Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand have joined the celebrities paying tribute to Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who passed away on Wednesday (23Mar11).
The 79 year old died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and stars around the world have been paying their respects.
In a post on her Facebook.com page, close friend Minnelli writes, "She was a true star, because she not only had beauty and notoriety; Elizabeth Taylor had talent. As a friend she was always, always there for me. I'll miss her for the rest of my life, but I was so lucky to have known her."
Meanwhile, a statement from Barbra Streisand reads, "It's the end of an era. It wasn't just her beauty or her stardom. It was her humanitarianism. She put a face on HIV/AIDS. She was funny. She was generous. She made her life count."
Joan Collins, Taylor's co-star in 2001 TV movie These Old Broads, adds, "I am so terribly sad about the death of Elizabeth Taylor. Although everyone here in Hollywood knew that her end was near we are all shocked.
"She was the last of the true Hollywood icons, a great beauty, a great actress and continually fascinating to the world throughout her tumultuous life and career.
"There will never be another star who will come close to her luminosity and generosity, particularly in her fight against AIDS. She will be missed."
And Taylor's one-time stepdaughter, Carrie Fisher - whose father Eddie Fisher married Taylor in 1959 following his split from Debbie Reynolds - remembers the Cleopatra icon as "a remarkable woman" and a devoted mother.
In a statement, she says, "A woman who rarely did things in half measure, Elizabeth lived her life to the fullest, whether by loving to the fullest or while also giving us some of the most memorable performances ever on film.
"A devoted mother many times over and even very briefly a stepmother to my brother Todd and myself, loyal to the lifelong friends surrounding her - even with all this she found time to become one of the earliest champions for those living with HIV.
"If my father had to divorce my mother for anyone - I'm so grateful that it was Elizabeth. This was a remarkable woman who led her life to the fullest rather than complacently following one around. She will be missed but never forgotten."
Tagged in Elizabeth Taylor Liza Minnelli