Elizabeth Taylor (27 February 1932, Hampstead, London, England, - 23 March 2011, Los Angeles, California)
"Elizabeth Taylor, the iconic actress, activist and Hollywood legend, has died at age 79, according to BBC News. She had been hospitalized several times in recent years for congestive heart failure and was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital in February for monitoring; congestive heart failure is listed as the official cause of death.
Her first screen appearance came when she was nine years old, and by age 12 she was a bona fide star thanks to National Velvet the saga of a girl and her beloved horse that became a massive hit.
Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, co-stars in "A Place in the Sun" (1951)
James Dean with Elizabeth Taylor during the filming of "Giant" (1956)
Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor in "Cat on a hot tin roof" (1958)
From there she went on to become one of the biggest stars the industry had ever known then or has since, a woman capable of leading both the era's most expensive and bloated movie, Cleopatra, and completely baring her soul in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, the film for which she won her second Oscar. She was nominated for that award four times in a row at the peak of her fame in the late 50s and early 60s, winning first for 1960's Butterfield 8.
With her immense fame came scandal and rumor; Taylor was married eight times, twice to her frequent co-star Richard Burton, and even sparked rumors as recently as 2007 that she might be planning a ninth wedding.
Taylor's poor health in the last few years had kept her out of the spotlight, but when she turned 79 on February 27 her spokesperson released a statement announcing she'd be watching the Oscars ceremony from her hospital bed--the only imaginable thing to do for a Hollywood luminary of her status, whose passing certainly marks the end of an era; she didn't star in a movie after 1980, but for decades after that, even children could immediately recognize Elizabeth Taylor".
Source: www.cinemablend.comOne of my favorite scenes (and there are oh so many) from the film adaptation of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
For the longest time, I thought I'd hate this movie based on the title alone. On watching it, I was completely blown away. I never did understand why people always made such a fuss about Elizabeth Taylor, until I saw her in this film.
“Beautiful Boy” starring Michael Sheen (Unthinkable, Frost/Nixon) and Maria Bello (A History of Violence) who play parents in a normal neighborhood and live normal lives. Their world gets turned upside down when they find out their son who is in college, was involved in an on-campus shooting. It’s a very touchy subject with Columbine, Virginia Tech and more school shootings in recent memory.
