Elizabeth Taylor, Famed Actress and Former Westporter

Elizabeth Taylor, the AIDS activist and glamorous Oscar-winning starlet, died today at 79 years old from heart failure. The actress once called Westport home in the mid 1950s and considered moving here permanently.

Her brief stay isn't even mentioned in most of her biographies. Taylor, with her third husband Michael Todd, moved from Manhattan and leased a home in Westport. According to the book Stars In Our Eyes by Thoimas Delong, she spent a day house hunting with a Realtor. Nothing caught her eye until she saw the agent's home on 175 Long Lots Road. She apparently loved the home, but the Realtor would only rent the home for a year.

The deal included paying for the agent's children to attend school in Switzerland.

Elizabeth was pergnant at the time, and daughter Liz was born in August 1957 while they lived in Westport, according to the book. Todd was killed in a plane crash a year later, ending Taylor's stay in Westport.

Taylor appeared in more than 50 films, including Giant and Cleopatra. Her first feature was 1943’s Lassie Come Home.

While Taylor was initially known for her films, she later took up AIDS activism. Co-star and fellow actor Rock Hudson suffered with the disease in the mid 1980s, and Taylor rallied against the disease when it was unfashionable to do so.

A detailed obituary was published by the Los Angeles Times.