Elizabeth Taylor
(1932-2011)
Dame Elizabeth Taylor
Cover of Christie's auction brochure of Taylor's jewellery.
Born in Britain to American American art-dealer parents, actress Elizabeth Taylor died of heart failure in March 2011. She had been married eight times (twice to Richard Burton) and was survived by four children, ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Of her ex-husbands, only builder Larry Fortensky and former US Senator John W Warner survived her.
Taylor created a “revocable living trust” so that most of her assets would not be covered by her will - and not become part of the public record. The bulk of her estate is controlled by trustees chosen by the actress.
Taylor was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles shortly - according to Jewish custom - after her death. She converted to Judaism before marrying singer Eddie Fisher. A previous husband, director Mike Todd, was also Jewish.
Taylor's five-bed 7,000-square-foot mansion (Frank Sinatra was a previous owner) on 1.2 acres in the Bel-Air district of Los Angeles - her home since 1981 - was sold shortly after her death. Christie's auctioned her jewellery collection in December 2011, achieving $116 million, a record for a single collection. Her “La Peregrina” 16th century pearl sold for nearly $12m (in 1969 Richard Burton paid $37,000 for the pearl, which was once owned by Mary Tudor). Her 33.19 karat diamond ring that had been a gift from Burton sold for $8.8 million. Burton once quipped that he introduced her to beer and she introduced him to Bulgari.
Honoured by Queen Elizabeth in 1999, Dame Elizabeth was a close friend of Michael Jackson, and after the death of another close friend, gay actor Rock Hudson, she became an early and very visible supporter of AIDS charities.
