Preloading

Elizabeth Taylor's Near-Death Experience

Aired on 03/04/1992 | CC tv-pg
In 1992, Elizabeth Taylor, legendary star of the silver screen, celebrated her 60th birthday on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Among the many stories she told about her glamorous life, Elizabeth shared one particularly vivid experience she had when, about 30 years before, doctors had declared her dead for five minutes.

Elizabeth described her out-of-body experience as having been welcoming. She encountered ethereal figures, one of whom she recognized as one of her ex-husbands, who told Elizabeth she had to fight to go back because it wasn't yet her time. Elizabeth also recounts the warmth and weightlessness of the moments feeling like "being in liquid mercury."

When Elizabeth finally came to, she no longer feared death and always kept the experience close to her. Here, she reveals what it was like on the other side.

Original airdate: March 4, 1992