Elizabeth Taylor Jewelry Sale Includes Opera Necklace

"Gold and ivory necklace featuring ivory opera passes, circa 18th and 19th centuries, a gift from the estate of Edith Head, is shown in this photograph at Christie's, in New York, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011. It is estimated at $1,500 - $2,000." (Photo: Richard Drew/AP)

"Elizabeth Taylor dazzled the world with her luminous beauty, lavish lifestyle _ and an unquenchable passion for diamonds and jewels that was fueled by the great loves of her life. The late Hollywood star amassed one of the foremost jewelry collections in the world, including a 33.19-carat diamond ring and a 16th century pear-shaped pearl from one of her seven husbands, Richard Burton. The Associated Press recently viewed about two dozen of her most iconic pieces at Christie's auction house, which is selling her complete jewelry collection, valued at $30 million, in New York on Dec. 13-14." [Source]

Elizabeth Taylor's Nude Photo Released After Nearly 60 Years

Source: www.GutterUncensored.com

Here is Elizabeth Taylor's only known nude photo, taken for her then-fiancée Michael Todd decades before sexting became as poplar as it is today, has been released by a private collector. Almost 55-years ago Elizabeth Taylor took a single nude photograph that was eventually sold to private collector Jim Shaudis in 1980 and now following the death of Taylor Mr. Shaudis decided to release the photo to the public. Countless photographs have paid homage to Liz Taylor's fabulous figure. But none has been so revealing as this one.

The striking black and white photo shows her topless. Elizabeth Taylor was 24 at the time and considered one of the most beautiful women in the world. Life-long friend Roddy McDowall, an actor and amateur photographer, convinced her to sit for the photo in 1956. He promised it would be tasteful, like a work of art, and it has been treated as such ever since. Todd, whom she later married and became her third husband, was killed in plane crash 13 months after they wed. Afterward, Taylor was said to have given the photo to her assistant and make-up artist Penny Taylor.

Collector Jim Shaudis bought the photo in 1980 and it has not been shown in public since. But Shaudis decided to make the photo public after Taylor’s death, at 79, from congestive heart failure on March 23. The photo isn't the only surprise about her life that has come to light since she passed, according to London's Daily Mail. Her father, the art dealer Francis Taylor, and his actress wife Sara regularly attended swingers parties and that Elizabeth was reportedly conceived at one of the parties. Other reports claim her father was a millionaire Conservative Member of Parliament, Victor Cazalet, who became her godfather. In any event she became one of the most photographed women in the world. But there is only one photo like this. Or at least only one that is known to exist.

Bonus... Here is another revealing photo taken years later. While not nude, the sheer bra she is wear exposed a lot:

Source: http://www.GutterUncensored.com

Wiki Bio

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Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English-born American actress.

Beginning as a child star, as an adult she came to be known for her acting talent and beauty, and had a much publicized private life, including eight marriages and several near-death experiences. Taylor was considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh on its Female Legends list.

Elizabeth Taylor Laid To Rest With Poetry

"Elizabeth Taylor was laid to rest Thursday at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., in a small, private funeral attended by friends and family that began 15 minutes after schedule – under instructions she left. The one-hour, multi-denominational service officiated by Rabbi Jerry Cutler included a reading by actor Colin Farrell, a friend of Taylor's, of Gerard Manley Hopkins's poem 'The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo.' Taylor's son Michael Wilding, her daughter Liza and her grandson Tarquin Wilding also read selections, and her grandson Rhys Tivey performed a trumpet solo of 'Amazing Grace.'" [Source]

The poem was famously recited by the love of her life, Richard Burton. But it was also set to music by Elizabeth Maconchy in 1978. Listen to a brief clip of soprano Renée Fleming singing the piece while a student at the Eastman School of Music. There is an extended clip on YouTube as well. If you missed the memorial tribute to Elizabeth Taylor and her opera connections, click here.

Our Elizabeth

That Elizabeth Taylor was beautiful was never in dispute, she simply was. Her reigning title as The Most Beautiful Woman in the World alone would be enough to send her into the pantheon of our brightest stars. She was, of course, ferociously talented to boot. “A Place in the Sun.” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” “Suddenly, Last Summer.” “BUtterfield 8.” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” These films have been seared into the cinematic canon, in no small part by Elizabeth’s white hot performances. But beauty and talent, perhaps even nearing Elizabeth’s levels, is nothing too terribly unusual in Hollywood. We expect at least one, if not both, from our celebrities.

What made Elizabeth Taylor so special then was not just her violet eyes, her two Oscars or even her very public private life. It was what she did with her fame and how she used it when it mattered most. Many of you are too young to remember, and others remember too well, but back in the early 1980s AIDS was fear. It was the boogey man and the Grim Reaper and – to some particularly unenlightened – God’s mighty vengeance all rolled up in one. I was still quite young when AIDS was first diagnosed in 1981, but I remember as it unfolded throughout my childhood. People thought you could get it from a handshake or a toilet, a hug or a water fountain. But not Elizabeth. She saw her friends dying, and instead of running she embraced them. Before the President of the United States ever uttered the words, she was shouting to anyone who would listen and often those who wouldn’t. To have such a glamorous star of her stature stand up when others wouldn’t was immeasurable. Of course, there were others, but few in the same stratosphere.

In September 1985 she helped establish the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) and over the years she raised more than $100 million in the fight against the disease. It was that same month during a press conference that then President Ronald Reagan first uttered the word AIDS in a public. Reagan had planned to release a statement to quell the panic about AIDS being spread to schoolchildren that same year. But a White House lawyer, a young future Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, advised him against it. He wrote in a memo: “I would not like to see the president reassuring the public on this point. ... We should assume that AIDS can be transmitted through casual or routine contact until it's demonstrated that it definitely cannot be.” Some chose fear, Elizabeth chose courage.

It took the President two more years to give his first major address on AIDS, at the College of Physicians in Philadelphia in April. By that time 40,000 people had died of the disease. And then a month later he gave his much more well-known and infamous speech on the subject during the keynote address at amFAR. That, too, only happened because Elizabeth wrote him personally asking him to speak. It turned out, sadly, to be a disaster with lawyers and White House staff second-guessing doctors and facts. But that’s not for want of Elizabeth’s efforts. Today, amFAR remains one of the leading international organizations in the fight against AIDS and HIV. And until her passing yesterday at age 79, Elizabeth remained a fierce ally in the fight against AIDS and in support of the LGBT community. She was an icon for the world, but in a way we kind of felt like she was ours.

Beauty fades. Talent slows. But compassion, compassion can change the world. Thank you for caring, Elizabeth. A star for the ages now belongs to them.

Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79

Source: www.GutterUncensored.com

1932 – 2011

Academy Award winning actress Elizabeth Taylor passed away today at Los Angeles, Calif.'s Cedars-Sinai Hospital at the age of 79. At around 1:30 a.m. this morning, she died of symptoms caused by congestive heart failure. "She was surrounded by her children- Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton," Taylor's publicist, Sally Morrison, said in a statement. In addition to her children, Taylor is survived by 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

One of the most beautiful screen legends in her era, Elizabeth Taylor won double Oscars for starring in Butterfield 8 in 1960, opposite Eddie Fisher and for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 1966, alongside Richard Burton. In 1963, she memorably starred in "Cleopatra." Taylor later in life became notorious for her seven marriages and sometimes eccentric behavior. Most people only have a memory of Elizabeth as a frail old woman being pushed around in a wheelchair but in her day she was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood history. CNN report:

Taylor died "peacefully today in Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles," said a statement from her publicist. She was hospitalized six weeks ago with congestive heart failure, "a condition with which she had struggled for many years. Though she had recently suffered a number of complications, her condition had stabilized and it was hoped that she would be able to return home. Sadly, this was not to be."

Though a two-time Oscar winner -- for "Butterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966) -- Taylor was more celebrated for simply being Elizabeth Taylor: sexy, glamorous, tempestuous, fragile, always trailing courtiers, media and fans. She wasn't above playing to that image -- she had a fragrance called "White Diamonds" -- or mocking it.

"I am a very committed wife," she once said. "And I should be committed too -- for being married so many times."

Elizabeth Taylor, of course, starred in Cleopatra which made her the first Hollywood star to earn a $1 million salary. Beyond acting, Taylor is credited with bringing the world's attention to AIDS with her fund-raising and activism. In 1985, when Taylor's lifelong friend Rock Hudson died of AIDS, she brought national attention to the growing disease. It satisfying to her to use her celebrity for good - she raised and donated millions to the cause, founding the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Taylor reported in October 2009 that she was having a heart procedure done. Via Twitter, she said it was "very new and involves repairing my leaky valve using a clip device, without open heart surgery so that my heart will function better." Taylor was again hospitalized six weeks ago with congestive heart failure. Though she had recently suffered a number of complications, her condition had stabilized and it was hoped that she would be able to return home.

"I never planned to acquire a lot of jewels or a lot of husbands," Taylor said. "I have been supremely lucky in my life in that I have known great love, and of course, I am the temporary custodian of some incredible and beautiful things."

Source: http://www.GutterUncensored.com

Wiki Bio

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English-born American actress.

Beginning as a child star, as an adult she came to be known for her acting talent and beauty, and had a much publicised private life, including eight marriages and several near-death experiences. Taylor was considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh on its Female Legends list.

Elizabeth Taylor, Friend of Opera, Dies at 79

"Ave Maria" (Mascagni)
performed by Kathleen Battle

According to her publicist, actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at age 79 from congestive heart failure. It is said she died peacefully. In 1963, the actress was featured in the film Cleopatra. She used a signature eyeliner many defined as "cat eyes" that inspired opera singer Maria Callas to begin wearing a similar look to add more glamour to her appearance. The relationship between the two women, however, went beyond makeup. In fact, Ms. Taylor became an active member in the opera community. As part of the royal media scene, Ms. Taylor and Richard Burton were members of a social elite that included opera diva Maria Callas and oil tycoon Aristotle Onassis. It may very well have been Madame Callas that introduced

Maria Callas with the actress

Ms. Taylor to Franco Zeffirelli because he had previously directed the opera singer in La Traviata, Norma and Tosca, and the two were close friends. Ms. Taylor and Richard Burton soon appeared together in Franco Zeffirelli's film debut, The Taming of the Shrew, in 1967. Based on the William Shakespeare play, it was an over-the-top Hollywood budget buster with the lead actors sinking $1 million of their own fortunes into the project and waiving their fees for a percentage of the box-office revenues. The collaboration sparked a lifelong friendship between the actress and the director. Zeffirelli was to become one of the preeminent
opera directors of the last century. Ms. Taylor's lifelong friendship with Franco

Elizabeth at the Paris Opera 1963

Zeffirelli also spawned an introduction in the 1980's to singer Aprile Millo who appeared in the director's production of Puccini's Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera. The spinto soprano was chosen by the director to be the voice of Ms. Taylor (playing Nadina Bulichoff) for his film Young Toscanini in 1988. She even sang "Ave Maria" for the wedding of Ms. Taylor and Larry Fortensky in 1991. The life of Elizabeth Taylor could easily be confused for an opera plot with all its adventure, love and tragedy. She lived her life for all the world to be inspired by beauty and charm. She possessed a magnetism that made her one of the few select people in the world who could actually steal focus from an opera diva if the two were in the same room. For

At the Rome Opera 1966

all of the glitz of gowns and jewels, one cause that must be mentioned for which Elizabeth Taylor worked tirelessly, is her contributions to AIDS research and the development of potential cures. In addition to her legendary screen performances, Ms. Taylor was a staunch advocate in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Thanks to her friendship with co-star Rock Hudson, she began with an AIDS Project Los Angeles dinner in the early 80's and by 1985 she was working with amfAR's Dr. Mathilde Krim to use her celebrity in promoting the organization's cause. In 1991, she established the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation to create "funding to AIDS service organizations throughout the world to assist those living with HIV and AIDS." By 1999 she had raised an estimated $50 million to fight the disease. Even as late as 2006, she had commissioned a 37-foot "Care Van" equipped with examination tables and X Ray equipment (in addition to a personal contribution of $40,000) for the New Orleans Aids task force.

Hers was an accomplished life worth singing about.

Maria Callas, Elizabeth and Aristotle Onassis in 1964.

Franco Zeffirelli (far left) and Elizabeth at the Teatro dell'Opera in 1966.

In London. Left to right: Maria Callas, Peter O'Toole, Elizabeth and Richard Burton.

Elizabeth with Noel Coward in the film "Boom!" in 1968.

Backstage after Turandot in 1987. Left to right: Birgit Nilsson, Franco Zeffirelli, James Levine, Eva Marton, Elizabeth and Plácido Domingo.

Eva Marton, Aprile Millo and Elizabeth backstage after Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera.

Aprile Millo (far left) sings at the wedding of Taylor and Fortensky in 1991.

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