25 Mar 2011

Private funeral for Elizabeth Taylor held

3:28 pm on 25 March 2011

The funeral has taken place of Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor, who died on Wednesday from heart failure aged 79.

The discreet ceremony was held in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in Glendale near Los Angeles on Thursday, with only close friends and family attending.

Dame Elizabeth, a two-time Oscar winner, had converted to Judaism many years ago and Jewish custom calls for the deceased to be buried within 48 hours, the BBC reports.

Singer Michael Jackson, a friend of Dame Elizabeth's, is one of a number of stars also buried at the cemetery.

Her most famous films included National Velvet, Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

She was equally well-known for her glamour and film partnership with Richard Burton, one of seven husbands.

The peak of her film career came in the 1950s and 1960s, with four consecutive Oscar nominations from 1958 to 1961.

Dame Elizabeth's Hollywood contemporaries have been paying tribute to her as an actress, friend, and activist on HIV/Aids.