RIP Elizabeth Taylor

**Autum** Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:26 pm

Here's the official announcement from CNN:

March 23, 2011
Source: CNN
by Ethan Anderton

On the heels of news about David Fincher directing a new feature about the Egyptian queen comes sad news that the star of the original 1963 film Cleopatra has passed away. CNN reports this morning that Elizabeth Taylor passed away after congestive heart failure at age 79. The actress' publicist announced the sad news saying Taylor died "peacefully today in Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. 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." We remember the legendary actress and her work below.
While Taylor may have made headlines for some wild behavior, many marriages and for simply being a sexy, glamorous symbol of Hollywood, we will remember her through cinema. Ms. Taylor hasn't appeared in a film since the 1994 live-action adaptation of The Flintstones, but she's very much a name from Old Hollywood and the Golden Age of Cinema. The actress started young at the age of 10 in There's One Born Every minute back in 1942 and even had a small uncredited role in the 1943 adaptation of Jane Eyre. As she grew up she took on roles in 1949's Little Women, 1950's Father of the Bride and 1952's Ivanhoe.

Later in life upon reaching her adult years she would gain plenty of acclaim as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and of course as the titular Egyptian queen in the troubled production of Cleopatra where she was paid a then-outstanding sum of $1 million for her performance. But her biggest successes would come in the form of two Academy Award wins from her performances in Butterfield 8 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? At the time she had already been nominated three times previously, so it was only a matter of time before she finally won an Oscar.

After her glory years, as she aged, only more praise came her way as she earned both the AFI Lifetime Achievement award and the Cecile B. Demille award from the Hollywood Foreign Press. Elizabeth Taylor's legend will live on in film for eternity, and her passing today is truly a sad loss for Hollywood and all of her fans that span generations. Rest in peace.

Also, here are Billy Gilman's words on Elizabeth Taylor's Death:
"RIP Elizabeth Taylor. Met her numerous times and she was a real great soul. She will be missed. A true legend."~Billy Gilman via twitter (@bg524)