‘Last great glamour star’ dies
Hailed as “a Hollywood giant” and “the last of the great glamour stars” by friends and admirers yesterday, the star even managed to outlive the New York Times theatre critic Mel Gussow, who had penned an obituary for Taylor before his own death in 2005.
The star of films such as Cleopatra, Butterfield 8 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles yesterday morning from congestive heart failure. She had been plagued by ill-health for a number of years and had been in hospital for the past six weeks with heart problems.
Taylor lived almost her entire life in the spotlight, as a film star but also for her charity work, chiefly Aids research.
The double Oscar-winning star married eight times — twice to the Welsh acting legend Richard Burton — and for many years battled with substance abuse.
One of the original Hollywood couples, Taylor once said Burton was the only man she would ever marry. “If Richard and I divorce, I swear I will never marry anyone again. I love him insanely.”
Though she did marry again the pair remained close until Burton’s death in 1984.
Speaking yesterday, her son Michael Wilding, one of four children, said his mother lived life to the full and her legacy would never fade.
