Celebrities pay tribute to screen goddess Liz Taylor

Mar 23, 2011, 21:38 GMT

Los Angeles/London - Celebrities paid tribute Wednesday to Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor, who died in Los Angeles aged 79.

Among those paying their respects were former US senator John Warner, who was married to Taylor in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

'I will remember her as a woman whose heart and soul were as beautiful as her classic face and majestic eyes,' he said on CNN.

Her son with second husband Michael Wilding, John Wilding, said that 'the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it.'

'My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humour, and love,' he said in a statement.

'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.'

The foundation she created to raise awareness about the disease, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, said 'We mourn the loss of legendary actress, businesswoman, and fearless activist Elizabeth Taylor.'

Tributes to her poured in on a special Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethTaylorTribute) and fellow stars from Larry King to Alyssa Milano rushed to pay their respects on Twitter.

'Rest in peace, Elizabeth Taylor. You are a prism & will live on through all the good you did while you were with us,' tweeted Milano.

'If Elizabeth took on a battle, she took it on 100 per cent,' said King. 'She was first major celeb in the AIDS battle and she made it her cause.'

Comedian Whoopi Goldberg recalled her having 'a sense of humour that was so bawdy even I was saying 'Really? That came out of your mouth?' She was just a magnificent woman. She was a great broad and a good friend.'

'The shock of Elizabeth was not only her beauty. It was her generosity. Her giant laugh,' said Mike Nichols, who directed her in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 'She is singular and indelible on film and in our hearts.'

In Britain, where Taylor spent her early childhood before moving with her American parents to Los Angeles, Michael Caine, Joan Collins, Elton John and George Michael were among the actors and celebrities paying tribute to the icon.

'So sad to hear about my beautiful friend Elizabeth Taylor. She was a great human being,' Caine said about the actress, with whom he starred in the 1972 film X,Y and Zee.

British actress Joan Collins praised Taylor as 'the last of the true Hollywood icons.' There would 'never be another star who comes close to her luminosity and generosity.'

Singer Elton John, a long-time friend of the actress, said: 'We have just lost a Hollywood giant. More importantly, we have lost an incredible human being.'

Singer George Michael said Taylor was one of the last Hollywood greats and the only person he had ever met who had violet eyes. 'They were genuinely violet, so beautiful,' Michael said on his website.

Veteran film-maker Michael Winner said: 'Elizabeth Taylor was the last of the great glamour stars. She was the longest-running soap opera in history, and represented all the allure and tragedy that attracts people to Hollywood.'

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