Elizabeth Taylor's Life in Film and Husbands

Elizabeth Taylor, who died early this morning at the age of 79, had a prolific life in marriage, film, philanthropy, sickness and diamonds.

A consummate Hollywood starlet, Taylor spent only 12 years of her life under the radar before she burst into stardom with her role in 1944's "National Velvet." She was truly "famous for being famous," as Adam Bernstein writes in her obituary in The Washington Post, appearing on the cover of Life magazine 14 times and on the cover of People more than 25 times.

She is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren, four great grandchildren and godchildren Prince Michael and Paris Jackson.

Marriages
Taylor first married hotel heir Conrad "Nicky" Hilton in 1950, when she was 18. The couple divorced a year later. (Hilton was the great-uncle of Paris and Nicky Hilton.)

Michael Wilding
She married actor Michael Wilding, 20 years her senior, in 1952. He had divorced his first wife the year before. The couple had two sons together, Michael and Christopher, before divorcing in 1957. Wilding remarried twice after his divorce from Taylor.

Michael Todd
Taylor married Hollywood producer Michael Todd in 1957. The couple had a daughter, Elizabeth, the same year. Todd died in a plane crash in 1958, when his plane, called "Lucky Liz," crashed in New Mexico. Taylor was supposed to have been on the flight, but stayed at home with a cold instead.

Eddie Fisher
Pop singer Eddie Fisher left his first wife, actress Debbie Reynolds, to marry Taylor in 1959. Their affair was a major Hollywood scandal because Fisher and Reynolds had been billed as a dream couple and because Fisher's best friend was Michael Todd, according to The New York Times. The couple divorced in 1963, after Taylor met Richard Burton. Fisher went on to have three more wives.

Richard Burton
Taylor met Richard Burton on the set of "Cleopatra," and the couple married in 1964, after both divorced their spouses. Burton was a noted drinker and womanizer, and they divorced in 1974, only to get remarried in Botswana in 1975. They were divorced again a year later. In 1964, they adopted a daughter, Maria. Burton was married two more times.

Sen. John Warner
In 1976, Taylor married John Warner, a former secretary of the Navy. Warner won a senatorial election in Virginia in 1978 and served in the position until he retired in 2009. He and Taylor divorced in 1982.

Larry Fortensky
Taylor met construction worker Larry Fortensky during a stint at the Betty Ford Center in 1988. She married Fortensky, who was 20 years younger, in 1991 at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The lavish ceremony reportedly cost $2 million, according to Forbes. He would be her seventh and final husband. The couple divorced in 1996.

Important Film Roles
1942: "There's One Born Every Minute" was Taylor's film debut, at the age of 10.
1944: "National Velvet" began her life of stardom at the age of 12.
1957: "Raintree Country" earned Taylor her first Oscar nomination.
1958: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" led to her second Oscar nod.
1960: "Butterfield 8" was the film that finally sealed the deal. Taylor won a Best Actress Oscar for her role as call girl Gloria Wandrous.
1963: "Cleopatra" was where she met Richard Burton, who played Marc Antony to her Cleopatra. The film also marked the first time a star earned $1 million for a movie.

Philanthropy
Taylor helped make AIDS a mainstream concern in the 1980s, after actor Rock Hudson, her lifelong friend, died of the disease in 1985. She helped found the American Foundation for AIDS Research and began the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.