R.I.P. Elizabeth Taylor

One of the last true heavies from the Hollywood Star System has died. Although Elizabeth Taylor began at the tail end of the failing system she always had a Golden Age star quality about her. She was a bridge between the Golden Age and the Method Age, and she blended in with both. Taylor held her own with William Powell and Spencer Tracy as she did with Montgomery Clift and James Dean. Her career fell off by the late sixties, but she stayed relevant for the rest of her life. Taylor was famous first as a movie star,then her personal life(marriage, health/weight problems, and Richard Burton) and finally as an activist. She was one of the first and easily the most famous person to bring the A.I.D.S. problem into America's households. Elizabeth Taylor was more than a pretty face, she was a great actress with a lot of range. My three favorite performances from her are Giant (1956), Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?(1966),solid films that she helps carry.  These are other highlights of her film career that are must sees. National Velvet (1944), Life With Father (1947), Father Of The Bride (1950), A Place In The Sun (1951) one of her best films,but this movie belongs to Monty, Raintree County (1957)another great Liz performance, and Butterfield 8 (1960) not a great film, but she was good enough to win her first of two Oscars for it. Elizabeth Taylor left behind two great legacies, iconic star and trailblazing activist,she was 79.