The passing of a Hollywood icon

Hollywood lost one of its enduring legends last week. Elizabeth Taylor, who was once described as the world’s most beautiful woman, died at age 79.

Taylor’s colorful career spanned seven decades. She appeared in her first movie when she was just 10, and rose to stardom when she was 12 as Velvet Brown in “National Velvet.” She had five Oscar nominations for best actress and won the award twice.

But Taylor was far from being a quiet, proper celebrity. She was violet-eyed and ravishingly beautiful, and she flaunted it. She shocked the prudish 50s with her romantic indiscretions.

Taylor was married eight times, which even by Hollywood standards was extraordinary. She first walked the aisle when she was 18, marrying hotel heir Conrad "Nicky" Hilton, the great-grandfather of Paris Hilton. That and her second marriage ended in divorce. Her third husband, film producer Mike Todd, died in a plane crash in 1958. Singer Eddie Fisher, who was Todd’s best friend, was there to comfort the grieving widow.

Pretty soon the two were dating, despite the fact that Fisher was married to actress Debbie Fisher. It was a love triangle that the Hollywood press feasted on.

Fisher eventually divorced Reynolds (who later came out with a hit single, “Am I That Easy to Forget”) and married Taylor.

Five years later it was Fisher’s turn to get replaced. Taylor had met feisty actor Richard Burton while they were filming “Cleopatra” and the two soon plunged into an affair.

Both Taylor and Burton still had spouses at the time, but they made no effort to hide their feelings for each other.

The two exchanged vows in 1959. The marriage was punctuated by long, stormy fights, but Taylor justified it, saying they "enjoy fighting. Having an out-and-out, outrageous, ridiculous fight is one of the greatest exercises in marital togetherness."

Tempestuous as it was, the marriage lasted 10 years. The two divorced in 1974. A year later, they remarried, but this time the relationship lasted only a year.

Husband No. 7 was US senator John Warner, and they managed to stay together for six years before calling it quits.

The actress was last married to Larry Fortensky, a construction worker she’d met while she was in a rehab clinic. The wedding was held at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.

Five years later they divorced.

Some movie pundits consider Elizabeth Taylor as the first truly film superstar. She demanded – and got – $1 million for starring in “Cleopatra,” a staggering sum at the time.

Life Magazine put her on its cover 14 times. She had her own line of jewelry and perfume.

She will also be remembered as a staunch advocate of the fight against AIDS.

"She was one of the first to really make her personal life as important as her professional life in terms of her stardom," according to William Mann, a biographer of Taylor.

But it was her talent as an actress that Elizabeth Taylor will be best remembered for. Her powerful performances in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf,” which earned her her second Oscar assures her legacy.

"She was extraordinarily beautiful, and was considered a good actress. That's not true of a lot of celebrities that today's media are obsessed with," said Barry Adelman, executive producer of the Golden Globes awards show.

Elizabeth Taylor was laid to rest last Thursday in a cemetery in Los Angeles not far from where her friend Michael Jackson was buried. The service started 15 minutes late.

"Miss Taylor had left instructions that it was to begin at least 15 minutes later than publicly scheduled, with the announcement: 'She even wanted to be late for her own funeral'," read a statement released by her publicist.