Sad news today out of Hollywood as one of its most memorable icons has passed away. After entering Cedars-Sinai Medical Center two months ago for treatment related to congestive heart failure, long-time actress Elizabeth Taylor died earlier today at the age of 79.
Nominated for five Academy Awards throughout her 50+-year career (she won Best Actress twice, for Butterfield 8 in 1961, and for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In 1967), Taylor’s first big hit came in 1944 with the film National Velvet. The actress was only 12-years-old at the time she played a young girl jockey in the movie, which went on to earn $4 million at the box office (a lot for the 1940s), and it was just a sign of the success to come.
Unlike some other child stars, Taylor parlayed her early success into a wonderful Hollywood career that would take her from such memorable films as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (opposite Paul Newman) to Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? to Cleopatra to The Taming of the Shrew and more. Taylor was at her best when she played a drunken, glamorous bitch (see her role as Martha in Virginia Woolf), and she would quickly become just as popular for her off-screen antics, which included 8 different marriages, various addictions, a very close friendship with Michael Jackson, and a life-threatening illness that almost killed her in 1960.
Taylor was known as the most beautiful actress of her time, and it was hard not to immediately become transfixed by her gorgeous, larger-than-life eyes. At one point in her career she was nominated for an Oscar four years in a row (1957-1960), eventually winning for Butterfield 8, which some claim was a sympathy win after her well-publicized near-death experience.
If you would compare her to an actress today, it’d probably be Angelina Jolie, since the two quite often played British characters, married very famous men (Richard Burton, Brad Pitt) and watched people obsess over their private lives. Taylor’s final role came in the 1994 comedy The Flintstones as Pearl Slaghoople.
There will never be anyone who can replace Elizabeth Taylor. Every inch of her personified Hollywood glamour and she will be greatly missed. Feel free to share your favorite Elizabeth Taylor film, scene, or story in the comments below.
