor was married to Eddie Fisher at the time and Mack watched their interaction.

"He just wasn't right for her. She was so strong and forward and he wasn't," Mack said. "It just didn't seem right."

When shooting wrapped, Sturgis went to work on "Lawrence of Arabia," bringing Mack along. Her job was to serve as bartender in a tent on the set in the Jordanian desert, hundreds of miles from civilization.

"Everyone came to my tent," she said with a laugh. "Although I did not get along with Peter O'Toole. I ordered the wrong champagne for him (from a distributor) and he was so cross about it. He was angry and wouldn't talk to me."

Sharif, however, was another story.

"Omar was the nicest person you could ever meet," Mack said. "He had the most beautiful dark eyes I had ever seen. I'm sure every woman was in love with him. He was very nice to me."

The crew lived in tents. One evening, Mack was inside her tent, crying over a relationship with a boyfriend, when Sharif stopped by to cheer her up.

"He was such a wonderful man, he ended up staying and talking to me for a long time," she said. "He was very caring and worried."

Mack said she could have easily fallen in love with Sharif, but didn't allow herself to.

After three months, she left her job. The weather was brutal and the hundreds of Bedouins who worked as extras were hostile toward women; Mack was constantly fearful of them. She made her way to Italy in 1961, where "Cleopatra" was filming.

"I would sit there until they got sick of me and would give me a job," Mack recalled. "I had enough money to sleep in the Y for two nights. I would do anything."

As it turned out, Mack was 5 feet 4 inches tall -- the same as Taylor. The director needed a stand-in who would help lighting, wardrobe and set technicians get everything ready for when Taylor stepped on stage to film. Mack spent days trying on costumes, sitting under hot lights, blocking out scenes. Her contract was extended for a year.

She worked with Taylor every day that year and, like the rest of the cast, saw the blazing chemistry that existed between Taylor and Burton.

"They had a love scene in the bed and they were kissing and the director yelled, 'Cut, cut, cut!'" Mack recalled. "They wouldn't stop, they were still kissing."

In contrast, when Taylor kissed Harrison, the scene was definitely over when the director called "Cut." The pair had no chemistry, Mack said, recalling the stressful nature on the set when Harrison worked.

"He was a very tense man. If you made a mistake, he would blame you," Mack said. "He was not easy to work with. I only talked to him the first few days and when he found out I wasn't important, he didn't want to talk to me again. He reminded me of Peter O'Toole."

In contrast, Burton was full of life and would tell jokes and sing songs between takes. The cast and crew loved him.

"Richard was so full of fun, he was always laughing," Mack said.

She recalled one night at a restaurant when she was dining with Taylor, Burton and sound technician John Mack, who later became her husband. Taylor was spending an inordinate amount of time in the restroom and Burton asked Sydney Mack to see what was wrong.

"She was crying and I said, 'What's the matter?' and she said, 'He'll never marry me,'" Sydney Mack recalled. "They were both married to other people and she didn't think Richard would leave his wife. I told her, 'Of course he'll marry you!'"

Sydney Mack said the pair drank heavily, as did most of the crew. Taylor swore frequently and Burton didn't like it.

One time Sydney Mack told her, "How can such words come out of such a lovely face?" and Taylor started to cry.

The Taylor/Burton affair was making worldwide news. In order to escape the press, who would chase her down the streets, the actress often donned blond wigs and huge sunglasses.

John Mack's favorite memory was spending the afternoon on a boat with Sydney Mack and cruising by another boat where Taylor and Burton were sunning and swimming.

"Sydney wasn't in a bathing suit and Elizabeth yelled out to Sydney, 'Do you want a bikini?'" John Mack laughed. Sydney Mack, who only wore one-piece suits, declined.

But by far the most riveting experience was working on the scene involving Cleopatra's entrance into Rome. Taylor would sit on a black sphinx three stories tall while thousands of extras simulated slaves.

"Both Elizabeth and I hated heights. I sat up there for three days and she only had to do it for a few minutes," Sydney Mack said. "All that was holding us in was a thin belt. I remember she had tears in her eyes before going up there but her children were there and she didn't want them to see her cry."

Taylor was also afraid that the local extras would throw stones at her because the country was Catholic and her affair with Burton was front page news. Instead, the happy crowd began to chant, "Liz, Liz, Liz!"

After shooting wrapped, Taylor and Sydney Mack went their separate ways, marrying the men they fell in love with on set. John Mack, now 83, went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for "The Hindenburg" (he lost to "Jaws") and was nominated for several Emmys. The couple had two children.

Years later, the pair would attend a tribute to "Cleopatra" director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. They spoke to the famed director, who remembered Sydney Mack.

Mack also ran into a wardrobe mistress, who asked her if she liked the bracelet Taylor had left as a gift after shooting "Cleopatra."

"I asked her, 'What bracelet?' I never got a bracelet. It was left with someone with instructions to give to me and I never got it," Mack said wistfully. "All these years later, I wish I would have thanked her."