BULLETIN – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  Elizabeth Taylor has died at 79.  Think of her what you will, but she was one of the last of the true stars of the golden age of Hollywood.  She was also a fine actress, although her personal life often overshadowed her talent.

Elizabeth Taylor symbolized the glamour of the golden age.  Her death does not, however, end that era.  Olivia de Havilland, a star of "Gone With The Wind," survives, and is in her mid-90s.  So does Mickey Rooney, who, it's hard to believe, was considered a major star in the late 1930s and early 40s.  CNN notes:

Though a two-time Oscar winner -- for "Butterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966) -- Taylor was more celebrated for simply being Elizabeth Taylor: sexy, glamorous, tempestuous, fragile, always trailing courtiers, media and fans. She wasn't above playing to that image -- she had a fragrance called "White Diamonds" -- or mocking it.

"I am a very committed wife," she once said. "And I should be committed too -- for being married so many times." 

Let us remember the talent, and the extraordinary beauty that went with it. 

March 23, 2011