‘The Birds’ star enjoyed ‘hard-drinking’ and ‘casual romances’ in Hollywood: book
When Rod Taylor passed away, his obituary described him as “a Hollywood hellion, a hard drinking, womanizing, combative man who enjoyed giving outspoken interviews punctuated with four-letter words.”
The Australian actor’s biographer, Stephen Vagg, said it was all true.
“Rod Taylor was a hard-living, womanizing man,” the Australian writer, who penned the book “Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood,” told Fox News Digital.
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Rod Taylor, seen here with Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” died in 2015. He was 84. (Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions/Album/ALAMY)
“The obituaries were correct,” said Vagg. “He was a typical Australian of his generation. He liked to drink. He started on the radio and a lot of the actors would meet at the local bar while they were in between jobs… He was a very social person, and alcohol was a big part of that.”
Rod Taylor and Ahna Capri in a scene from the movie “Darker Than Amber,” circa 1970. (Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images)
“He had a drinking problem,” Vagg claimed. “A lot of actors of his generation did. It was… socially acceptable at the time.
“He made a film called ‘The V.I.P.s’ with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor at the height of their paparazzi mania. And apparently, everyone was throwing back whiskeys at 9 a.m.… It was a different time.”
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred alongside Rod Taylor in “The V.I.P.s.” (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Taylor’s brawny good looks made him a leading man for films ranging from Westerns to romantic comedies. While his breakthrough came in 1960 with “The Time Machine,” he would later star in the 1963 horror classic “The Birds.”
Alfred Hitchcock originally wanted English-born actor Cary Grant for “The Birds.” (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
“The role was originally written for Cary Grant,” Vagg explained. “I think whenever Alfred Hitchcock wrote a film, he [went], ‘Let’s just write it for Cary Grant.’ However, Cary Grant was expensive to hire, so [the studio] went with the cheaper option… Rod was well-known, but not a big star. They cast him.”
“The lead female role was written for Grace Kelly, who by then had retired,” said Vagg. “She was married to Prince Rainier of Monaco, [and] she wouldn’t come out of retirement. So, Hitchcock discovered Tippi Hedren.”
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Stephen Vagg spoke to several sources for his book, including Tippi Hedren. Rod Taylor, who was aware of the book being written, declined to participate. (Universal Studios/Getty Images)
For his book, Vagg interviewed the actress, 94, who is the mother of Melanie Griffith and grandmother of Dakota Johnson.
“She paid a lot of tribute to how Rod helped her because she was such a newcomer,” said Vagg. “He really helped her out. I think they had marvelous chemistry in the film. It was a difficult shoot for her because she was new, but also because she had to spend a lot of time… being attacked by birds.”
English director Alfred Hitchcock with a stuffed crow in a promotional portrait for his film, “The Birds.” (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
“And I think Rod fits into the Alfred Hitchcock world very well… It’s a great shame that he and Hitchcock never worked together again,” Vagg added.
Tippi Hedren credited Rod Taylor for supporting her on the set of “The Birds.” (John Springer Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)
As Taylor skyrocketed to fame, his tough guy persona caught the eye of actresses, keeping him busy as a sought-after Hollywood bachelor.
“He was a very good-looking guy,” said Vagg. “He took advantage of that in Hollywood. I think it’s fair to say he had a very, very active single life for a long time. It took him a few marriages to find the right one, which sometimes happens.”
A woman sits on the back of Rod Taylor in a scene from the film “The Man Who Had Power Over Women,” circa 1970. (AVCO Embassy/Getty Images)
“Rod Taylor had a number of high-profile romances,” Vagg shared. “One of the big ones at the time was with Anita Ekberg, who was best known for dancing in the Trevi Fountain in ‘La Dolce Vita.’
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At one point, Rod Taylor was engaged to Anita Ekberg. She passed away in 2015 at age 83. (Tom Kelley/Getty Images)
“They were engaged, and they would do a lot of fighting in public, and the paparazzi would follow them… They were a combustible couple… There was a lot of excitement, but a lot of turbulence. Eventually, they both couldn’t sustain it. But the minute they broke up, both of them got engaged to other people quite quickly.”
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“He also had a less publicized affair with Maggie Smith,” said Vagg about the actress, who died in September of this year at age 89.
“She’s not the sort of person you associate with that, but he was in awe of her talents, as most people were,” said Vagg. “He said he fell in love with her and was willing to marry her, but she didn’t want to do that.
“He was a very good-looking guy. He took advantage of that in Hollywood. I think it’s fair to say he had a very, very active single life for a long time.”
Maggie Smith and Rod Taylor starred in 1965’s “Young Cassidy.” (FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)
“He also had an affair with Frances Nuyen… and a lot of his other co-stars… He was a good-looking man who was a Hollywood movie star. I think that gives you a lot of opportunities, and he took a lot of them.”
Stephen Vagg’s book, “Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood,” is out now. (BearManor Media)
Taylor was romantically linked to Inger Stevens, Merle Oberson, Nikki Schenck, Rhonda Fleming, Tura Satana and Nicola Michaels – just to name a few.
Before his third marriage to Carol Kikumura, which lasted from 1980 until he died in 2015, Taylor was described as “commitment-shy” and preferred “casual romances on film sets.”
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Rod Taylor carrying actress Yvette Mimieux in his arms, circa 1960. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Taylor’s rugged, yet suave persona even made him a candidate to play 007 – at least according to him.
“Rod Taylor always used to say that he was up for the role of James Bond,” said Vagg. “I don’t know how seriously he was considered. I think a lot of people were in consideration at the time. He wasn’t one of the frontrunners, that’s for sure.
Scottish actor Sean Connery as James Bond. Rod Taylor once claimed he was up for the role of 007. (Getty Images)
“He was in a TV show called ‘Hong Kong’ that… only ran for one season, but it was very, very popular… He played this sophisticated journalist in Hong Kong. That’s a very good James Bond trial. You can look at that and go, ‘I can see how he would’ve been considered.’”
Rod Taylor starred in the TV series “Hong Kong,” which was popular in his native Australia. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
He did voice Pongo in Disney’s 1961 film, “101 Dalmatians.”
During his reign in Hollywood, Taylor also developed a close bond with John Wayne, his co-star in 1973’s “The Train Robbers.”
“They both liked to drink, they both liked to talk and they both loved to play poker,” said Vagg. “John Wayne would regularly beat Rod Taylor at poker, but he would forgive the debt. They got along really well. They were both very boisterous types… They liked to have all-night drinking sessions, playing poker and having a good old time… They were friends up until John Wayne died in 1979.”
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The cast of “The Train Robbers,” from left, Ben Johnson, Christopher George, Rod Taylor, Ann-Margret and John Wayne. (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
“These were two men [who] loved life,” Vagg added.
As his film career began to wind down, Taylor turned to television. He also began to produce and co-produce his later films and TV shows, carefully investing the earnings in safe securities that ensured a comfortable retirement.
Later in life, Quentin Tarantino convinced Taylor to come out of retirement to play Winston Churchill in “Inglorious Basterds.”
Rod Taylor and his wife attend the Ireland Fund Honoring Gene Kelly event on Nov. 8, 1990, in Beverly Hills, California. (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“Rod Taylor’s final years were happy ones,” said Vagg. “He finally found true love with his wife at the time… He’d done a lot of hard living… A lot of his contemporaries died quite young because they didn’t treat themselves too well. Fortunately, his wife Carol was a dancer who got him into yoga and eating well. I think she prolonged his life.”
Rod Taylor was a pioneer of the Australian-New Zealand invasion of Hollywood that would come to include actors Mel Gibson, Judy Davis, Nicole Kidman (born in Hawaii to Australian parents), Geoffrey Rush and Russell Crowe. (John Springer Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)
“He was content in his last few years,” he shared. “He also hung onto a lot of his money… he was smart enough to do that. A lot of film stars at the time just didn’t, and he managed to do that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
