After Knut, the polar bear popped his clogs last week, another global celebrity has hit the headlines after giving up the ghost. Liz Taylor The Hollywood legend, Dame Elizabeth Taylor passed away yesterday at the age of 79, after suffering for many years from heart disease. Her publicist confirmed that she “died peacefully in hospital in Los Angeles surrounded by her family.” She is survived by four children, ten grandchildren and four great grandchildren. They are expected to share her $600 million dollar fortune. Dame Elizabeth had been struggling with her health for a number of years and was said to be devastated after her best friend, Michael Jackson kicked the bucket in 2009. Taylor had definitely had a good innings. Before her number was up, the veteran actress won 2 acting oscars, was the first star to be paid $1,000,000 for a movie and was married 8 times in total, to 7 different men. Her most famous husband was Richard Burton, whom she married twice. They began their first romance after starring together in the classic, Cleopatra: a role that it is said that she was born to play. Burton and Taylor, were the Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie of their day. Their second marriage broke up in 1976, after only 9 months and Burton eventually cashed in his chips in 1984. In 2006, even after Richard Burton had been pushing up the daisies for 22 years, Taylor stated that Burton was still ‘her soulmate.’ She said there was never a dull moment with him and ‘I loved Richard through 2 marriages and until the day he died.’ Taylor was a staunch supporter of AIDS charities. She helped start an AIDS foundation in 1985 after her great friend, the Hollywood idol, Rock Hudson checked out. She was probably the most famous screen beauty left from the golden age of Hollywood. After Jane Russell bit the dust last month, there can only be a few remaining screen sirens from that bygone age. RIP Elizabeth Taylor
Euphemisms to describe ‘dying’:
- To Pop sb clogs
- To Give up the ghost
- To pass away
- to kick the bucket
- Number to be up
- To cash in sb chips
- To Push up the daisies (describes actually being dead)
- To Check out
- To bite the dust
To have a good innings. – to have a long, full and varied life
Words that commonly describe a Hollywood star from the mid 20th Century:
Legend, great, veteran actress, idol, screen beauty, screen siren
