What Color Were Elizabeth Taylor's Eyes?

Human eye color can produce some remarkable variations, with some rare cases where people even have heterochromia (two mostly or completely different eye colors). Even among the more common eye colors, blue and green are a relative rarity in the world compared to different shades of brown. According to Healthline about 55-79% of people in the world have brown eyes, while blue makes up 8-10%, Hazel and Amber make up 5% each, green only 2%, and gray eyes only belong to 1% of people.

Meanwhile, violet eyes are a phenomenon that almost never appears naturally; contrary to popular assumption people with albinism do not have red or purple eyes, but rather conventional pigments (via Albinism). Yet depending on who is asked, actress Elizabeth Taylor is remembered for her supposedly prominent violet eye color (per Cheat Sheet). While this has been a common assumption by many, Taylor's eyes were instead blue (per Classic Hollywood Central).

The illusion of Taylor's violet eyes largely comes from the specific and unique amount of melanin that encircled her irises according to First For Women. While this could appear as a violet or lavender hue, her eyes were very much a unique shade of blue. The perception that they weren't was additionally aided by the makeup that she used personally and in many of her films (via Live Science). 

It also helped that even those close to Taylor framed her eyes as violet as well, such as her husband Richard Burton (via The Things). While the truth may be a letdown for those who wanted an example of purple eyes in nature, Taylor was not totally devoid of genetic uniqueness. She had a mutation known as distichiasis that causes two rows of eyelashes to form on one's eyelids — something that also helped draw attention to her eyes (via NBC).