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Did Elizabeth Taylor Deserve Her Reputation for Lateness?

Elizabeth Taylor was a big movie star in the 1950s and 1960s, but even after her passing in 2011, she still managed to get a reaction from the crowd. Notorious for arriving late to film sets, Taylor made arrangements so that after she died, her funeral would begin 15 minutes after its scheduled start time, just so she could literally be late for her own funeral.

Taylor, whose screen credits run from early stardom in National Velvet to major A-List turns in Cleopatraand Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. At the service, fellow actor Colin Farrell read poetry. JD Heyman, executive editor of People magazine, said there was "just an outpouring of love and affection for this woman who moved so many people." Taylor is buried in the Great Mausoleum, which is also the resting place of Michael Jackson, one of Taylor's close friends.

Loving Liz:

  • Elizabeth Taylor is credited with saving the life of fellow actor Montgomery Clift after Clift wrecked his car leaving a party at her house in May 1956.

  • Taylor's 14 solo appearances on the cover of People magazine are second only to Princess Diana.

  • Taylor's beautiful violet-blue eyes were enhanced by a genetic abnormality that endowed her with double rows of eyelashes.

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    • In a playful reference to her reputation for always being late on movie sets, actress Elizabeth Taylor arranged for her coffin to arrive 15 minutes late to her funeral in 2011.
      In a playful reference to her reputation for always being late on movie sets, actress Elizabeth Taylor arranged for her coffin to arrive 15 minutes late to her funeral in 2011.