Elizabeth Taylor Dies of Heart Failure
Legendary movie star and beauty Elizabeth Taylor died of congestive heart failure at the age of 79 on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.
Taylor was known for her violet eyes, her black hair and her aura of glamour. In her youth, she was considered one of the most desirable actresses in Hollywood. But it wasn't her looks alone that interested audiences - her turbulent and dramatic life off screen often kept her in the headlines.
Taylor had been hospitalized for about six weeks at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center before she died there, her publicist Sally Morrison said. Taylor had struggled with heart disease for many years.
"Though she had recently suffered a number of complications, her condition had stabilized and it was hoped that she would be able to return home. Sadly, this was not to be," Morrison said.
Taylor received three Academy Awards, one of which was a special tribute to her humanitarian work. She famously stood by gay Hollywood actors at the start of the AIDS epidemic, when there was still considerable stigma attached to the disease. She also helped to start the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
Taylor proved loyal to the most controversial of her friends, including Rock Hudson and Michael Jackson.
The British-born actress was known for her real-life string of love interests. She was married a total of seven times. Her husbands included former U.S. Senator John Warner, Eddie Fisher and Richard Burton, whom she married twice. She divorced for the first time at 18 and was a widow by the age of 26.
On screen, the roles that made Taylor were eclectic. She played Velvet Brown, a young girl who surreptitiously becomes a steeplechase jockey in "National Velvet" and the epic and historic title role in the movie "Cleopatra." She won Oscars for her performances in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Butterfield 8."
Actress Elizabeth Taylor attends Michael Jackson's burial service held at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California on September 3, 2009. Jackson, 50, a.k.a the "king of pop", died at UCLA Medical Center after going into cardiac arrest at his rented home on June 25, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. UPI/Harrison Funk/The Jackson Family/HO
