They finally married in 1964 after their respective divorces were final and went on to make a strong of movies including "Woolf," "The Sandpiper," "The VIPS," "Taming of the Shrew" and "Boom!" They were the Brad and Angie of their day but divorced in 1974, remarried a year later then divorced a second time. But the connection remained and Taylor has always said that Burton and her third husband, producer Mike Todd, were the two great loves of her life. Todd was killed in a plane crash in 1958.

Miss Taylor had made her Broadway debut in “The Little Foxes” in 1980 and was nominated for a Tony Award for best actress in a play. She also brought that show to L.A. and took it to London and the feeling was that she would transition to a stage actress. But after "Private Lives," that was it.

Since then, the two-time Oscar winner has gotten divorced a few times, made some movies, launched perfume and jewelry lines and received almost all the top honors one can get: a special Oscar (the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award; The Kennedy Center Honors; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award, and being named a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth.

But through it all, her work on behalf of HIV/AIDS has been her first priority and passion in life and for that, so many of us are forever grateful...