Elizabeth Taylor

Their internationally recognized names sell music and movie tickets. They promote perfumes and presidents. But when it comes to selling their own houses, celebrities often find that their cachet doesn't pull in the cash. Actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell haven't found a buyer for their Malibu beach house, which comes with a raft of celeb-friendly amenities including a covered outdoor living room, a spa-like bath retreat and a meditation room. So the couple have nipped $3.5 million from last year's price, listing the Balinese-influenced oceanfront spread at $11.2 million.

Their internationally recognized names sell music and movie tickets. They promote perfumes and presidents. But when it comes to selling their own houses, celebrities often find that their cachet doesn't pull in the cash. Actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell haven't found a buyer for their Malibu beach house, which comes with a raft of celeb-friendly amenities including a covered outdoor living room, a spa-like bath retreat and a meditation room. So the couple have nipped $3.5 million from last year's price, listing the Balinese-influenced oceanfront spread at $11.2 million.

"Tell Mama. Tell Mama all. " If you are a fan of Elizabeth Taylor, and how could you not be, you don't have to be told the source of that dialogue. It's the heart of Taylor's country club love scene with Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun," and the actress' face in huge close-up is so exquisitely, so heartbreakingly beautiful you never doubt that Clift's intoxicated character would do anything to keep her in his life. Up to and including murder. Both on the screen and off, Elizabeth Taylor and her irresistible violet eyes had that effect on men. She was only 17 when she filmed that scene for director George Stevens in 1949 (the film was released two years later)

So, Rosie O'Donnell is trying to clarify her thoughts on Lindsay Lohan -- an opinion not sugarcoated at all when she shared it on national TV earlier this week -- by invoking the memory of the recently deceased Whitney Houston?  Her point: Someone should have helped Houston, and someone should be helping Lohan rather than getting her back to work playing Elizabeth Taylor in "Liz & Dick. " "Watching Whitney Houston's funeral," she said, "I remember thinking, why didn't more people say what they knew?

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about Elizabeth Taylor, who died this week at age 79, was that she first became a phenomenon when her film career had barely begun, and she remained one long after that career had expired. Thrust into the national consciousness by her dazzling beauty, it was something other than her movies that kept her there. Despite her two Oscars, Taylor was often an indifferent actress, mechanical at the beginning and blowsy at the end, with a tinny voice that turned lines into whines, but she was a magnificent celebrity ?

Elizabeth Taylor, the glamorous queen of American movie stardom, whose achievements as an actress were often overshadowed by her rapturous looks and real-life dramas, has died. She was 79. Hospitalized six weeks ago for congestive heart failure, Taylor died early Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with her four children at her side, publicist Sally Morrison said. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article said Mickey Rooney played Elizabeth Taylor's trainer in "Lassie Come Home.

Elizabeth Taylor, who is facing surgery soon for a benign brain tumor, celebrated her 65th birthday in her characteristic glamour at a black-tie gala in Hollywood Sunday night with a star-studded cast of well-wishers. The party, an AIDS benefit taped for later viewing on ABC, was marked by humor and appreciation for the actress' beauty, screen career and AIDS activism.

Lindsay Lohan is all systems go for "Liz & Dick," the Lifetime TV movie that will see her playing icon Elizabeth Taylor during her whirlwind romance with actor Richard Burton.  As Lohan's probation for a 2007 DUI ended in late March, the actress was cleared for a work permit in Canada, where the film is set to shoot. And though the actress has been talking for a while now about preparing for the role, she and the Lifetime network on Monday shared the good news: She's officially ready to put on those white diamonds.

Elizabeth Taylor is scheduled to be on hand as one of the hosts of the Los Angeles premiere of "Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston," a documentary about the life and career of the influential fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick. She was among the celebrities who wore his creations in the '60s and '70s. The screening, which is open to the public, is being held Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in conjunction with the museum's costume council. A reception will follow the screening.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday. Elizabeth Taylor has died. ( Los Angeles Times ) Here's a look back at Taylor's life and career, in words and pictures. ( Los Angeles Times ) Showtime decides it doesn't want to stream its original shows on Netflix anymore. ( Los Angeles Times ) We all know movie theater popcorn is really bad for you, but theater owners would rather not display that fact. ( Los Angeles Times ) Mickey Rourke now appears to be on track to make his 85th comeback.

Sometimes bigger is better when buying art by committee. At this year's Collectors Committee weekend, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art bought $2.5 million worth of artwork to add to its permanent collection, including two larger-than-life works: a 60-foot-long Robert Rauschenberg screenprint that shows a collage of newspaper articles from 1970, bought for $775,000; and a nearly 10-foot-tall elevator surround that Louis Sullivan designed around...

Lindsay Lohan is all systems go for "Liz & Dick," the Lifetime TV movie that will see her playing icon Elizabeth Taylor during her whirlwind romance with actor Richard Burton.  As Lohan's probation for a 2007 DUI ended in late March, the actress was cleared for a work permit in Canada, where the film is set to shoot. And though the actress has been talking for a while now about preparing for the role, she and the Lifetime network on Monday shared the good news: She's officially ready to put on those white diamonds.

Elizabeth Taylor had fabulous taste in jewelry, as Christie's upcoming sales of material from her estate attests. A few of the paintings she owned were also gems — including a powerful Old Masters portrait of an intense-looking, seated man that she valued when few experts did. The painting, "Portrait of a Man, Half-Length," was for decades thought to be by an imitator or student of Frans Hals, the great Dutch painter often compared to Rembrandt for...

'The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor' Where: MOCA Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood When: Oct. 13-16 Price: $20 Info: http://www.pacificdesigncenter.com

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday: Reese Witherspoon is recovering after being hit by a car. ( Los Angeles Times ) Fashion designer John Galliano is found guilty in his anti-Semitism case. ( Los Angeles Times ) Oscar mainstays (like George Clooney) and festival newbies (like Seth Rogen) rub shoulders as the Toronto film fest kicks off. ( Los Angeles Times ) The late "Real Housewives" spouse Russell Armstrong was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his suicide.

The 34th annual Kennedy Center Honors announced this year's honorees Wednesday and, as always, arts A-listers will share the evening with pop culture icons. The Dec. 4 ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington will celebrate singer Barbara Cook, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins, singer and songwriter Neil Diamond and actress Meryl Streep. "This year, the Kennedy Center celebrates its 40th anniversary by selecting five extraordinary individuals whose collective artistry has contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and the world," said Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein.

Nowadays it seems like every actor and pop star is hawking a signature perfume. But the star who set the template for the celebrity fragrance category -- back in 1988 -- was violet-eyed screen legend Elizabeth Taylor. Through her House of Taylor perfume and jewelry company, the actress and humanitarian has launched 11 fragrances, full-bodied scents that reflect Taylor's famously indomitable spirit. "Her perfumes -- everything from the scents themselves to working with the chemists -- she's so passionate about it," said former supermodel Kathy Ireland, a good friend of Taylor's.

It was a simple white slip ? an everyday undergarment for women in the 1960s. But in "Butterfield 8," one of Elizabeth Taylor's most memorable films, the violet-eyed actress ? playing the tragic, fiery Gloria Wandrous -- made the staple seem like the sexiest getup in the world. Making mundane clothes seem magnificent was one of Taylor's most potent onscreen powers. Her heyday on the big screen ? which spanned from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s -- is rife with such moments. The white Edith Head-designed debutante dress that showed off her impossibly tiny waist in "A Place in the Sun"; the rustic Western wear designed by Marjorie Best for "Giant"; and the Grecian-goddess-esque white dress designed by Helen Rose for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" are among Hollywood's least-complicated and most iconic looks.

Update: The longtime Bel-Air home of actress Elizabeth Taylor has sold for an undisclosed amount. The house came on the market in May at $8.6 million. The listing agent, David Mossler of Teles Properties in Beverly Hills, declined to reveal the sales price, and weeks or months may pass before it will appear in public records. Owned by the Oscar-winning actress since 1981, the 1960s ranch-style house sits on 1.27 acres, which include a swimming pool with spa, gardens and a koi pond.

Rita Moreno is one of only a dozen people who have won an Emmy ("The Rockford Files"), Grammy (soundtrack for "The Electric Company"), Oscar (supporting actress for "West Side Story") and Tony ("The Ritz"). She has the distinction of being the only Latino on the list of winners, which also include Richard Rodgers, Barbra Streisand and Audrey Hepburn. But the Puerto Rican-born Moreno believes she is still subject to typecasting. "Can I tell you how many offers I have gotten to be somebody's mother or grandmother who pours the coffee?"