Breaking News: Screen Legend Elizabeth Taylor, Dead at 79
by Allie BasilicaAfter a battle with congestive heart failure, Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor has passed away.
In a statement released by Taylor's publicist, Sally Morrison, we learn she died "surrounded by her children – Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd and Maria Burton."
Taylor was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on February 11 for symptoms caused by congestive heart failure and according to her publicist, "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."
The British-born beauty was no stranger to health problems. For years the media has speculated on the actress's ill health, while her reps continually denied reports she was clinging to life.
Early Days & Career
Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles before the start World War II and appeared in her first motion picture, "There's One Born Every Minute" at the age of nine.
Called by some "the last real movie star," Taylor was a household name by the late '40s, after starring in films like "National Velvet," "Julia Misbehaves" and "Little Women."
The Oscar-winner was best known for her roles in the 1963 blockbuster "Cleopatra" and in 1966's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf??," for which she won an Academy Award.
Taylor married seven different men eight different times during her life, and at the time of her death she is survived by her four children, 10 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Rest in peace to a true Hollywood legend.
Watch Paul Newman deliver a video tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, including highlight footage from her long career: