Farewell, Mistress of Hearts

The golden era of Hollywood ends with the passing of Elizabeth Taylor.

LOS ANGELES: Legendary Hollywood actor and violet-eyed beauty Elizabeth Taylor, who captured hearts in National Velvet, to launch a film career that spanned five decades, has died aged 79.

Taylor had been in hospital in Los Angeles for six weeks with congestive heart failure, a condition with which she had struggled for some years, and had recently suffered complications, a family statement said.

“Legendary actor, businesswoman, and fearless activist Elizabeth Taylor died peacefully today in Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles,” said the statement by her publicist, quoting her son.

“She was surrounded by her children — Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton,” the statement added, noting that she was also survived by 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Wilding added: “My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humour, and love”.

“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,” he added, according to the statement.

“Her remarkable body of work in film, her ongoing success as a businesswoman, her brave and relentless advocacy in the fight against Aids, all makes 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,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2011.