Elizabeth Taylor & Doris Brynner: An Elegant Friendship
Hollywood has seen many friendships form between stars and tastemakers, but few combined a glamorous lifestyle with genuine intimacy in the way Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Brynner did. The friendship between Elizabeth and Doris was defined by warmth, humor, and a shared appreciation of life’s finer pleasures — though their friendship began because they were both in the limelight, it grew because of their mutual admiration and love.
Doris was a name in her own right, having become a force in the world of couture and being known for her marriage to actor Yul Brynner, through whom she met Elizabeth. In an interview given before her passing, Doris recalled her first meeting with Elizabeth in the 1960s, at the Beverly Hills Hotel. “There was Elizabeth, with no makeup on, looking absolutely beautiful. And I just sat there and stared at her. And she said, ‘What are you staring at? What’s wrong with me?’ That was Elizabeth.”
In Elizabeth, Doris found a friend who could delight in life’s joys as freely as she did, from ordering late-night pizzas to their hotel room in Las Vegas to cozy chalet mornings in Gstaad, conversations that meandered without agenda, and laughter that carried long into the night. “[Elizabeth was] funny, naughty, and wonderful all at the same time,” Doris said. “She was uniquely amazing, kind, funny, very bright, and a super friend.”
Elizabeth and Doris’s friendship crossed into familial territory when she gave Elizabeth the special honor of being godmother to her daughter Victoria in 1962, along with another dear friend, Audrey Hepburn. As Elizabeth and Victoria both made Los Angeles home from the 1980’s on, they spent decades of holidays and casual Sunday afternoons together celebrating life and sharing a close bond. Victoria was very much a part of Elizabeth’s inner circle, as a surrogate daughter and trusted friend.
Doris also observed that Elizabeth had a rare ability to fully inhabit each experience that life offered her, and always expressed appreciation for the luxury that surrounded her, including her famed jewelry collection. “There was a true joy every time she'd see her pieces — she didn’t take them for granted,” Doris said. “She wasn’t snobby about them either — you could give her anything, down to a button, and she'd be so thrilled, as though she didn't own anything before.”
When Elizabeth passed away in 2011, she left Doris a special jewel that fit her friend's exquisite taste: her Belle Époque diamond bow brooch from Gillot. Doris treasured the sparkling art deco piece until her passing in February of 2025. In January 2026, Sotheby’s Paris is set to present an exhibition celebrating Doris’ extraordinary life, highlighting and auctioning personal belongings that recount decades of style, friendship, and taste. Elizabeth’s brooch is among the treasures listed for auction, along with a Bulgari brooch given to her by Audrey Hepburn.
Among the friends who were an essential part of Elizabeth’s life, Doris Brynner stands as a companion who celebrated her unique brilliance and shared in times of true joy. Their friendship remains, in every anecdote and every treasured object, a testament to a bond that was as luminous as Elizabeth herself.