'She was a spectacular woman': How Colin Farrell almost became Elizabeth Taylor’s ninth husband

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Brewer wrote, “His Irish brogue and reputation as a non-conformist reminded her of her beloved Richard.” Taylor was famously married to Welsh-born actor Richard Burton twice, from 1964 to 1974 and 1975 to 1976. During Taylor and Farrell's first meeting at the actress Bel-Air mansion, Farrell brought along a copy of poetry by Yeats and “told her that if she ever wanted him to come back and read poetry to her he would happily oblige.”

Afterward, Taylor wrote to the actor, “What a pleasure it was to meet you. And thank God … you really are a true Celt. You remind me of so many good things … so many happy things. Thank you for being so real.” He visited Taylor "again and again, to read to her,” writes Brewer. “He sat in an armchair beside her bed and she occasionally played recordings of Richard reading poetry.” The two continued to grow close over time and shared several late-night phone calls. “I’d call her at two in the morning, and the nurse would answer the phone, and I’d say, ‘Is she awake?’ … And we’d talk for a half an hour, an hour, into the wee hours.”

“It was really cool. I just adored her,” he continued of Taylor. “She was a spectacular, spectacular woman. I wanted to be [husband] number [nine], but we ran out of road.” Farrell revealed on 'The Ellen Degeneres Show' in 2013, “It was kind of like the last — it feels like in my head, not hers, I’m projecting — but the last kind of romantic relationship I had. Which was never consummated.”