Easter at Elizabeth Taylor’s

For Elizabeth Taylor, Easter was one of the most joyful holidays of all. Her longtime private chef Neil Zevnik recalls that Easter held a special place, even among her most cherished holidays. "I really had the feeling that Easter was her spiritual favorite," he says. "It's the start of spring, it's reinvention, it's that feeling of newness after the winter — all those good things." Not only that, having spent her own childhood in front of a camera, Elizabeth found profound meaning in sharing the season's sense of wonder with the children around her. "The joy of sharing this with children — her own children and grandchildren and her friends' children — was deeply meaningful for her."

At the heart of the celebration was the Easter egg hunt. Two hunts ran at once, one for the little ones in the garden beyond the pool, where eggs were nestled within easy reach, and one for the older children in more challenging hillside territory. Every child arrived with a basket already filled with chocolate, jelly beans, and peeps, adding their found eggs to the collection as the hunt unfolded. Prizes awaited everyone, and every child walked away with something they truly wanted. Neil made sure of it, always bringing more prizes than there were children. The eggs themselves were never store-bought, rather in the days leading up to Easter, the household staff gathered around the kitchen table to color them by hand. 

Beyond the egg hunt, the entertainment scaled to match Elizabeth's legendary generosity. One year, Cirque du Soleil performed an acrobatic show beside the pool. Another year, a full troupe of actors staged an elaborate production of “Alice in Wonderland” that wove through the grounds, drawing the children into the story. A petting zoo was a near-annual fixture. 

The food, unlike the more traditional Thanksgiving menu, allowed Neil room to play. One constant, however, was a Honey Baked Ham. "We had to have it every Easter,” Neil shares, “She loved the sweet, crunchy edges of the ham especially." So beloved was it that Neil placed the order well in advance each year, knowing that walking in last-minute, even on behalf of Elizabeth Taylor, was simply not a risk worth taking.

Alongside the ham came cheesy scalloped potatoes, a generous platter of grilled vegetables, and often a chicken dish — Neil's favorite canvas for creativity, one year featuring grilled chicken breasts with feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, and toasted pine nuts. Mac & cheese made a reliable appearance too, to please the youngest guests. The whole affair was a buffet, as Elizabeth believed that guests should have exactly what they wanted, in exactly the amount they wanted, without ceremony getting in the way. 

Dessert was a changing lineup of treats: sometimes pies, sometimes a Denver chocolate sheet cake with fudgy frosting. Ice cream was usually included, and cookies were guaranteed, with at minimum two or three flavors. Chocolate-covered strawberries, made with fresh fruit procured from the Hollywood Farmer’s Market dipped in Valrhona chocolate, were a springtime signature.

The guest list comprised friends and family who were there not because of who they were, but because Elizabeth genuinely loved them. "They were there because she liked and loved them and wanted to extend her generosity to them, not because she needed to score points by being around other celebrities," Neil notes. That lack of pretense extended to her home, which as Neil remembers, was never a showpiece or a statement. Even though the beautiful Bel Air estate had white carpets that sometimes caught spills, it was the type of place where mistakes could be made and no one got upset, a place that could accommodate the messiness of life. "It was never just a house, it was a home," he says simply.

And that, perhaps, is the truest thing that can be said about Easter at Elizabeth's. From the entertainment to the food to the hand-colored eggs and prizes chosen with love, it was all the expression of the same impulse. "What Elizabeth wanted more than anything was to give people a wonderful time," Neil says. "She wanted there to be a feeling of comfort, of safety, of pleasure, of joy, and whatever it took to do that — the environment, the food, the entertainment — she did."