When Elizabeth Taylor walked onto a movie set, directors didn't just see a star; they saw a biological anomaly. Specifically, those eyes. They weren't just blue. They weren't just "striking." People for decades have sworn up and down that they were actually, genuinely purple.
But can a human being actually have purple eyes?
The short answer is: kinda. Science says no, but your own eyes (and the accounts of everyone who ever met her) say yes. It’s one of the most enduring mysteries of the Golden Age of Hollywood. It wasn't just a marketing gimmick cooked up by a studio publicist—though they certainly didn't mind the press.
Elizabeth Taylor with purple eyes became a global obsession, a shorthand for a level of beauty that felt literally otherworldly. If you look at high-definition stills from Cleopatra or Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, there is a deep, lavender tint that’s hard to ignore.
The Science of the "Violet" Illusion
Here is the thing about eye color: it’s mostly just a trick of the light. There is no blue or green pigment in the human eye. We only have melanin, which is brown.
The rest is physics. It's called Rayleigh scattering, the same reason the sky looks blue. Light hits the stroma of the iris, bounces around, and reflects back. If you have very little melanin and a specific iris structure, the light reflects back as blue.
If the blue is deep enough—pigmented just right—it can take on a violet hue.
Experts like Dr. Norman Saffra, an ophthalmologist, have pointed out that "violet" is essentially a very specific point on the blue-to-gray spectrum. It’s rare. Like, winning-the-genetic-lottery rare.
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Taylor didn't have "purple" pigments. She had a very deep, saturated blue that leaned toward the red end of the spectrum under specific conditions.
The Genetic Mutation You Didn't Know About
Most people focus on the color, but the real secret to Taylor’s gaze was actually a mutation.
She was born with a condition called distichiasis.
Basically, it means she had two rows of eyelashes. While most of us are struggling with mascara to get a bit of volume, Elizabeth Taylor was born with a natural, thick fringe that made her eyes look like they were permanently framed in velvet.
Legend has it that when she was nine years old and filming Lassie Come Home, the producers told her to go wash off her "excessive" eye makeup. She wasn't wearing any. It was just the double row of lashes.
This mutation is caused by a glitch in the FOXC2 gene. While it sounds glamorous, it’s actually a medical condition that can cause heart issues later in life, which Taylor famously suffered from. But on camera? It created a depth that made her eyes pop in a way no other actor could replicate.
How Hollywood "Faked" the Purple
Even with the best genetics, the movie business is all about enhancement. Elizabeth Taylor knew exactly how to play up her features.
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She was a master of color theory.
- Wardrobe Choices: She almost always wore lavender, violet, or deep blue. By wearing colors that matched the subtle undertones of her irises, she forced the viewer's brain to "fill in" the purple.
- Makeup Magic: Her makeup artists, like the legendary Francesca Tolot, didn't use harsh blacks. They used buildable grays and smoky blues.
- Lighting Gels: On set, cinematographers would often use specific filters or lighting setups to pull out the cooler tones in her eyes.
If you put Elizabeth Taylor in a yellow room with harsh fluorescent light, her eyes probably looked dark blue. Put her in a lavender silk gown under soft, filtered studio lights? Suddenly, you have the most famous purple eyes in history.
The Mystery of the Passport
Interestingly, Taylor’s own passport reportedly listed her eye color as "dark blue."
Why? Because "violet" isn't a standard option for government documents. Honestly, it would probably look like a prank to a border agent in 1955.
But eyewitness accounts are harder to ignore. Australian film critic David Stratton once described meeting her in 1973 and being "transfixed." He claimed he had never seen eyes of that color before or since.
It wasn't just the color, though. It was the contrast. She had jet-black hair, porcelain skin, and that double row of lashes. Everything was designed by nature to make those eyes the center of the universe.
Can You Actually Have Purple Eyes Today?
A lot of people ask if they can get "Elizabeth Taylor eyes."
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Unless you’re born with that specific melanin concentration and the distichiasis mutation, you’re looking at colored contacts. Taylor lived in an era before these were commercially available (they didn't hit the market until 1983). So, what we see on film from the 50s and 60s is 100% the real deal—just boosted by great cinematography.
True violet eyes are sometimes associated with albinism, where the lack of pigment allows the red of blood vessels to show through, mixing with the blue to create a purple look. But Taylor didn't have albinism. She was just a "one-of-a-kind" genetic outlier.
What We Can Learn From the Taylor Gaze
The fascination with her eyes wasn't just about a color. It was about the rarity.
In a world of filters and AI-generated perfection, looking back at someone who was "naturally" different is refreshing. She leaned into her "mutation." She used it to build a brand that lasted over seventy years.
If you're looking to replicate that "violet" look, you don't need a genetic mutation.
Start with color theory. Use charcoal or navy eyeliners instead of stark black. Wear shades of plum or lavender if you have blue or gray eyes; it pulls out the warmer undertones.
But mostly, remember that Taylor’s eyes were famous because they were hers. The confidence she had—that "I'm the most beautiful woman in the room" energy—did more for her eyes than any lighting gel ever could.
To really understand the impact, you have to watch her in motion. Stills don't do it justice. Go find a high-res clip of her in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Watch how the color shifts when she turns her head. It’s a masterclass in how light, biology, and style can converge to create a legend.
Check out some of her early films like National Velvet to see how the "violet" look evolved as she aged and the film technology improved. You'll see that while the color was real, the legend was something she—and Hollywood—meticulously crafted over a lifetime.