[[SS]Wally]

Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79
Academy Award-winning actress succumbs to heart failure

Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor, who
went from child star to screen siren, died
Wednesday in Los Angeles from congestive
heart failure. She was 79. Her children were
at her side when she died.

Taylor had been in Cedar-Sinai Medical
Center in Los Angeles for about six weeks.

Taylor first gained stardom as a child and
appeared in more than 50 films. She won
Oscars for her performances in "Butterfield
8" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

She was equally famous for extraordinary
beauty and her stormy personal life,
including eight marriages and a series of
physical ailments.

In later years, she was a spokeswoman for
humanitarian causes, notably AIDS research.
That work gained her a special Oscar in
1993.

"My Mother was an extraordinary woman
who lived life to the fullest, with great
passion, humor, and love," said her son,
Michael Wilding, in a statement. "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 the world is a
better place for Mom having lived in it. Her
legacy will never fade, her spirit will always
be with us, and her love will live forever in
our hearts."