Elizabeth Taylor

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Liz Taylor DBE February 27 1932 March 23 2011 was a BritishAmerican actress From her early years as a child star with MGM she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywoods Golden Age As one of the worlds most famous film stars Taylor was recognized for her acting ability and for her glamorous lifestyle beauty and distinctive violet eyes National Velvet 1944 was Taylors first success and she starred in Father of the Bride 1950 A Place in the Sun 1951 Giant 1956 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 and Suddenly Last Summer 1959 She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for BUtterfield 8 1960 played the title role in Cleopatra 1963 and married her costar Richard Burton They appeared together in 11 films including Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf 1966 for which Taylor won a second Academy Award From the mid1970s she appeared less frequently in film and made occasional appearances in television and theatre Her much publicized personal life included eight marriages and several lifethreatening illnesses From the mid1980s Taylor championed HIV and AIDS programs she cofounded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1993 She received the Presidential Citizens Medal the Legion of Honour the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute who named her seventh on their list of the Greatest American Screen Legends Taylor died of congestive heart failure at the age of 79