Today marks the 100th birthday of Universal Pictures and to celebrate the studio has released a list of 100 facts based on its first 100 years in existence. I have placed in bold some of the ones I found interesting as well as offered a selection of photo and video accompaniments here and there. 1. Universal Film Manufacturing Company was officially incorporated in New York on April 30, 1912. Company legend says Carl Laemmle was inspired to name his company Universal after seeing "Universal Pipe Fittings" written on a passing delivery wagon. 2. The only physical damage made during the filming of National Lampoon's Animal House was when John Belushi made a hole in the wall with a guitar. The actual Sigma Nu fraternity house (which subbed for the fictitious Delta House) never repaired it, and instead framed the hole in honor of the film. 3. The working title for Et: The Extra Terrestrial was "A Boy's Life.
- 4/30/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Elizabeth Taylor's death this week left many pondering what lay behind one of Hollywood's most iconic faces
The big story
Our economic predicament may have caused George Osborne to think he was guaranteed the lead role, but the bum-nosed harbinger of hardship was never going to compete with Elizabeth Taylor. News of the death of the "last great female star of the Hollywood studio system", style icon and one half of "the Marriage of the Century" (and quite a few others, it had to be said) emerged just as the chancellor was vainly trying to get the nation to focus on his budget. "An actress of such sexiness it was an incitement to riot", the child star turned double Oscar-winning screen goddess Taylor bestrode the history of film from There's One Born Every Minute in 1942 to The Flintstones in 1994, to varying degrees of acclaim. She died of heart failure...
The big story
Our economic predicament may have caused George Osborne to think he was guaranteed the lead role, but the bum-nosed harbinger of hardship was never going to compete with Elizabeth Taylor. News of the death of the "last great female star of the Hollywood studio system", style icon and one half of "the Marriage of the Century" (and quite a few others, it had to be said) emerged just as the chancellor was vainly trying to get the nation to focus on his budget. "An actress of such sexiness it was an incitement to riot", the child star turned double Oscar-winning screen goddess Taylor bestrode the history of film from There's One Born Every Minute in 1942 to The Flintstones in 1994, to varying degrees of acclaim. She died of heart failure...
- 3/24/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Child actor who became a Hollywood film star known for her dazzling beauty and her eight marriages
The film star Elizabeth Taylor, who has died of heart failure aged 79, was in the public eye from the age of 11 and remained there even decades after her last hit movie. She managed to keep people fascinated, by her incandescent beauty, her courage, her open-natured character, her self-deprecating humour, her eight marriages (two of them to the actor Richard Burton), her many brushes with death, her seesawing weight, her diamonds and her humanitarian causes, all of which often obscured the reason why she was famous in the first place – she had a tantalising screen presence, in films including A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956), Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butterfield 8 (1961), Cleopatra (1963) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
Taylor was born in Hampstead, north London, of American parents. Her mother, Sara, was...
The film star Elizabeth Taylor, who has died of heart failure aged 79, was in the public eye from the age of 11 and remained there even decades after her last hit movie. She managed to keep people fascinated, by her incandescent beauty, her courage, her open-natured character, her self-deprecating humour, her eight marriages (two of them to the actor Richard Burton), her many brushes with death, her seesawing weight, her diamonds and her humanitarian causes, all of which often obscured the reason why she was famous in the first place – she had a tantalising screen presence, in films including A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956), Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butterfield 8 (1961), Cleopatra (1963) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
Taylor was born in Hampstead, north London, of American parents. Her mother, Sara, was...
- 3/24/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, Dbe (27 February 1932 – 23 March 2011) aka 'Liz Taylor', was an English-American actress and former child star, who became well known for her acting talent, beauty and Hollywood lifestyle.
Taylor appeared in her first motion picture at the age of nine in "There's One Born Every Minute", followed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signing her up for $100 a week to appear as 'Priscilla' in the feature "Lassie Come Home".
But it was Taylor's persistence in campaigning for the role of 'Velvet Brown' in MGM's "National Velvet" that skyrocketed her to stardom at the age of 12.
Taylor's long career as a film performer, included her Oscar winning performance in "Butterfield 8", followed by notable performances in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", Oscar-winning "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf ?" and "Cleopatra".
Taylor was awarded the 'Jean Herscholt Humanitarian' Academy Award in 1992 for her work in AIDS research. In 1999, she was appointed Dame...
Taylor appeared in her first motion picture at the age of nine in "There's One Born Every Minute", followed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signing her up for $100 a week to appear as 'Priscilla' in the feature "Lassie Come Home".
But it was Taylor's persistence in campaigning for the role of 'Velvet Brown' in MGM's "National Velvet" that skyrocketed her to stardom at the age of 12.
Taylor's long career as a film performer, included her Oscar winning performance in "Butterfield 8", followed by notable performances in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", Oscar-winning "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf ?" and "Cleopatra".
Taylor was awarded the 'Jean Herscholt Humanitarian' Academy Award in 1992 for her work in AIDS research. In 1999, she was appointed Dame...
- 3/24/2011
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Actress Elizabeth Taylor, who was nominated for five Academy Awards and won for her performances in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Butterfield 8," has passed away from congestive heart failure. She was 79-years-old. Taylor hasn't appear in a movie since "The Flintstones" back in 1994, her Hollywood career has spanned five decades, starting with her first acting role in "There's One Born Every Minute" at the age of 10. Since retiring in 2001, Taylor has devoted herself to fund-raising and activism to fight AIDS and her family asks that instead of flowers, contributions can be made to Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
- 3/24/2011
- WorstPreviews.com
Actress Elizabeth Taylor was one of the most respected and most recognized names to grace the Silver Screen. Lately she's been in the news often as her rapidly declining health became apparent to the public eye, and early Wednesday morning the iconic actress passed away at the age of 79. Taylor's cause of death was congestive heart failure, which she was first diagnosed with in 2004, and she was surrounded by her family at the time of her passing.
She started out young in the business, nabbing her first role at ten years of age in 1942's There's One Born Every Minute, and made her first big wave in 1944's National Velvet. She went on to appearances in Little Women (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), Giant (1956), and her first three Oscar nominations in Raintree County (1957), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).
After these many great films, Taylor moved into...
She started out young in the business, nabbing her first role at ten years of age in 1942's There's One Born Every Minute, and made her first big wave in 1944's National Velvet. She went on to appearances in Little Women (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), Giant (1956), and her first three Oscar nominations in Raintree County (1957), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).
After these many great films, Taylor moved into...
- 3/23/2011
- by The Movie God
- Geeks of Doom
Legendary screen siren Elizabeth Taylor has died at the age of 79. This after Taylor spent two months in a Los Angeles hospital suffering from congestive heart failure. Long the epitome of Hollywood glam, Taylor lived a fabulous life, marrying eight times and winning two Academy Awards. She made her screen debut at age 10 in "There's One Born Every Minute," and went on to star in over 50 films. Taylor lived a bold and beautiful life. She raised over $250 million for AIDS research. We salute her talent, and bid her farewell with fond memories. Rest in peace... Here's what you had to say: Kenia commented via Facebook: "I would say 'Giant' and 'A Place in the Sun' are my favorite Elizabeth Taylor movies." Antinea wrote via Facebook: "She and Michael will meet again."...
- 3/23/2011
- Essence
Elizabeth Taylor, the Hollywood legend who was as famous for her long movie career as she was for her notorious eight trips down the aisle, passed away this morning in Los Angeles at age 79. The late actress made headlines over the years for her health scares, humanitarian work and, of course, her marriages but for most of us it was her time on screen that will be her real legacy.
Just nine years old when she first appeared on film, in There's One Born Every Minute, it was her role in National Velvet at age 12 that made her a movie star. Unlike many child stars of the past, Taylor managed a fairly smooth transition from youthful parts to more mature roles, thanks in part to key supporting roles in films like Little Women and Father of the Bride. By the time Taylor hit her twenties, she was starring opposite some...
Just nine years old when she first appeared on film, in There's One Born Every Minute, it was her role in National Velvet at age 12 that made her a movie star. Unlike many child stars of the past, Taylor managed a fairly smooth transition from youthful parts to more mature roles, thanks in part to key supporting roles in films like Little Women and Father of the Bride. By the time Taylor hit her twenties, she was starring opposite some...
- 3/23/2011
- by Andrea Miller and Emma Badame
- Cineplex
Elizabeth Taylor, the actor best known for her roles in Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and National Velvet died of heart failure, her spokeswoman says
• A life in clips
• Obituary
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, arguably the last great female star of
the Hollywood studio system, has died at the age of 79.
The Oscar-winning star died in the early hours of the morning at Cedars-Sinai medical centre in Los Angeles, from congestive heart failure, according to her spokeswoman Sally Morrison. She said Taylor's children were at her side.
Dame Elizabeth, who had been in ill health for a number of years, was taken to the hospital with heart failure six weeks ago. A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "She passed away at 1.28 [0828 GMT]."
Taylor's luminous screen presence, allied to a colourful private life, made her a mainstay of Us popular culture for more than 50 years. She won her first best actress...
• A life in clips
• Obituary
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, arguably the last great female star of
the Hollywood studio system, has died at the age of 79.
The Oscar-winning star died in the early hours of the morning at Cedars-Sinai medical centre in Los Angeles, from congestive heart failure, according to her spokeswoman Sally Morrison. She said Taylor's children were at her side.
Dame Elizabeth, who had been in ill health for a number of years, was taken to the hospital with heart failure six weeks ago. A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "She passed away at 1.28 [0828 GMT]."
Taylor's luminous screen presence, allied to a colourful private life, made her a mainstay of Us popular culture for more than 50 years. She won her first best actress...
- 3/23/2011
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Elizabeth Taylor was born in 1932 to two American ex-patriots, Francis and Sara, who were living in Hampstead, North London. Named after her maternal grandmother Elizabeth Mary Rosemond, Taylor began performing from an early age when she enrolled in ballet lessons at just 3 years old. Through her parents' friendship with gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, Taylor was introduced to Andrea Berens, who was at the time a major stockholder in Universal Pictures in the Us. Just after her 9th birthday, the actress signed her first studio contract with Universal and soon made her big-screen debut in 1942's There's One Born Every Minute. After a starring role in Lassie Come Home alongside lifelong friend Roddy McDowall, Taylor was released from her Universal contract and eventually signed away to one of the company's main rivals, MGM Pictures, for a seven-year (more)...
- 3/23/2011
- by By Justin Harp
- Digital Spy
Another Hollywood legend has left us this week as actress Elizabeth Taylor has reportedly passed away at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. She had been hospitalized a few weeks ago with congestive heart failure, and although for a while her condition seemed to stabilize, ultimately she was not able to overcome it. She was 79 years old. Taylor had not done much acting over the past few decades, but she was well known for her charity work and her friendship with Michael Jackson, and she will always be remembered for her top notch performances throughout the '50s and '60s. Widely considered to be one of the last major stars to come out of the old Hollywood studio system, Taylor got her first big break at the age of 10 in There's One Born Every Minute. The movie that truly made her a star was National Velvet, co-starring Mickey Rooney,...
- 3/23/2011
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Elizabeth Taylor, one of the last great screen legends and winner of two Academy Awards, died Wednesday morning in Los Angeles of complications from congestive heart failure; she was 79. The actress had been hospitalized for the past few weeks, celebrating her birthday on February 27th (the same day as this year's Academy Awards) while at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with friends and family. Her four children, two sons and two daughters, were by her side as she passed.
A striking brunette beauty with violet eyes who embodied both innocence and seductiveness, and was known for her flamboyant private life and numerous marriages as well as her acting career, Taylor was the epitome of Hollywood glamour, and was one of the last legendary stars who could still command headlines and standing ovations in her later years. Born to American parents in England in 1932, Taylor's family decamped to Los Angeles as World War II escalated in the late 1930s. Even as a child, her amazing good looks -- her eyes were amplified by a double set of eyelashes, a mutation she was born with -- garnered the attention of family friends in Hollywood, and she undertook a screen test at 10 years old with Universal Studios. She appeared in only one film for the studio (There's One Born Every Minute) before they dropped her; Taylor was quickly picked up by MGM, the studio that would make her a young star.
Her second film was Lassie Come Home (1943), co-starring Roddy McDowall, who would become a lifelong friend. She assayed a few other roles (including a noteworthy cameo in 1943's Jane Eyre) but campaigned for the part that would make her a bona fide child star: the young Velvet Brown, who trained a champion racehorse to win the Grand National, in National Velvet. The box office smash launched Taylor's career, and MGM immediately put her to work in a number of juvenile roles, most notably in Life With Father (1947) and as Amy in 1949's Little Women. As she blossomed into a young woman, she began to outgrow the roles she was assigned, often playing women far older than her actual age. She scored another hit alongside Spencer Tracy as the young daughter preparing for marriage in Father of the Bride (1950), but her career officially entered adulthood with George Stevens' A Place in the Sun (1951), as a seductive rich girl who bedazzles Montgomery Clift to the degree that he kills his pregnant girlfriend (Shelley Winters). The film was hailed as an instant classic, and Taylor's performance, still considered one of her best, launched the next part of her career.
Frustrated by MGM's insistence at putting her in period pieces (some were hits notwithstanding, including 1952's Ivanhoe), Taylor looked to expand her career, and took on the lead role in Elephant Walk (1954) when Vivian Leigh dropped out after suffering a nervous breakdown. As her career climbed in the 1950s, so did Taylor's celebrity: she married hotel heir Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr. in 1950, and divorced him within a year. She then married British actor Michael Wilding in 1952, with whom she had two sons, though that marriage ended in divorce in 1957, after she embarked on an affair with the man who would be her next husband, producer Michael Todd (who won an Oscar for Around the World in 80 Days). As her personal life made headlines, she appeared alongside James Dean and Rock Hudson in Giant (1956), and received her first Academy Award nomination for Raintree County in 1957. Roles in two Tennessee Williams adaptations followed -- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and Suddenly Last Summer (1959), both considered two of her best performances -- earning her two more Oscar nominations, just as tragedy and notoriety would strike her life.
Todd, whom she married in 1957 and had a daughter with, died in a plane crash in 1958 in New Mexico, leaving a bereft Taylor alone at the height of her stardom. Adored by millions, she went from lovely widow to heartless home-wrecker in the tabloids after starting an affair with Eddie Fisher, Todd's best friend and at the time husband of screen darling Debbie Reynolds. The relationship was splashed across newspapers as Fisher left Reynolds and their two children (including a young Carrie Fisher) for Taylor. The two appeared together in 1960's Butterfield 8, where Taylor played prostitute Gloria Wandrous in a performance that was considered good but nowhere near her previous films, and earned her another Oscar nomination. As the Academy Awards ceremony approached, Taylor was thrust into the headlines again when a life-threatening case of pneumonia required an emergency tracheotomy, leaving her with a legendary scar on her neck. Popular opinion swung yet again as newspapers and fans feared for her life, and the illness was credited with helping her win her first Oscar for Butterfield 8.
Taylor was now the biggest female star in the world, in terms of film and popularity, and her notoriety was only about to increase. Twentieth Century Fox, making a small biopic about the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, tried to offer Taylor the part; she laughed them off, saying she would do it for $1 million, a then-unheard of sum for an actress. The studio took her seriously, and soon she was signed to a million-dollar contract (the first for an actress) and a movie that would soon balloon out of control as filming started. Initially set to film in England with Peter Finch and Rex Harrison as Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the movie encountered numerous problems and after a first shutdown was moved to Italy, with director Joseph L. Manckiewicz at the helm. Finch left and was replaced by acclaimed stage actor and rising movie star Richard Burton.
The rest was cinematic and tabloid history, as Taylor and Burton, whose electric chemistry was apparent to all on set, embarked on quite possibly the most famous Hollywood affair ever, while the filming of the epic movie took on gargantuan proportions and its budget increased exponentially. After the dust settled, Fox was saddled with a three-hour-plus film that, despite starring the two actors whose every move was hounded by photographers and reporters, was considered a bomb. The 1963 film almost sunk the studio (which only rebounded thanks to the megahit The Sound of Music two years later), while Burton and Taylor emerged from the wreckage relatively unscathed and ultimately married in 1964.
However, despite carte blanche to do whatever they wanted, the newly married couple made two marginally successful films, The V.I.P.s (1963) and The Sandpiper (1965), both glossy soap operas that made money but hardly challenged their talents. That opportunity would come with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), the adaptation of the Edward Albee play directed by first-time filmmaker Mike Nichols. As the beleaguered professor George and his shrewish wife Martha, whose mind games played havoc one fateful night with a younger faculty couple (George Segal and Sandy Dennis), the two gave perhaps their best screen performances ever, tearing into the roles -- and each other -- with a gusto never seen in their previous pairings. They both received Oscar nominations, but only Taylor won, her second and final Academy Award.
A successful adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew (1967) followed, but the couple's next films were a string of notorious bombs, including Doctor Faustus, The Comedians, and the so-bad-it's-good Boom. Though still one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Taylor's cinematic output in the 1970s became somewhat dismal, as her fraying marriage with Burton took center stage in the press, as did her weight gain after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The couple divorced in June 1974, only to remarry briefly in October 1975; by then, Taylor was more celebrity than movie star, still appearing occasionally onscreen and in television, but to less acclaim.
Taylor married U.S. Senator John Warner at the end of 1976, and during the late 1970s and 1980s played the politician's wife, and her unsatisfying life led her to depression, drinking, overeating and ultimately a visit to the Betty Ford Center. After TV and stage appearances during the 1980s (including a reunion in 1983 with Burton for a production of Private Lives), Taylor found another, surprising role, that of social activist as longtime friend Rock Hudson died of complications from AIDS in 1985. She threw herself into fund-raising work, raising by some accounts $50 million to fight the disease, helping found the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR).
Though later generations only saw Taylor on television in films like Malice in Wonderland, and the mini-series North and South, and in her final screen appearance as the mother of Wilma in the live-action movie adaptation of The Flintstones, she remained a tabloid fixture through her marriage to construction worker Larry Fortensky (her eighth and final husband), her friendship with singer Michael Jackson, and her continual charity work, which was only sidelined by hospital visits after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2004. She is survived by four children -- two sons with Michael Wilding, a daughter with Michael Todd, and another daughter adopted with Richard Burton -- and nine grandchildren.
--Mark Englehart...
A striking brunette beauty with violet eyes who embodied both innocence and seductiveness, and was known for her flamboyant private life and numerous marriages as well as her acting career, Taylor was the epitome of Hollywood glamour, and was one of the last legendary stars who could still command headlines and standing ovations in her later years. Born to American parents in England in 1932, Taylor's family decamped to Los Angeles as World War II escalated in the late 1930s. Even as a child, her amazing good looks -- her eyes were amplified by a double set of eyelashes, a mutation she was born with -- garnered the attention of family friends in Hollywood, and she undertook a screen test at 10 years old with Universal Studios. She appeared in only one film for the studio (There's One Born Every Minute) before they dropped her; Taylor was quickly picked up by MGM, the studio that would make her a young star.
Her second film was Lassie Come Home (1943), co-starring Roddy McDowall, who would become a lifelong friend. She assayed a few other roles (including a noteworthy cameo in 1943's Jane Eyre) but campaigned for the part that would make her a bona fide child star: the young Velvet Brown, who trained a champion racehorse to win the Grand National, in National Velvet. The box office smash launched Taylor's career, and MGM immediately put her to work in a number of juvenile roles, most notably in Life With Father (1947) and as Amy in 1949's Little Women. As she blossomed into a young woman, she began to outgrow the roles she was assigned, often playing women far older than her actual age. She scored another hit alongside Spencer Tracy as the young daughter preparing for marriage in Father of the Bride (1950), but her career officially entered adulthood with George Stevens' A Place in the Sun (1951), as a seductive rich girl who bedazzles Montgomery Clift to the degree that he kills his pregnant girlfriend (Shelley Winters). The film was hailed as an instant classic, and Taylor's performance, still considered one of her best, launched the next part of her career.
Frustrated by MGM's insistence at putting her in period pieces (some were hits notwithstanding, including 1952's Ivanhoe), Taylor looked to expand her career, and took on the lead role in Elephant Walk (1954) when Vivian Leigh dropped out after suffering a nervous breakdown. As her career climbed in the 1950s, so did Taylor's celebrity: she married hotel heir Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr. in 1950, and divorced him within a year. She then married British actor Michael Wilding in 1952, with whom she had two sons, though that marriage ended in divorce in 1957, after she embarked on an affair with the man who would be her next husband, producer Michael Todd (who won an Oscar for Around the World in 80 Days). As her personal life made headlines, she appeared alongside James Dean and Rock Hudson in Giant (1956), and received her first Academy Award nomination for Raintree County in 1957. Roles in two Tennessee Williams adaptations followed -- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and Suddenly Last Summer (1959), both considered two of her best performances -- earning her two more Oscar nominations, just as tragedy and notoriety would strike her life.
Todd, whom she married in 1957 and had a daughter with, died in a plane crash in 1958 in New Mexico, leaving a bereft Taylor alone at the height of her stardom. Adored by millions, she went from lovely widow to heartless home-wrecker in the tabloids after starting an affair with Eddie Fisher, Todd's best friend and at the time husband of screen darling Debbie Reynolds. The relationship was splashed across newspapers as Fisher left Reynolds and their two children (including a young Carrie Fisher) for Taylor. The two appeared together in 1960's Butterfield 8, where Taylor played prostitute Gloria Wandrous in a performance that was considered good but nowhere near her previous films, and earned her another Oscar nomination. As the Academy Awards ceremony approached, Taylor was thrust into the headlines again when a life-threatening case of pneumonia required an emergency tracheotomy, leaving her with a legendary scar on her neck. Popular opinion swung yet again as newspapers and fans feared for her life, and the illness was credited with helping her win her first Oscar for Butterfield 8.
Taylor was now the biggest female star in the world, in terms of film and popularity, and her notoriety was only about to increase. Twentieth Century Fox, making a small biopic about the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, tried to offer Taylor the part; she laughed them off, saying she would do it for $1 million, a then-unheard of sum for an actress. The studio took her seriously, and soon she was signed to a million-dollar contract (the first for an actress) and a movie that would soon balloon out of control as filming started. Initially set to film in England with Peter Finch and Rex Harrison as Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the movie encountered numerous problems and after a first shutdown was moved to Italy, with director Joseph L. Manckiewicz at the helm. Finch left and was replaced by acclaimed stage actor and rising movie star Richard Burton.
The rest was cinematic and tabloid history, as Taylor and Burton, whose electric chemistry was apparent to all on set, embarked on quite possibly the most famous Hollywood affair ever, while the filming of the epic movie took on gargantuan proportions and its budget increased exponentially. After the dust settled, Fox was saddled with a three-hour-plus film that, despite starring the two actors whose every move was hounded by photographers and reporters, was considered a bomb. The 1963 film almost sunk the studio (which only rebounded thanks to the megahit The Sound of Music two years later), while Burton and Taylor emerged from the wreckage relatively unscathed and ultimately married in 1964.
However, despite carte blanche to do whatever they wanted, the newly married couple made two marginally successful films, The V.I.P.s (1963) and The Sandpiper (1965), both glossy soap operas that made money but hardly challenged their talents. That opportunity would come with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), the adaptation of the Edward Albee play directed by first-time filmmaker Mike Nichols. As the beleaguered professor George and his shrewish wife Martha, whose mind games played havoc one fateful night with a younger faculty couple (George Segal and Sandy Dennis), the two gave perhaps their best screen performances ever, tearing into the roles -- and each other -- with a gusto never seen in their previous pairings. They both received Oscar nominations, but only Taylor won, her second and final Academy Award.
A successful adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew (1967) followed, but the couple's next films were a string of notorious bombs, including Doctor Faustus, The Comedians, and the so-bad-it's-good Boom. Though still one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Taylor's cinematic output in the 1970s became somewhat dismal, as her fraying marriage with Burton took center stage in the press, as did her weight gain after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The couple divorced in June 1974, only to remarry briefly in October 1975; by then, Taylor was more celebrity than movie star, still appearing occasionally onscreen and in television, but to less acclaim.
Taylor married U.S. Senator John Warner at the end of 1976, and during the late 1970s and 1980s played the politician's wife, and her unsatisfying life led her to depression, drinking, overeating and ultimately a visit to the Betty Ford Center. After TV and stage appearances during the 1980s (including a reunion in 1983 with Burton for a production of Private Lives), Taylor found another, surprising role, that of social activist as longtime friend Rock Hudson died of complications from AIDS in 1985. She threw herself into fund-raising work, raising by some accounts $50 million to fight the disease, helping found the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR).
Though later generations only saw Taylor on television in films like Malice in Wonderland, and the mini-series North and South, and in her final screen appearance as the mother of Wilma in the live-action movie adaptation of The Flintstones, she remained a tabloid fixture through her marriage to construction worker Larry Fortensky (her eighth and final husband), her friendship with singer Michael Jackson, and her continual charity work, which was only sidelined by hospital visits after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2004. She is survived by four children -- two sons with Michael Wilding, a daughter with Michael Todd, and another daughter adopted with Richard Burton -- and nine grandchildren.
--Mark Englehart...
- 3/23/2011
- IMDb News
Sorry to start the day off with some sad news, but I'm sure many of you have already heard that legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor has passed away from congestive heart failure earlier this morning. She was 79 years old.
The actress won two Oscars for her performances in Butterfield 8 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff? and was nominated for three others perviously, as well as another one for her humanitarian work. She also was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award from AFI and a Cecille B. Demille award from the Hollywood Foreign Press.
Taylor has been in a movie since 1994's The Flinstones, but she easily one of the last great classic beautiful actresses from the golden age of Hollywood. She started her career off at the age of 10 in There's One Born Every Minute in 1942 followed by roles in Lassie Come Home and National Velvet, the latter being her big breakout.
The actress won two Oscars for her performances in Butterfield 8 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff? and was nominated for three others perviously, as well as another one for her humanitarian work. She also was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award from AFI and a Cecille B. Demille award from the Hollywood Foreign Press.
Taylor has been in a movie since 1994's The Flinstones, but she easily one of the last great classic beautiful actresses from the golden age of Hollywood. She started her career off at the age of 10 in There's One Born Every Minute in 1942 followed by roles in Lassie Come Home and National Velvet, the latter being her big breakout.
- 3/23/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
The woman, the star, the legend that is Elizabeth Taylor passed away this morning at the age of 79.
The violet-eyed actress was hospitalized six weeks ago at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for treatment of congestive heart failure, a condition that had stabilized. The hope was she would soon be well enough to return home, sadly that wasn't to be.
Taylor had a career that spanned a full six decades, from her first role in the 1942 comedy "There's One Born Every Minute" to her last in the 2001 TV movie "These Old Broads". Her first real breakthrough role was as Velvet Brown in MGM's "National Velvet" which made her a star at age 12.
For the next few years she became a very bankable adolescent star with a string of successful features. Her first success in an adult role was in the original "Father of the Bride" in 1950 with Spencer Tracy,...
The violet-eyed actress was hospitalized six weeks ago at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for treatment of congestive heart failure, a condition that had stabilized. The hope was she would soon be well enough to return home, sadly that wasn't to be.
Taylor had a career that spanned a full six decades, from her first role in the 1942 comedy "There's One Born Every Minute" to her last in the 2001 TV movie "These Old Broads". Her first real breakthrough role was as Velvet Brown in MGM's "National Velvet" which made her a star at age 12.
For the next few years she became a very bankable adolescent star with a string of successful features. Her first success in an adult role was in the original "Father of the Bride" in 1950 with Spencer Tracy,...
- 3/23/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Elizabeth Taylor, the grande dame of Hollywood, has passed away early Wednesday morning at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. She was 79.
Surrounded by her children, Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton, Taylor closed her eyes and joined other classic Hollywood icons to live in cinema heaven.
In a statement to ABC News, her son, Michael, said: "My Mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love. Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world. Her remarkable body of work in film, her ongoing success as a businesswoman, and her brave and relentless advocacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS, all make us all incredibly proud of what she accomplished. We know, quite simply, that...
Surrounded by her children, Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton, Taylor closed her eyes and joined other classic Hollywood icons to live in cinema heaven.
In a statement to ABC News, her son, Michael, said: "My Mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love. Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world. Her remarkable body of work in film, her ongoing success as a businesswoman, and her brave and relentless advocacy in the fight against HIV/AIDS, all make us all incredibly proud of what she accomplished. We know, quite simply, that...
- 3/23/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
[1] Elizabeth Taylor died [2] earlier today of congestive heart failure at the age of 79. Taylor had been hospitalized for her condition since February. Taylor made her silver screen debut as a 10-year-old in There's One Born Every Minute, but it was her role in National Velvet a couple years later that captured national attention. Since then, Taylor has gone on to become one of the most legendary actresses in cinema history. Her most notable films include A Place in the Sun, Giant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Cleopatra, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (for which she won the Best Actress Academy Award). Taylor's last cinematic appearance was in 1994's The Flintstones, in which she played Wilma's mother. She has also made various television appearances over the years. Taylor was as well-known for her offscreen life as her onscreen career. She embodied Hollywood glamour, with her often stormy personal life,...
- 3/23/2011
- by Angie Han
- Slash Film
Elizabeth Taylor, the iconic Hollywood star whose tumultuous romances and precarious health challenges often played out as larger-than-life Elizabethan dramas, died of congestive heart failure at Los Angeles's Cedars-Sinai Hospital. She may have been 79, but with more than 65 years of screen time preserved for all time, she will remain a glorious, glamorous and full-blooded image. Revered for her generous charity work but sometimes controversial for her turbulent personal life, the three-time Oscar honoree, fragrance and jewelry mogul and tenacious AIDS activist possessed many talents, including a remarkable gift for self-appraisal. Just before turning 60 in 1992, she summed herself up for Life magazine,...
- 3/23/2011
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
Elizabeth Taylor, the Hollywood icon and Oscar-winner who was practically born in the spotlight, died Wednesday morning. She was 79. "She was surrounded by her children - Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd and Maria Burton," Taylor's publicist, Sally Morrison, said in a statement. In addition to her children, Taylor is survived by 10 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. On Feb. 11, it was announced that she had been in taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles earlier that week for symptoms caused by congestive heart failure, and around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, she "peacefully died there," according to her publicist. "Though...
- 3/23/2011
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
ComingSoon.net has just learned from various news sources that legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor has passed away from congestive heart failure early this morning at the age of 79. Although she hasn't appeared in a movie since 1994's The Flintstones , Taylor was thought to be one of the last great movie stars, a classic beauty from "Old Hollywood" who started her career as a child actor at the age of 10 in There's One Born Every Minute in 1942 followed by roles in Lassie Come Home and National Velvet , the latter being her big breakout. As an adult, she received acclaim for playing Maggie in the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof but her most famous role was playing the title character in Joseph Mankiewicz's 1963 epic Cleopatra for which she was paid the...
- 3/23/2011
- Comingsoon.net
Hollywood Icon Elizabeth Taylor has died of congestive heart failure on Wednesday in Los Angeles of at the age of 79, reports Variety. The actress was born Feb. 27, 1932, in London to American parents and later returned to the U.S., settling in Los Angeles, where her father operated Beverly Hills Hotel art gallery. Her first movie was There's One Born Every Minute from Universal back in 1942. Later, after signing on at MGM, she appeared in Lassie Come Home in 1043 and then followed that with films like Jane Eyre, White Cliffs of Dover, National Velvet, Ivanhoe, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Cleopatra and many more...
- 3/23/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Hollywood Icon Elizabeth Taylor has died of congestive heart failure on Wednesday in Los Angeles of at the age of 79, reports Variety. The actress was born Feb. 27, 1932, in London to American parents and later returned to the U.S., settling in Los Angeles, where her father operated Beverly Hills Hotel art gallery. Her first movie was There's One Born Every Minute from Universal back in 1942. Later, after signing on at MGM, she appeared in Lassie Come Home in 1043 and then followed that with films like Jane Eyre, White Cliffs of Dover, National Velvet, Ivanhoe, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Cleopatra and many more...
- 3/23/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Legendary Hollywood actress and violet-eyed beauty Elizabeth Taylor, who captured hearts in "National Velvet" to launch a film career that spanned five decades, died on Wednesday aged 79.Taylor had been in Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai hospital for six weeks with congestive heart failure, a condition with which she had struggled for some years and had recently suffered complications, a family statement said."She was surrounded by her children: Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton," it said, noting that Taylor, who married eight times, was survived by 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren."My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love," Michael Wilding said."Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world."Taylor won two Academy Awards for best actress,...
- 3/23/2011
- Filmicafe
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical
After entering Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles two months ago for treatment of symptoms of congestive heart failure, news centers are reporting that iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at the age of 79.
After beginning her career in the 1942 film 'There's One Born Every Minute,' Taylor quickly evolved from work as Lassie's sidekick and Jane Eyre's doomed best friend to her career-making role in 'National Velvet.' As Taylor matured, her work evolved from 'Little Women' to 'Father of the Bride' and ultimately to the dramatic fare that made her not only one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, but also one of cinema's most talented.
Continue Reading...
After entering Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles two months ago for treatment of symptoms of congestive heart failure, news centers are reporting that iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at the age of 79.
After beginning her career in the 1942 film 'There's One Born Every Minute,' Taylor quickly evolved from work as Lassie's sidekick and Jane Eyre's doomed best friend to her career-making role in 'National Velvet.' As Taylor matured, her work evolved from 'Little Women' to 'Father of the Bride' and ultimately to the dramatic fare that made her not only one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, but also one of cinema's most talented.
Continue Reading...
- 3/23/2011
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Moviefone
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical
After entering Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles two months ago for treatment of symptoms of congestive heart failure, news centers are reporting that iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at the age of 79.
After beginning her career in the 1942 film 'There's One Born Every Minute,' Taylor quickly evolved from work as Lassie's sidekick and Jane Eyre's doomed best friend to her career-making role in 'National Velvet.' As Taylor matured, her work evolved from 'Little Women' to 'Father of the Bride' and ultimately to the dramatic fare that made her not only one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, but also one of cinema's most talented.
Continue Reading...
After entering Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles two months ago for treatment of symptoms of congestive heart failure, news centers are reporting that iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at the age of 79.
After beginning her career in the 1942 film 'There's One Born Every Minute,' Taylor quickly evolved from work as Lassie's sidekick and Jane Eyre's doomed best friend to her career-making role in 'National Velvet.' As Taylor matured, her work evolved from 'Little Women' to 'Father of the Bride' and ultimately to the dramatic fare that made her not only one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, but also one of cinema's most talented.
Continue Reading...
- 3/23/2011
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
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