Elizabeth Taylor: 1932-2011

Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed screen legend famed for her extraordinary beauty, her tumultuous personal life, including her many marriages, and her work in the fight against HIV/AIDS, died Wednesday, March 23, 2011, in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. She was 79.

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Elizabeth Taylor was born in London, England, in 1932 and moved to Los Angeles with her family in 1939. Taylor appeared with Ann Revere in the film "National Velvet" in 1944, two years after she made her film debut at the age of 10. The film was a smash hit and made Taylor MGM's top child star.

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Eleven-year-old Elizabeth Taylor is shown in this 1943 file photo with Lassie around the time of her performance in the 1943 film "Lassie Comes Home," in Los Angeles.

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Elizabeth Taylor arrives at a Hollywood movie premiere Dec. 21, 1949, with Ralph Kiner, then the Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder and the Major League's home run king. Kiner was Taylor's second big-name athlete boyfriend.

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Elizabeth Taylor and Conrad Hilton Jr., known as Nicky, pause on the steps of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, Calif., after their wedding ceremony on May 6, 1950.

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Elizabeth Taylor and husband Conrad Hilton Jr. are pictured during their honeymoon in Paris, May 31, 1950.

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Elizabeth Taylor is shown at the premiere of "The Lady with the Lamp" at the Warner Theater in London, Sept. 22, 1951.

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Elizabeth Taylor stands on the balcony of the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, in this Sept. 25, 1953 file photo.

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Elizabeth Taylor is pictured dancing with film producer Mike Todd at a party in Greenwich, Conn., on Dec. 9, 1956. Todd later became the next - and third - husband of Taylor in February of 1957. In 1958, Todd was killed in a plane crash.

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In a 1957 file photo, actress Elizabeth Taylor is shown in costume for her character in the film "Raintree County."

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In a 1958 photo, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor are shown in a scene from the movie "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof."

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In a 1961 file photo, actress Elizabeth Taylor is shown in a scene from "BUtterfield 8." She won her first Academy Award, for best actress in a leading role, for her performance as Gloria Wandrous in the film.

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Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher apply for a marriage license in Las Vegas, May, 12, 1959.

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Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher are photographed after their wedding ceremony at Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas, May 12, 1959.

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In a 1961 photo, Elizabeth Taylor and Rex Harrison are shown in a scene from "Cleopatra."

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Elizabeth Taylor is seen with her Oscar at a presentation party after being named Best Actress for her role in "BUtterfield 8" on April 21, 1961, in Santa Monica, Calif.

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Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are seen in a motor launch, Jun 15, 1962, in the small town Porto d'Ischia, on the isle of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples, Italy.

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Martin Landau, second from left, playing the part of the general, and Elizabeth Taylor, playing the title role of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, are shown during filming of the movie "Cleopatra" on location off the Isle of Ischia, Italy, on June 16, 1962.

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Earl Mountbatten of Burma presented Elizabeth Taylor with the Oscar she won for her performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at the 20th Annual British Film Academy Awards ceremony in London, April 24, 1967.

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Elizabeth Taylor attended a charity ball in Monaco, Nov. 17, 1969. Making its debut was the famous 69.42 carat, pear-shaped diamond that Taylor was wearing as a pendant. It was a present from her husband, Richard Burton. Initially, the diamond was bought by Paris jeweler Cartier at an auction and he named it "Cartier." Burton bought it the next day and renamed it "Taylor-Burton."

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Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who is wearing a Cartier diamond of almost 70 carats, arrive at Hotel Hermitage for the Scorpion Ball in Monaco, in this Nov. 15, 1969, photo. Taylor and Burton eventually were married and divorced twice.

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Elizabeth Taylor raises her glass at New York's famous nightspot Studio 54 in this photo from the late 1970s.

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Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are pictured departing from an airport in Zurich, Switzerland, Aug. 27, 1975.

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Elizabeth Taylor and her husband, former secretary of the U.S. Navy John Warner, were seen at the 42nd New York Film Critics Circle awards dinner in New York, Jan. 30, 1977.

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This 1983 file photo shows actress Elizabeth Taylor during the run of the Broadway play "Private Lives" in New York.

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Kim Novak, left, Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor posed for a promotional photo for the 1980 film "The Mirror Crack'd", in which all three starred. Upon the death of Hudson in 1985, Taylor began her crusade to raise funds for AIDS research.

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Liza Minelli, left, hugs actress Elizabeth Taylor, who holds her Cecil B. DeMille award, Jan. 27, 1985, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

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Carol Bayer Sager, right, Elizabeth Taylor, and Barry Manilow attend a fundraiser in Los Angeles, Calif., July 25, 1986. The benefit is for the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

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Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor are pictured in London, on Nov. 14, 1975.

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Andy Warhol, right, is seen asking Elizabeth Taylor permission to take a picture of her at the opening of designer Halston's new salon in New York, Feb. 13, 1978.

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Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone poses with Elizabeth Taylor at his official residence in Tokyo, April 24, 1987.

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Elizabeth Taylor and former President Richard M. Nixon sit in St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church during memorial services for publisher Malcolm Forbes in New York, March 1, 1990.

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Elizabeth Taylor and fiance Larry Fortensky leave a New York news conference on Sept. 11, 1991. On Oct. 6, 1991, Fortensky became Taylor's seventh husband. The wedding, however, was her eighth. (Taylor and Richard Burton were married twice.) Taylor and Fortensky divorced five years later.

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Elizabeth Taylor arrives with Michael Jackson at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, Feb. 16, 1997, prior to the start of her 65th birthday celebration. Jackson, a close friend, performed at the party.

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From left, Joan Collins, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Debbie Reynolds are shown from a scene in the TV movie "These Old Broads," on Sept. 27, 2000.

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Elizabeth Taylor and former President Bill Clinton are seen at the "A Family Celebration" Party in Beverly Hills, Calif., April 1, 2001.

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Taylor and her escort, Brad Freeman, posed for photographers in the Hall of States at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 8, 2002. Taylor was one of the year's five award recipients.

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Elizabeth Taylor shares a laugh with host Larry King as Taylor's Maltese, named Sugar, looks on during a taping of "Larry King Live" at CNN Studios in Los Angeles, Feb. 3, 2003.

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Elizabeth Taylor arrives for the 14th Annual Britannia Awards, Nov. 10, 2005, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Taylor received the Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in International Entertainment.

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Elizabeth Taylor and Brooke Shields attend the Macy's Passport 2006 Gala on Sept. 28, 2006, in Santa Monica, Calif.

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Elizabeth Taylor at her 75th birthday party at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, Feb. 27, 2007, in Henderson, Nevada.

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Elizabeth Taylor attends the Macy's Passport 2008 Gala on Sept. 26, 2008, in Santa Monica, Calif.

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Elizabeth Taylor is seen at Michael Jackson's funeral service, held at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park, on Sept. 3, 2009, in Glendale, Calif.

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From left, Elizabeth Taylor, Lord Rowe-Beddoe, President of the Royal Welsh College, and Prince Charles look at a bust of actor Richard Burton during a gala at Buckingham Palace in London, April 29, 2010.

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