Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor has died. She was 79. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Academy Award winning actress died early Wednesday of congestive heart failure Taylor died early Wednesday of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She had been hospitalized six weeks ago. Her son Michael Wilding released a statement that read in part "My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humour and love. Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world. Her remarkable body of work in film, her ongoing success as a businesswoman, and her brave and relentless advocacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS, all make us all incredibly proud of what she accomplished. We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts." A child star, Taylor made her debut at age 10 in the 1943 film There’s One Born Every Minute, but it was not until 1944’s National Velvet that she became a star. She would earn two Academy Awards during a sixty year career, the first for the her work as prostitute in 1961’s Butterfield Eight, the second for the best thing she ever did – her portrayal of Martha in Mike Nicholls 1966 production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, opposite her then-husband, Richard Burton. That film won five Oscars in total, including Taylor’s second for best actress, and her nuanced performance, impossible not to watch, still startles. Taylor was an actress whose personal life often threatened to overshadow her professional work, including her penchant for marrying, which she did a total of eight times – twice to Richard Burton. She also publically battled addictions to alcohol, prescription drugs, and over-eating. Perhaps her most famous role, and the one that most gay men are grateful for, is her pioneering work with HIV/AIDS. In 1985, she became the most prominent celebrity to support what was then, at the height of AIDS’ hysteria, a most unfashionable cause, agreeing to chair the first major AIDS benefit, a fundraising dinner for the non-profit AIDS Project Los Angeles. She called her A-list friends to solicit their support, but some of Hollywood's biggest stars (Sinatra reportedly among them) turned her down. Taylor redoubled her efforts, aided along the way by the then stunning announcement that Rock Hudson, the handsome matinee idol and "Giant" co-star, had the dreaded disease. Thanks to Taylor's high profile and public sympathy for Hudson, the star-studded AIDS fundraiser netted $1 million and attracted 2,500 guests, including former First Lady Betty Ford. Hudson was too sick to attend but took the occasion to release a major public statement about his illness. Randy Shilts, who wrote the pioneering AIDS chronicle "And the Band Played On," said Taylor made a profound difference in the public perception of the disease. "Elizabeth Taylor got AIDS on Entertainment Tonight, and you can't underestimate the value of that kind of exposure," Shilts said. "It made the disease something that respectable people could talk about." Taylor would soon co-found, with Dr. Mathilde Krim, the first national organization devoted to backing AIDS research, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, or AmFAR. In 1991 she formed the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which directly supports AIDS education and patient care. She publically denounced President George H.W. Bush, accusing him of inaction on AIDS, and she called for AIDS testing, and for personal responsibility in prevention of the disease. "People shouldn't stop having sex — I'd be the last person in the world to advocate that — but safe sex," she said, "is important." Her AIDS work brought her the Legion of Honour, France's highest civilian award, in 1987 and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1993 and in 2000, Queen Elizabeth made her a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, an honour on the level of knighthood. Through her various efforts she would eventually raise more than $270 million for AIDS prevention and care. Her family plans a private funeral for later this week, and asks that instead of flowers, a donation be made in her name to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation at elizabethtayloraidsfoundation.org.