Elizabeth Taylor died of congestive heart failure on Wednesday at the age of 79 at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles.

Throughout her career, Taylor appeared in over 60 films and won an Academy Award twice for her performances in “Butterfield 8” in 1960 and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” in 1966.  She became the highest paid film actress in the world for her role in ‘Cleopatra,’ says The Telegraph.

She was known as one of the most beautiful women of her generation and appeared on the Life Magazine cover 14 times, more than any other film actress, and on People Magazine covers over 25 times. She was known as ‘Luscious Liz’ with her curvy figure, violet eyes and raven hair.  “My troubles all started because I have a woman’s body and a child’s emotions,” said after her first divorce, according to the Washington Post

She was also notoriously public about her life, with 70 hospitalizations for various illnesses and her chaotic love life. Taylor continuously made headlines with her eight marriages from her first husband Conrad “Nicky” Hilton whom she wed in 1950, to her last husband, Larry Fortensky who she married in 1991 and divorced in 1997.

“I’m not going to join a nunnery,” she once said according to the Huffington Post. “I said I’m through with marriage, but I’m not through with men – that wouldn’t be realistic.” Her son, Michael Wilding, said in a statement, “My Mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love.”

Although Taylor’s tumultuous love life and her career took center stage, Taylor was also involved in social causes and later received many Lifetime Achievement Awards for her humanitarian work.

On her friends and fellow AIDS-activist, singer Elton John paid her a tribute on stage in Pittsburg on Wednesday night, saying,

“Today I lost a friend and you lost a hero named Elizabeth Taylor…She was not just a movie star, although she was a huge movie star and there will never be anyone like her again … She was without a doubt one of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life…She stood up when no one was prepared to stand up and be counted against AIDS,” said John to a cheering crowd, reports CNN.