Legendary actress and pioneering AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor died Wednesday in hospital from congestive heart failure, prompting a stream of tributes from celebrities and fans alike.The British-born Hollywood star was 79 and had been in Cedars-Sinai Hospital for over a month when she passed away early Wednesday surrounded by her family.Taylor, 79, died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized for about six weeks.A leading member of Hollywood royalty, Taylor was known for her electrifying screen presence and turbulent romantic life, as well as her AIDS activism and personal battles with health problems and addiction issues.Taylor was born Feb 27, 1932, in London to American parents. Considered one of Hollywood's greatest stars of all time, she was married eight times - including twice to actor Richard Burton.
She spent almost her entire life in the public eye, from tiny dancer performing at age 3 before the future queen of England, to child screen star to scandalous home-wrecker to three-time Academy Award winner for both acting and humanitarian work.
A diva, she made a spectacle of her private life — eight marriages, ravenous appetites for drugs, booze and food, ill health that sparked headlines constantly proclaiming her at death's door. All of it often overshadowed the fireworks she created on screen.
Her first marriage to Conrad Hilton ended after just eight months in 1951. A year later she married Michael Wilding and the couple went on to have two sons.
They divorced in 1957 and just days later she wed theatre producer Michael Todd - the father of her daughter Liza - but he died in 1958 when his private jet, named Lucky Liz, crashed in New Mexico.
Fourteen months after Todd's death, Taylor married his best friend, actor Eddie Fisher and they went on to star together in her Oscar-winning movie Butterfield 8. The union came to an end in 1964 and just nine days after her divorce from Fisher was finalised, Taylor married Richard Burton for the first time.
Taylor's marriage to Burton crumbled and the couple divorced in 1974 after 10 years together, but they remarried in a secret ceremony in Africa 16 months later.
The actress admitted she had remarried Burton after an x-ray revealed spots on her lungs which she feared were cancerous. She said the anxious 12 hours of waiting for the prognosis, which turned out to be clear, convinced her to remarry her lover.
They divorced for a second time in 1976 and Taylor went on to wed John Warner later that year and Larry Fortensky in 1991. Both marriages ended in divorce.Taylor is survived by four children: Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding and Liza Todd and adoptive daughter Maria Burton.
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