[candymosh]

Hollywood Legend Elizabeth Taylor Dies

Updated: Wednesday, 23 Mar 2011, 8:24 AM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 23 Mar 2011, 8:07 AM CDT

(NewsCore) - Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor died early Wednesday morning, according to a statement from her publicist.

The 79 year old was in her second month at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she was being treated for symptoms of congestive heart failure.

Taylor, who spent virtually her entire life in the public eye, was an iconic film star who won two Academy Awards, an eight-times bride, a humanitarian who campaigned indefatigably against AIDS and a collector of some of the world's most glamorous jewels.

Despite failing health in recent years, the wheelchair-bound actress was forced to deny rumors of another impending marriage, this time to talent manager Jason Winters, as recently as last spring.

Born in London on Feb. 27, 1932 to American parents -- her father was an art dealer, her mother had once been an actress -- she moved to California with her family when she was seven and was quickly spotted by a talent scout.

She made her film debut aged 10 in "There's One Born Every Minute" and then hit the big time at 12 playing horse-crazy Velvet Brown in "National Velvet" (she blamed several spills from a horse during filming for later back problems).

The film, a smash hit, made her a household name and she went on to star in nearly 60 movies and dazzle as the last great glamorous star of the Hollywood studio system. Her first adult role was in "Father of the Bride" (1950) and she followed that with such classics as "A Place in the Sun" (1951), "Giant" (1956), "Raintree County" (1957), "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958), "Butterfield Eight" (1960) "Cleopatra" (1963) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966).

She was considered one of the world's most beautiful women with her electric violet eyes, cloud of dark hair and voluptuous figure and she acquired husbands with regularity: Conrad "Nicky" Hilton (1950-51), Michael Wilding (1952-57), Michael Todd (1957-58), Eddie Fisher (1959-64), Richard Burton (1964-74 and 1975-76), John Warner (1976-82) and Larry Fortensky (1991-1996). Todd died in a plane crash, leaving her a widow; she divorced all the others.

Taylor's relationship with acclaimed Welsh actor Burton burned up the headlines for years. They met during the filming of "Cleopatra" when he played Marc Antony to her Queen of the Nile. Both were married to others --Taylor's then-husband was Eddie Fisher, who had left his wife Debbie Reynolds for her -- and their tempestuous relationship was nonstop gossip fodder. (She once said, "I don't remember much about 'Cleopatra.' There were a lot of other things going on.")

It was also Burton who bought her several of her magnificent jewels, including the pear-shaped 69-carat diamond that came to be called the Burton-Taylor Diamond (she later auctioned it off to fund a hospital in Botswana).

The couple acted together again in a riveting version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" -- for which Taylor, playing an unkempt shrew, won a Best Actress Academy Award to add to her earlier one for "Butterfield 8" --along with a string of lesser films including "The Sandpiper," "The Comedians" and "Boom!"

After the death of her close friend and "Giant" costar Rock Hudson from AIDS, Taylor threw herself into raising funds to fight the disease and co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFar).

Her own health went through some precarious patches: a near fatal illness while filming "Butterfield 8," a benign brain tumor, congestive heart failure, skin cancer, a repeatedly broken back, hip replacements and pneumonia.

She was also an entrepreneur, introducing several perfumes with names like "White Diamonds" and "Black Pearls" and a line of diamond and precious stone jewelry.

For her various activities, Taylor was made a Dame of the British Empire and a Commander of Arts and Letters by the French government.

Amid all the tumult of her life, all the headlines and publicity, both good and bad, Taylor just carried on. "I'm a survivor, " she once said, "a living example of what people can go through and survive."

She is survived by her children, Michael and Christopher Wilding by her second marriage, Liza Todd by her third, and Maria Burton, who she adopted with Richard Burton, to whom she was twice married. She also had nine grandchildren.

[Steve]

Sad to hear that... she seemed on of the few old school bunch that genuinely cared for others despite her wealth.

[candymosh]

very true

[dooshman]

Thanks for posting this in the news section. Makes sense. If you had done so in the W/C, half the people would've taken it seriously, because dumbasses keep making up these celebrity death stories.

[candymosh]

I love utilizing the current events section when I can

[Pappyo13]

She basically peaked at Cleopatra and we've been forced to live with the idiotic press fascination with her ever since.
RIP Liz.

[AmericanIllusions]

Originally Posted by Pappyo13 ↗

She basically peaked at Cleopatra and we've been forced to live with the idiotic press fascination with her ever since.
RIP Liz.

Yeah but she was a looker long before you or I was shot out of our dad. Good enough reason I guess.

[joethurr]

R.i.P

[MisterX]

RIP

[Bletch]

R.I.P. beautyful one