Hollywood siren Elizabeth Taylor has died at the age of 79.
Taylor had been hospitalized for the last six weeks for symptoms of congestive heart failure. She died Wednesday morning surrounded by her children: Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton, Taylor's publicist, Sally Morrison, said in a statement.
Taylor, a longtime smoker, had announced her heart failure diagnosis in 2004. The condition causes the heart to gradually lose the ability to pump enough blood to the rest of the body.
Taylor was one of the silver screen's most striking beauties, with eyes so blue, many said they were violet.
But she was almost as famous for her legendary love life. She was married eight times to seven husbands, with her last marriage, to construction worker Larry Fortensky, ending in 1996.
Taylor once said it was her "rather puritanical upbringing and beliefs" that led her to marry so often. "I couldn't just have a romance; it had to be marriage," she said.
The marriages brought her five children and she is survived by 10 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Taylor appeared in her first film at the age of nine, capturing the world's attention at 12 while starring in 1944's "National Velvet."
A string of girl-next-door roles followed, with Taylor taking her first "serious" dramatic role in "A Place in the Sun" in 1950, opposite Montgomery Clift.
She cemented her status as a sultry siren in 1958, as Maggie in Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" before playing one of her greatest roles in 1966 , as a foul-mouthed alcoholic in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
She snagged her first Best Actress Oscars in 1961 for "Butterfield 8," and then won again for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
When she accepted her 1961 Oscar, she was recovering from a nearly fatal bout with pneumonia and wore a bandage over a tracheotomy scar. She ascended the stage to accept her statue delicately, to a standing ovation.
"I don't really know how to express my great gratitude," she said in an emotional speech. "I guess I will just have to thank you with all my heart."
Taylor later became known as a passionate AIDS activist, becoming one of the first celebrities to focus attention on the disease when her lifelong friend, Rock Hudson, died of AIDS in 1985. Her work earned her a special Oscar in 1993: the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
That same year, Taylor won a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.
In her later years, her health problems became the stuff of tabloid fodder. She underwent at least 20 major operations and nearly died from another bout with pneumonia in 1990. In 1994 and 1995, she had both hip joints replaced, and in February 1997, she underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumour. In 1983, she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers. She was treated for alcohol and drug abuse problems at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Taylor's son, Michael Wilding, said in a statement that his 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. 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."
Singer Elton John, a longtime friend of Taylor, said she would be greatly missed.
"We have just lost a Hollywood giant," he said in a statement. "More importantly, we have lost an incredible human being."
Morrison said that a private family funeral will be held later this week. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that contributions be made to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
With files from the Associated Press
