ELIZABETH TAYLOR

For my money, the three most beautiful women ever to grace the screen were Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner and Elizabeth Taylor.

It didn't hurt that all three were fine actresses.

Elizabeth Taylor died yesterday in Los Angeles. She was 79.

Read the most comprehensive obituary in the New York Times.

For over 700 photos, go to IMDB, The Internet Movie Database.

Below, you will find two videos.

The second is from "A Place in the Sun," the George Stevens 1951 film version of Theodore Dreiser's novel, "An American Tragedy."

The first is from one of my all-time favorite movies, "Giant," another George Stevens film (1956), this one taken from Edna Ferber's book of the same name.

In both movies, she is in love with a man played by a gay actor - Montgomery Clift an "A Place in the Sun," and Rock Hudson in "Giant."

In "Giant," Taylor, age 24 at the time of filming, plays a woman from the age of 15 or so to a grandmother in her 60's. She was magnificent.

She made some real duds, but she also made some of the best movies ever made including, in addition to the two mentioned here, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Her mad, unusual life was stormy and tempestuous and completely her own. She may have been half crazy for all we know, but she was utterly herself.

She was terribly clever and crafty about the ruthless movie business and amassed a small fortune.

She was known to be kind and caring and a great friend.

For better or for worse, for all, she was a part of our lives for so many years.