Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor, whose violet eyes, tumultuous love life and passion for diamonds became a byword for Hollywood glamour, has died aged 79.
The star of Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles surrounded by her four children after a long battle with congestive heart failure, her spokeswoman said. She had been hospitalised six weeks ago.
In a career spanning seven decades, Taylor first gained fame in 1944's National Velvet at age 12 and was nominated for five Oscars. She won the best actress award for Butterfield 8 (1960) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) with actor Richard Burton, whom she would marry twice.
But Taylor's eight marriages, health problems, prescription medication addiction and ballooning weight often overshadowed her career and her fund-raising efforts for Aids research.
Her death triggered an outpouring of tributes.
"My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humour, and love," Taylor's son Michael Wilding said.
"We have just lost a Hollywood giant. More importantly we have lost an incredible human being," British singer Elton John said in a statement.
"So sad to hear about my beautiful friend Elizabeth Taylor, she was a great human being," said actor Michael Caine.
Singer George Michael said it was "such a sad day, Elizabeth Taylor was the last of the Hollywood greats, and a fantastically charming woman.
"She was also the only person I've ever met that had violet eyes. They were genuinely violet. So beautiful."
Comedian Steve Martin said he met Elizabeth Taylor several times. "She was witty and self-deprecating, which I found surprising and delightful. She loved to laugh."
"RIP Dame Elizabeth Taylor ... Like a pure white diamond you'll shine on and on and on," said singer Kylie Minogue.
Taylor was born on February 27, 1932, in London to American parents. She moved to the United States as a child and soon after her 10th birthday landed the lead in 1942 film Lassie Come Home, followed by her turn as a young girl who tames the fury of a wild horse in National Velvet.
She confirmed her star power in 1958 in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and cemented her reputation as among the greatest actresses of her generation playing a foul-mouthed alcoholic in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
But Taylor's fame went far beyond her screen life. After marriages to hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, British actor Michael Wilding and film producer Mike Todd in 1958, she found herself in a scandalous 1950s love triangle with singer Eddie Fisher and his wife actress Debbie Reynolds, before marrying Fisher
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