Elizabeth Taylor: Glamour Queen to Virtual Recluse

 

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"The movie making was fun," Mann said. "But that was probably the most important mission of her life, her humanitarian work and AIDS activism. I think she would most want to be remembered for her compassion and willingness to stand up for people who needed her."

Elizabeth Taylor at a 2009 fashion show.

In recent years as her health faltered, AIDS events were often the few occasions that found her out in public.

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"Acting is, to me now, artificial," she told The Associated Press at the dedication of UCLA's AIDS Research and Education Center in 1995. "Seeing people suffer is real. It couldn't be more real. Some people don't like to look at it in the face because it's painful. But if nobody does, then nothing gets done."

Though Taylor's body and face bore the ravages of her years of battling illness, weight issues and substance abuse, she still managed to look like Elizabeth Taylor, screen legend.

"Her hair was black as ever was and she wore her red lipstick," Mann said. "She still looked like a movie star."

Elizabeth Taylor at her 75th diamond jubilee birthday party.