Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79

Hollywood legend and violet-eyed beauty Elizabeth Taylor, famed as much for her glamorous but stormy love life as her five-decade long Oscar-winning film career, died Wednesday aged 79.

"My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love," said her son Michael Wilding, adding that she was surrounded by her children when she died.

"Though her loss is devastating to those of us who held her so close and so dear, we will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world," he added.

She died after a long battle with congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles surrounded by her four children after having been hospitalized six weeks ago, her spokeswoman said in a statement.

In a career spanning seven decades, Taylor first gained major fame in 1944's "National Velvet" at age 12, and was nominated for five Oscars. She won the best actress honor twice, for "Bbtterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) with actor Richard Burton, whom she would marry twice.

Taylor lived a glamorous life and was married eight times in all, including to singer Eddie Fisher and movie producer Mike Todd. She was famous for her love of diamonds and furs, and later in life raised large sums for AIDS research.

Taylor was born on Feb. 27, 1932, in London to American parents and said many times she never wanted to be an actress but was pushed into it by her mother, former actress Sara Sothern Taylor.