Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor dead

Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79. She was hospitalised at the Cedars Senai Medical Centre in Los Angeles.

Birth Name

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor

Nickname

Liz
Kitten

Height

5' 2" (1.57 m)

Mini Biography

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in London, England, on February 27, 1932. Although she was born an English subject, her parents were Americans, art dealers from St. Louis, Missouri (her father had gone to London to set up a gallery). Her mother had been an actress on the stage, but gave up that vocation when she married. Elizabeth lived in London until the age of seven, when the family left for the US when the clouds of war began brewing in Europe in 1939. They sailed without her father, who stayed behind to wrap up the loose ends of the art business.

The family relocated to Los Angeles, where Mrs. Taylor's own family had moved. Mr. Taylor followed not long afterward. A family friend noticed the strikingly beautiful little Elizabeth and suggested that she be taken for a screen test. Her test impressed executives at Universal Pictures enough to sign her to a contract. Her first foray onto the screen was in There's One Born Every Minute (1942), released when she was ten. Universal dropped her contract after that one film, but Elizabeth was soon picked up by MGM.

The first production she made with that studio was Lassie Come Home (1943), and on the strength of that one film, MGM signed her for a full year. She had minuscule parts in her next two films, The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) and Jane Eyre (1943) (the former made while she was on loan to 20th Century-Fox). Then came the picture that made Elizabeth a star: MGM's National Velvet (1944). She played Velvet Brown oppositeMickey Rooney. The film was a smash hit, grossing over $4 million. Elizabeth now had a long-term contract with MGM and was its top child star. She made no films in 1945, but returned in 1946 in Courage of Lassie (1946). In 1947, when she was 15, she starred in Life with Father(1947) with such heavyweights as William Powell, Irene Dunne and Zasu Pitts.

Throughout the rest of the 1940s and into the early 1950s Elizabeth appeared in film after film with mostly good results. Her busiest year was 1954, with roles in Rhapsody (1954), Beau Brummell (1954), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) and Elephant Walk (1954). She was 22 now, and even at that young age was considered one of the world's great beauties. In 1955 she appeared in the hit Giant (1956) with James Dean.

Sadly, Dean never saw the release of the film, as he died in a car accident in 1955. The next year saw Elizabeth star in Raintree County (1957), an overblown epic made, partially, in Kentucky. Critics called it dry as dust. Despite the film's shortcomings, Elizabeth was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Southern belle Susanna Drake. However, on Oscar night the honor went to Joanne Woodward for The Three Faces of Eve (1957). In 1958 Elizabeth starred as Maggie Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958).

The film received rave reviews from the critics and Elizabeth was nominated again for an Academy Award for best actress, but this time she lost to Susan Hayward in I Want to Live! (1958). She was still a hot commodity in the film world, though. In 1959 she appeared in another mega-hit and received yet another Oscar nomination for Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). Once again, however, she lost out, this time to Simone Signoretfor Room at the Top (1959). Her Oscar drought ended in 1960 when she brought home the coveted statue for her flawless performance inBUtterfield 8 (1960) as Gloria Wandrous, a call girl who is involved with a married man. Some critics blasted the movie but they couldn't ignore her performance. There were no more films for Elizabeth for three years. She left MGM after her contract ran out, but would do projects for the studio later down the road. In 1963 she starred in Cleopatra (1963), which was one of the most expensive productions up to that time--as was her salary, a whopping $1,000,000.

This was the film where she met her future and fifth husband, Richard Burton (the previous four were Conrad Hilton, Michael Wilding, Michael Todd--who died in a plane crash--and Eddie Fisher). Her next handful of films were lackluster at best, especially 1963's The V.I.P.s (1963), which was shredded by most critics. Elizabeth was to return to fine form, however, with the role of Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(1966). Her performance as the loudmouthed, shrewish, unkempt Martha was easily her finest to date.

For this she would win her second Oscar and one that was more than well-deserved, but her films afterward didn't approach the intensity of that one. Since then she has appeared in several movies, both theatrical and made-for-television, and a number of TV programs. In February 1997 Elizabeth entered the hospital for the removal of a brain tumor. The operation was successful. As for her private life, she divorced Burton in 1974, only to remarry him in 1975 and divorce him, permanently, in 1976. She has had two husbands since, Senator John Warner and Larry Fortensky.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson

Mini Biography

Liz was a leading child star by the age of 12 after her performance in MGM's National Velvet (1944). It wasn't long before she was knocking critics dead as a serious adult actress with films like Giant (1956), Raintree County (1957) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). She reigned the box office as the quintessential movie star taking the breath away from viewers with her glamorous looks and those velvet eyes. Her film career floundered in the 1960s and 1970s with a string of unusual and unsuccessful films. Her personal life has been a tempest of love affairs, unsuccessful marriages and multiple medical problems. Upon the death of her friend, Rock Hudson in 1985, she began her crusade on the behalf of AIDS sufferers. In the 1990s, she has also developed a successful series of scents. Her acting career has been relegated to the occasional tv-movie or TV guest appearance.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ray Hamel

Mini Biography

Elizabeth Taylor is considered one of the last, if not the last major star, to have come out of the old Hollywood studio system. And not just any studio, the top of the heap: MGM. Her early movies, as a child in the early 1940s, starred such Hollywood luminaries as Orson Welles andSpencer Tracy. She quickly grew up, however, and by 1950 was, if not starring in, assuming major responsibilities for the success of motion pictures she appeared in. Then with major roles onscreen, came worldwide attention off-screen, most notably due to a succession of famous and/or rich husbands and a series of health crises throughout her life. To put it simply, Elizabeth Taylor has lived a life far more exciting and dramatic than any movie she's ever appeared in and probably most any other movie you could name. She's known internationally for her beauty, especially for those violet eyes, with which she captured audiences early on in her youth and has kept the world hooked on ever since. She's won the Oscar twice and she's earned her place in and out of the sun.

WikiLeaks debate: 'It's PM's habit to blame others'

A united Opposition on Wednesday mounted a scathing attack on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh over the cash-for-votes scam, wondering as to how he could wash his hands of the matter as he had headed the government in 2008 and was the "biggest beneficiary" of the trust vote.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj made a stinging attack on Dr Singh in the Lok Sabha, telling him that as head of the government he should take responsibility instead of making others a scapegoat for the omissions and commissions of his regime.

"It is the habit of the prime minister to blame others. If it is price rise then Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is responsible, if it is 2G then A Raja is responsible and if it is Commonwealth Games then Suresh Kalmadi is to blame," she said.

I don't know anything, I am not aware of anything, there are coalition compulsions and I am not that much guilty as I am made out to be' ...the people are fed up with such excuses. They are asking why are you the prime minister," she said, participating in a discussion in the Lok Sabha.

"The issue involves your leadership," she said, quoting an Urdu couplet which means one should not make any excuse but tell how the caravan got looted. The prime minister was present in the House and was listening intently to the debate.

Several strong quakes rock northeastern Japan

Several strong earthquakes shook northeastern parts of Japan [ Images ] on Wednesday morning, days after a devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake-cum-tsunami rocked the country on March 11, the Japan Meteorological Agency has said.

The Kyodo news service quoted the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency as saying that the latest quake, which is believed to be the aftershock of the previous catastrophic one, did not affect the already troubled Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants, and the ongoing reconstruction work there.

No tsunami warnings were issued following the quakes, it added.

Among them, a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 shook mainly Fukushima Prefecture at 7:12 hours local time.

The quake measured 7 in Iwaki, and 4 in several locations in Fukushima, Miyagi and Ibaraki prefectures. It was followed by additional quakes, one of which also measured more than 5 in Fukushima Prefecture and lower than 5 in Ibaraki Prefecture, the agency added.

ED raids Hasan Ali's accountant's Pune residence

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday carried out searches at the Pune residence of Sunil Shinde, the chartered account of businessman Hasan Ali Khan, who is facing charges of money laundering and tax evasion.

Searches are being conducted at Shinde's residence since early Wednesday morning, ED sources said. They declined to provide further details, saying the operation was still on.

Khan, the Pune-based stud-farm owner, has been arrested on charges of stashing away huge amount of black money in banks abroad.

The 53-year-old is also facing a Rs 70,000-crore tax demand notice from the income tax department.

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Why Congress fears the latest Wikileaks revelation

The latest Wikileaks revelations will make many believe that the UPA government mustered a majority in Parliament last year in an unscrupulous manner and the Americans were prime witness to that crime, says Sheela Bhatt.

In New Delhi, reporters know that the issue is dead serious when the government completely denies allegations, puts up a fight as if war has broken out and when they even take on media to dare them come close to the real issue.

The Congress party, particularly, does it so every time when they want to save the prestige of its chief Sonia Gandhi and the credibility of the Gandhi family.

They have done it again on Thursday to thwart the political damage due to revealing Wikileaks cables.

Sonia Gandhi's extremely close confidante Satish Sharma stands exposed with the release of the latest Wikileaks cable published in The Hindu.

The Wikileaks cable reveals that how five days before the Manmohan Singh government faced a crucial vote of confidence on the Indo-US nuclear deal on July 22, 2008, Nachiketa Kapur, a political aide of Sharma, showed a US embassy employee 'two chests containing cash' that he said was part of a bigger fund of Rs 50 crore to Rs 60 crore that the party had assembled to purchase the support of MPs for the trust vote.

Let us keep aside for the moment the debate over Wikileaks credibility or the ethical value of something that blatantly gives only a one side's view of the issue.

The claims made in the published cables sent by American diplomats, based in New Delhi, to Washington can be ignored only by the thick-skinned political class.

In a nutshell, the hidden meaning of the cables is that the Congress government paid money to Members of Parliament to get votes on floor of the house with the full knowledge of US embassy in Chankyapuri.

It's astounding to see that Americans were witnesses to a corrupt drama of buying of MPs in Indian Parliament. The last thing on their mind was value of democracy so finely inscribed in the American Constitution.

And despite being in the know of the UPA government's corruption to buy votes, they sent Kapur on an all-expense-paid junket to the US.

WikiLeaks' latest puts Satish Sharma's aide in middle of cash-for-votes scam

For the Manmohan Singh-led government embattled by charges of corruption, the latest WikiLeaks expose published by The Hindu newspaper on Thursday can only come as further bad news.

According to the WikiLeaks cables published by the Hindu, just five days before the United Progressive Alliance [Images ] government faced a trust vote in 2008 over the Indo-US nuclear deal, a political aide to Congress politician Satish Sharma showed a United States embassy official 'two chests containing cash'. This, he described as part of a large stash of Rs 50 to Rs 60 crore the Congress party had put together to buy out votes from members of Parliament.

The cable sent to the State Department by US charge d'affaires Steven White on July 17, 2008 (162458: secret), mentioned a visit paid by the embassy's political counselor to Satish Sharma during which the latter described how he and others in the party were working hard to ensure the government won the confidence vote on July 22.

'Sharma's political aide Nachiketa Kapur mentioned to an embassy staff member in an aside on July 16 that Ajit Singh's RLD had been paid Rupees 10 crore (about $2.5 million) for each of their four MPs to support the government. Kapur mentioned that money was not an issue at all, but the crucial thing was to ensure that those who took the money would vote for the government,' White wrote in his cable, adding that 'Kapur showed the Embassy employee two chests containing cash and said that around Rupees 50-60 crore (about $25 million) was lying around the house for use as pay-offs.'

Apart from this, Satish Sharma also told the political counsellor 'that Dr Singh and others were trying to work on the Akali Dal (8 votes) through financier Sant Chatwal and others, but unfortunately it did not work out.'

Further, 'Sharma mentioned that he was also exploring the possibility of trying to get former prime minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee's son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya to speak to Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] representatives to try to divide the BJP ranks.'

White further wrote in his cable: 'Another Congress party insider told the Political Counsellor that minister of commerce and industry Kamal Nath is also helping to spread largesse. "Formerly he could only offer small planes as bribes," according to this interlocutor. "Now he can pay for votes with jets".'

Interestingly, on the eve of the trust vote the Bharatiya Janata Party produced hard cash on the floor of the Lok Sabha and charged the government with using it to buy MPs' support. But the subsequent probe into the accusation went nowhere.

In White's cable, Satish Sharma is described thus: 'A Congress party MP from the Rajya Sabha, and a close associate of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi [ Images ] who is considered a very close family friend of Congress president Sonia Gandhi [ Images ].'

And what became of Nachiketa Kapur? The Hindu mentions that in November 2008, he visited the US under the State Department's I-Vote 2008 programme as an observer for that year's presidential election.

Nuclear power emergency after fire at N-plant: Fire at Onagawa nuclear plant in Kyodo, north east Japan. The country declares nuclear power emergency

Earlier in the day, Japan had shut down its five nuclear power plants and declared its nuclear installations safe. Apparently, the cooler is not working.

Tsunami washes away cars, houses in Japan

Updates from quake-struck Japan: Anearthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale has struck Japan (scroll down for that news). Many have been injured in the quake, while smoke bellowed from one. Narita airport closed.

A tsunami has hit northern Japan in Onahama city in Fukushima. TV images show scores of cars floating in the harbour,while more cars, trucks and houses were swept away by the raging waters. Four-metre waves have lashed the quake hit area, while 10-metre tsunami alert has been issued.

Specifice tsunami warning issued not just for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the US state of Hawaii.

Bofors case closed as Rs 250 cr spent

-- The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadavof the Delhi courtsaid:

-- It was closing the case as Rs 250 crore had already been spent in the 20-year-old case and asks, "When will this spending end?".

-- All cases against Q have been dropped and it may be remembered that he has never ever appeared before an Indian court.

-- There was a long list of pending cases and it cannot afford to drag it any case.

-- All attempts to extradite Quattorocchi in the 25-year-long case have failed.

--The application of the CBI is allowed because if the logical conclusion of a case is not possible then it is better to leave the issue.

'We have decided to resume the dialogue process'

Maintaining that India will enter talks with Pakistan with an open mind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said the country wants to resolve all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, through dialogue and purposeful negotiations.

He also asked Pakistan to take resolute action against extremist groups operating in the country and leave no stone unturned in bringing to book perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks.

Referring to his recent statement in Parliament that the sub-continent will not realise its full development potential unless relations between India and Pakistan are normalised, he said, "Despite all the problems, we have decided to resume the dialogue process."

"We will enter these talks with an open mind. We wish to resolve all outstanding issues between two countries through friendly dialogues and purposeful negotiations. And this includes the issue of Jammu and Kashmir," he said in his address to the third convocation of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology.

Voicing concern over the activities of extremist groups in Pakistan, he said, "We cannot forget what happened in Mumbai. I urge the government of Pakistan to leave no stone unturned to bring the culprits (of Mumbai attacks) to book".

"But I believe that there is a growing conviction in Pakistan, among the thinking segments of the population, that something serious needs to be done to curb the influence of these groups on Pakistani society and polity," he said

"I urge Pakistan to take strong and resolute action against these groups that is in the interest of Pakistan, the region and the world at large," Dr Singh said.

Dr Singh said the Centre recognises the genuine political and emotional grievances of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"We will always keep the interest of people of Jammu and Kashmir in our minds. We are willing to discuss all issues that have a bearing on peace, dignity and well-being of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

Telangana Cong MPs, MLAs put mass resignations on hold

The Telangana [ Images ] issue assumed centrestage on Thursday night as Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily [Images ] held consultations with Congress members of Legislative Assembly and members of Parliament. Though a lot of hope was pinned by the Telangana leaders on this meeting there was no decision taken on issue of statehood, say insiders. 

However, the mass resignation programme by these elected representatives will be put on hold till the assembly elections in five states -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala [ Images ], West Bengal [ Images ], Assam and Puducherry -- conclude, which is mid-May. 

During the meeting, Moily urged the elected representatives to put on hold their decision to resign from their posts in their demand for a separate Telangana state. "The Congress is presently focusing on the assembly elections. We are working out a solution for Telangana and this would be done immediately after the assembly elections. Hence, I urge all of you not to act in haste and wait for the elections to be completed," he said. 

The Congress leaders from the Telangana region did not argue much on this assurance and have decided to hold back their decision to step down from their posts. Hanumanth Rao, an MP from Telangana, said after this meeting that there will no resignations. "As of now as we believe that the government in New Delhi [ Images ] will take a decision on Telangana at the earliest," he said.

The MPs, however, decided to keep their protest alive in Parliament. 

On Friday, they attended the Parliament with a ribbon tied on their mouths as a reminder to the government that they will not raise their voices on the issue, but their demand is very much alive. 

However, protests from the Telangana Rastriya Samithi are expected to continue. They have now decided to fight the battle outside Hyderabad. TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao and MP Vijayashanti, who staged several protests in New Delhi, have now returned to Hyderabad and will be meeting with the political Joint Action Committee to decide on the further course of action. 

The JAC has organised a massive programme known as the Stall Hyderabad programme in which 10 lakh people from the Telangana region will squat on the roads of Hyderabad.

The JAC is, however, not pleased with the meeting that the Congress leaders held with Moily. They say that they are not concerned with the law minister's assurances and will have to take the movement forward at any cost. A meeting will be held between the JAC and TRS soon, which will chalk out the future course of action.

Sonia should be quizzed about 2G scam, CVC row

The assumption that Sonia Gandhi can do no wrong has to be challenged by the public, the media and the political class

Sonia Gandhi can do no wrong.

That seems to be the basic assumption in the current debate on the various controversial decisions taken by the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh since it was formed after the elections of 2009.

These include decisions related to the questionable functioning of the ministry of telecommunications or the wrongful appointment of someone facing a probe to the post of the chief vigilance commissioner.

In all the debates in public -- whether in the media or by political parties -- the focus has been on the role of the prime minister, other concerned ministers and bureaucrats. I watched with interest the debate on various TV channels about the adverse judgment of a bench of the Supreme Court in the case regarding the procedure followed for the appointment of PJ Thomas as the chief vigilance commissioner

The eminent people who participated in the debates, as well as the TV anchors, focussed only on the role of the various personalities in the government from the prime minister downwards.

Not one of them mentioned even in passing the possible role of Sonia Gandhi -- as the leader of Congress party -- in these controversial decisions. Even the spokespersons of opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, did not mention her name in their interventions.

Does this mean all these controversial decisions were taken only by the government, with the Congress leadership playing no role in it? Any objective analyst would find it difficult to accept this.

Babri: Advani charged with criminal conspiracy

Breaking news: The Supreme Court has served a notice to senior BJP leader LK Advani, Shiv Sena boss Bal Thackeray, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi and 21 others citing a conspiracy to raze the Babri Masjid.

This comes after the CBI last month had moved the Supreme Court against the clean chit to senior Advani and other leaders in the Babri mosque demolition case.

Advani and 20 other BJP and Sangh Pavivar leaders had got a reprieve with the Allahabad High Court rejecting a plea to revive criminal cases against them in the case.

The nasty twist in the DMK-Congress tale

Like football coaches who slam referees after their team's poor performance, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has slammed the Election Commission for what they called the 'tight scheduling' of the assembly election, as it gave 'little time to campaign and alliance formation.' 

But on Thursday, it became clear that the problem lay not with the Election Commission, but his own party and his ally, as Congress interlocutor Ghulam Nabi Azad left Chennai without announcing a final number of seats his party would contest for the election slated for April 13. 

Sources privy to the talks said the DMK was willing to give the Congress 57 seats (revised later in the evening to 60). The DMK has made it clear that it is now up to the Congress whose final demand was 62 -- to decide whether to 'take it or leave it.' 

K Anbazhagan, DMK general secretary and Tamil Nadu finance minister, added to the drama with a statement saying the party will convene a high level meeting on March 5 to discuss 'alliances and other election-related issues.'

Sources said this is tantamount to a final word to the Congress that it is up to it to get back to the DMK with an answer. Azad met senior Congress leaders in New Delhi and was supposed to meet party president Sonia Gandhi later in the night. 

CWG scam: CBI files case against Lalli, Dehlvi

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday carried out searches at the residence of suspended Prasar Bharti CEO B S Lalli after registering a case against him and others for alleged irregularities in the award of broadcasting rights of Commonwealth Games [ Images ] reportedly resulting in a loss of Rs 135 crore to the exchequer.

The case was filed against Lalli, Wasim Dehlvi , director of Zoom Communications and others under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code late on Thursday night, official sources said. Besides Lalli's residence, the searches were being carried at the residence of Dehlvi and two more places, the sources said.

The CBI moves comes after information and broadcasting ministry cleared the deck for prosecution of Lalli facing allegations of corruption relating to broadcast rights given to SIS Live. However, sanction for theprosecution of Aruna Sharma, former Doordarshan director general for her role in the matter is yet to be given by the ministry, which said it is examining the reply given by the Madhya Pradesh [ Images] cadre IAS officer.

Soon after getting clearance from the Prime Minister's Office to initiate action against both the officials on the basis of the recommendations of the V K Shunglu committee, the CBI had written to the ministry seeking its nod to go ahead with criminal proceedings against them.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh [ Images ], after receiving the report, had directed that explanations be sought from Lalli and Sharma. Both Lalli and Sharma denied allegations of any wrongdoing.

Sharma was ordered to revert to the state cadre while Lalli was suspended. Zoom Communications had earlier issued a statement and denied all the allegations levelled against the company by the Shunglu Committee. The PM decided to refer the matter to the CBI after considering the Shunglu Committee report and the one given by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar.

"Based on documents made available, the committee has concluded that the actual cost of the contract awarded to SIS Live was at best about Rs 111 crore, thus resulting in a gain of at least Rs 135 crore to the company," the Shunglu report had alleged.

In its report, the committee had fixed the responsibility for providing "undue benefit" to SIS Live and Zoom Communications primarily on Lalli and Sharma and said they cannot be recused from the acts of omission and commission.

The committee had also said that certain actions seem to attract penal provisions under IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act, which need to be separately investigated. The PM had also directed the ministry to review the claims made by SIS LIVE, jointly with Prasar Bharati and in consultation with their financial advisers, to ensure that there is no over-payment.

Sonia, PM and the UPA govt have hit a new low

A million thanks to Chief Vigilance Commissioner PJ Thomas for not resigning before the trend-setting Supreme Court judgment by Justice S H Kapadia, Justice Panicker Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar.

The thinking of judges, as reflected in the ruling, resonates well with the country's current mood to have "accountability' in decisions of governance that matters. If Thomas had resigned before the filing of the case questioning the legality of his appointment, the country would not have got a wonderfully judicious order from the Supreme Court.

Thomas's exit would have ended the matter out of court. But now, for all the future governments, guidelines have been added in the appointment of the CVC. The judgment has gone quite far in improving the entire system of appointing the CVC.

The apex court ordered that Thomas's "impugned appointment" should be "quashed" because it has "no existence in the eye of the law." Although Thomas has been disgraced, the case against him has proved beneficial in straightening the codes of governance on the issue.