Weave Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Such sad news ~ Screen icon Dame Elizabeth Taylor dies Dame Elizabeth Taylor, one of the 20th Century's biggest movie stars, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 79. The double Oscar-winning actress had a long history of ill health and was being treated for symptoms of congestive heart failure. Dame Elizabeth's most famous films included National Velvet, Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She was equally well-known for her glamour and film partnership with Richard Burton, one of seven husbands. In her prime, she was arguably one of the world's greatest actresses and most beautiful women. Her colourful private life, screen success and Aids charity work ensured she was never far from the spotlight since finding fame at the age of 12. The peak of her film career came in the 1950s and 1960s, with four Oscar nominations in a row from 1958 to 1961. She lost out in her first three attempts - for Raintree County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly, Last Summer - but triumphed at her fourth attempt with Butterfield 8. Her second Oscar came in 1967 for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, one of 12 films with Burton. She met the actor while filming 1963's Cleopatra - which became notorious as one of the most expensive films of all time, but which also sparked one of Hollywood's greatest romances. She won two Academy Awards over the course of her career. Taylor had already been married four times - to Conrad Hilton, Michael Wilding, Michael Todd and Eddie Fisher - before she wed Burton in 1964. Their tempestuous relationship saw them divorce and remarry in 1975 before she moved on to further marriages with John W Warner and Larry Fortensky. Her health problems began with a fall while filming her first hit film, National Velvet, which led to a lifetime of back problems. A rare strain of pneumonia almost killed her in 1961 and she also battled addictions to alcohol and painkillers. In the 1990s, she endured two hip replacement operations and another near-fatal bout of pneumonia and survived surgery for a benign brain tumour in 1997. In 2004, it was revealed that she was suffering from congestive heart failure, with symptoms including fatigue and shortness of breath, and scoliosis, which twisted her spine. But she continued to campaign for her Aids charity, which she set up in 1991 after the death of her friend and co-star Rock Hudson. Source ~ BBC Entertainment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladd Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Another movie great gone not many left these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Very sad to hear of her death I'd put Who's afraid of Virginnia Woolf as one of my favourite movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Sad. I watched Cat on a Hot Tin Roof the other day, and she was great in it. By coincidence, there are two Elizabeth Taylor movies on TV this weekend: Little Women and The Taming of the Shrew. I'm recording the latter but I'll be away for the former and can't record it. So few of the original, true Hollywood stars remain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 Sad. I watched Cat on a Hot Tin Roof the other day, and she was great in it. By coincidence, there are two Elizabeth Taylor movies on TV this weekend: Little Women and The Taming of the Shrew. I'm recording the latter but I'll be away for the former and can't record it. So few of the original, true Hollywood stars remain. I thought she was great in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirley Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 A stunning actress lost to us, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I absolutely loved Elizabeth Taylor. I never got tired of looking at her. Those eyes were just amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) Last laugh: Liz Taylor 'late for own funeral' ~ Elizabeth Taylor had the last laugh on Thursday: she was buried a day after her death aged 79 -- but exactly 15 minutes behind schedule, on her strict orders. The Hollywood legend was laid to rest at the Forest Lawn celebrity cemetery outside Los Angeles, where less than two years ago she attended the funeral of her long-time friend, pop icon Michael Jackson. "The service was scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm, but at Miss Taylor's request started late," said a statement by her publicist released after the closed-door service had finished. "Miss Taylor had left instructions that it was to begin at least 15 minutes later than publicly scheduled, with the announcement: 'She even wanted to be late for her own funeral'," it added. The hour-long ceremony included a recital of the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem "The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo" and other readings by her children and grandchildren. "Miss Taylor's grandson Rhys Tivey performed a moving trumpet solo of 'Amazing Grace.' Rabbi Jerry Cutler officiated," said the statement. "The casket was closed and draped with a blanket of abundant, fragrant gardenias, violets, and lily of the valley. Miss Taylor was interred in The Great Mausoleum, sheltered beneath a soaring marble Michelangelo angel." Source ~ Yahoo news Edited March 25, 2011 by Weave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booknutt Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Just popping in to vent my spleen about the entire disrespect the T.V. channels showed as a whole when Liz Taylor passed away. I actually bought a new pack of DVD's for the purpose of recording her films which would surely be screened in the days/weeks afterwards - not! Why not?! When other actors of the same five-star quality die, the screens are immediately filled with just about everything they've been in, but I hunted the schedules in vain, gleaning just "Taming of the Shrew" and "Ivanhoe". Eventually I added more, but the rush of tribute showing was notable by it's absence I may only have Freeview channels, but there's enough of 'em to do better than that ... R.I.P. Miss Taylor - thanks for all the wonderful hours of entertainment you've left us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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