This person died in 2011 at age 79. Her father was an art dealer who had been transferred to London from New York, and her mother had acted in the theater. She first appeared on screen at age 10, and was one of the world’s most famous film stars before she even completed her teens. Regarding her acting, she once said, “What I try to do is to give the maximum emotional effect with the minimum of visual movement.” Late in life she became a social activist – she helped establish the American Foundation for AIDS Research and helped raise money for it.  After her sixth (of eight) marriage ended, she checked into the Betty Ford Center. In addition to alcohol and drugs, she had a problem with overeating, and it became the butt of jokes by late night comedians especially Joan Rivers. Today’s dead celebrity is Elizabeth Taylor.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 68 “Sentient Princess” (Carrie Fisher) and Episode 71 “Defiant One” (Sidney Poitier) 

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Allie Arrazola.

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Elizabeth Taylor

Trailer for HBO Documentary ‘Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes”

Commercial for White Diamonds perfume

Elizabeth Taylor in ‘The Flintstones’ movie

Wondery’s “Even The Rich” Elizabeth Taylor series

Elizabeth Taylor’s HIV/Aids Activism

Dead or Alive quiz game

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