Awards & Honours

Elizabeth, recently married to Mike Todd, was the recipient of a Special Achievement Award—the Sterling Award, for Consistent Performance—at the 14th Golden Globe Awards. Both Todds brought home gold that evening: Mike’s Around the World in 80 Days (1956) won in the Best Motion Picture – Drama category. The awards were held in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel’s Cocoanut Grove on February 28, 1957, the day after Elizabeth’s 25th birthday.

Elizabeth received the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her portrayal of the Tennessee Williams heroine Catherine Holly in 1959’s Suddenly, Last Summer at the 17th Golden Globe Awards on March 10, 1960. She was not on hand to accept her award.

Elizabeth’s performance as Jimmie Jean Jackson in Hammersmith Is Out (1972) earned her the coveted Silver Bear for Best Actress, awarded by the Jury of the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival in 1972.

Elizabeth was an early member of the Board of Trustees of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who bestowed on her its first-ever humanitarian award at the Century Plaza on November 19, 1980. Wiesenthal, who “helped bring more than 1,100 Nazi war criminals to justice, including the officer who arrested Anne Frank”, flew from his home in Vienna to be on hand as Elizabeth received the award. Elizabeth and Orson Welles co-narrated the Center’s documentary, Genocide, which would would be released the following year and go on to become the first documentary about the Holocaust to win an Academy Award.

Elizabeth’s acceptance speech, reproduced in full below, is just as relevant today as it was in 1980—perhaps even more so.

We Shall Outlive Them

“My dear Simon Wiesenthal, distinguished head tableguests, ladies and gentlemen: I am deeply touched by this moving tribute. Words hardly seem adequate on such occasions.

“I stand before you with mixed emotions, humbled that you have seen fit to bestow this unique honor upon me, and yet at the same time, so very sad because it brings back into focus that tragic epic in human history when death became so ordinary, when torture was so trite, silence so pronounced when the tears of children gushed forth like running streams, when leaders forgot to lead, when few cared, when men and women forgot they were formed in the image of G-d.

“I am often tempted to speculate how fortunate I am to have escaped the horror, to have been spared the anguish. But when I think about it deeply, I realize I did not escape unscathed. None of us did. We were all in a sense there, hovering above the gates of Auschwitz, trying to shield ourselves from the magnetic pull of its destructive force that wanted to do us all in, Jew and Christian, black and white. It wanted everything we possess and cherish – our Van Goghs, and Rembrandts, our Tennysons, our Freuds and our Einsteins.

“Today, a whole generation is growing up that does not know this, that has no memory of these events, that has no terms of reference to know how close we all came to the final curtain. Worse, around this new generation can be heard new ominous voices seeking to pollute their minds, to corrupt their values, to impair their future. In Europe and here in the United States, anti-Semitism is on the rise. Haters are running for public office pitting white against black, Christian against Jew.

“When I read the script for the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s film, Genocide, I could see the victims before my eyes, their voices speaking to me: ‘Tell our story,’ they said, ‘Nay, not for our sake, for we are long gone, but for yours, so that you may live.’ I have tried so very hard to tell of their agony and their heroism, and I hope millions of people will see and hear their profound message.

“In conclusion, let me just say to the enemies of our people, wherever they may be, we say in the words of one of the victims, ‘Mir Valen Zey Iberleben’ – ‘We shall outlive them.’ And to the friends of mankind, wherever they may be, ‘Chazak V’Hamatz’ – ‘Be strong and brave.’ Remember that in the final analysis, they that sow in tears shall yet reap in joy.”

Elizabeth was honoured at the 7th Annual American Cinema Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 27, 1990. Her dear friend Michael Jackson also received an award that evening. She attended the ceremony with Larry Fortensky.

It was announced in the 2000 New Year Honours list, published on December 31, 1999, that Queen Elizabeth II had made Elizabeth a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, “for services to acting and charity”.

The investiture took place at Buckingham Palace in London on May 16, 2000. Accompanied by her four children, the newly minted Dame Elizabeth said, “It’s the most exciting—and I do not exaggerate—day of my life,” before repairing to The Dorchester, where, she told a throng of reporters, she was going to tuck into that most quintessential of English lunches, roast beef.

In her book, My Love Affair with Jewelry, Elizabeth shared a humourous anecdote from this momentous day: “There is a nice little behind-the-scenes footnote to this day, which is that my old friend Julie Andrews was also among those being recognized by the Queen. Julie and I were glued at the hip out of pure nervousness and excitement. Julie is a lady and I’m not—I’m more of a broad, so I guess becoming a dame seems like a natural extension. As I recall at one point while we were being briefed before the ceremony, our patient instructor turned to Julie and advised her ‘to look after me.’ As though I would possibly misbehave! But Julie has a grand sense of humor, and I was so grateful to share that special day with her.”

The honours didn’t stop at Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth’s birthplace showered her with tributes: The National Portrait Gallery held an exhibition of her photographs; Elizabeth Taylor: A Musical Celebration, a star-studded AIDS benefit, was held at the Royal Albert Hall; the British Film Institute bestowed on her the BFI Fellowship at a gala dinner; the BBC interviewed her for a TV retrospective, Elizabeth Taylor: England’s Other Elizabeth; and a season of her most iconic films were screened at the National Film Theatre.

Dame Elizabeth was honoured with amfAR’s Award of Courage “for outstanding leadership and distinguished service in furthering amfAR’s mission, and for playing a vital role in increasing AIDS awareness and accelerating the pace of HIV/AIDS research.” Despite ill health, Elizabeth was determined to accept the award in person at the amfAR New York Gala in February 2011, the month before her death. Unfortunately, she was unable to do so.

“Elizabeth Taylor was a force of nature,” said Elizabeth’s friend, Sir Elton John. “She compelled people to listen, made them respond, urged them to act. Elizabeth Taylor has inspired every one of us and many millions of others around the world. She has shown us the meaning of courage and moral responsibility. She’ll forever be our guiding star.”

Elizabeth was awarded the Maschere d’Argento (Silver Mask), Italy’s equivalent to the Oscar, for her performance in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) at the Teatro Sistina in Rome on September 28, 1961. She had arrived in the Eternal City at the beginning of the month to restart work on Cleopatra (1963).

She caused a sensation in a dress with a plunging neckline designed by Marc Bohan for Christian Dior’s 1961 Spring/Summer collection. (She had previously worn it in May of the same year when she was joined by Audrey Hepburn, Mel Ferrer, Natalie Wood, and Robert Wagner to celebrate Eddie Fisher’s opening at the Desert Inn.) You’ll also recognize the floral headdress as the one worn in Cleopatra when the fabled Egyptian queen hosts the Roman senators.

Elizabeth was awarded the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress from the Accademia del Cinema Italiano for her performance in X, Y and Zee (1972) in Taormina, Italy, in July 1972.

She would wear the dress in which she accepted her award again two years later when she took to the Oscar stage to present Best Picture at the 46th Academy Awards.

Elizabeth was the recipient of a special Outer Critics Circle Award for Most Impressive Debut for her Broadway triumph as Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes. The Outer Critics Circle “is the official organization of writers on the New York theater for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media beyond Broadway.”

Elizabeth and Dr. Mathilde Krim, two of the lionesses in the fight against AIDS, accepted on behalf of amfAR the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord from Prince Felipe, now Felipe VI, of Spain.

Elizabeth, a newly-minted Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was presented with the prestigious British Film Institute Fellowship at A Diamond Tribute to Dame Elizabeth Taylor, a dinner held in her honour on May 24, 2000. The dress code? Black tie and diamonds, of course! The evening was held at London’s Dorchester Hotel, her home away from home in the city of her birth, and included tributes from Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Dame Joan Plowright.

Proceeds from the gala dinner benefitted the Red Hot AIDS Charitable Trust and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Elizabeth was posthumously inducted into the Fragrance Foundation’s Hall of Fame at the FiFi Awards, held at Lincoln Center in May 2011.

On April 17, 1961, after three previous consecutive nominations (for Raintree County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Suddenly, Last Summer) and just over a month after she had a lifesaving tracheotomy in London, Yul Brynner called out Elizabeth’s name as the year’s Best Actress for her performance as the call girl Gloria Wandrous in a film she despised, BUtterfield 8 (1960). “I was so scared,” Elizabeth later recalled. “I never thought I’d win. I thought the script was bad. When they called my name, I got up and could hardly walk. I’d just come back from London, where I had nearly died of pneumonia. I got to the stage, and I hadn’t prepared a thing.”

Accepting her award at the podium, Elizabeth said: “I don't really know how to express my gratitude for this and for everything. All I can say is thank you, thank you with all my heart.”

She wore a Christian Dior dress called Soirée à Rio and her hairstyle, dubbed “the artichoke,” was by Alexandre de Paris.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were honoured with the very first Rudolph Valentino Award at the Politeama Theatre in Lecce, Italy, in November 1972. La Peregrina pearl, a treasured gift from Richard, completed Elizabeth’s showstopping look.

On November 8, 1981, Elizabeth received the Filmex Trustees Award during “An Evening with Elizabeth Taylor” at Los Angeles’s Ahmanson Theater, where she was treading the boards as Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes. Bette Davis, who brought the same character to life on screen in William Wyler’s 1941 film adaptation, presented her with the award. “From one little fox to another,” Davis said, “it is my pleasure to present this award to you, Elizabeth Taylor.”

Previous recipients included Alfred Hitchcock and Laurence Olivier.

Elizabeth received the Sheba Humanitarian Award from the Friends of Sheba Medical Center at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 19, 1992. She wore an evening gown by Nolan Miller and La Peregrina pearl, a treasured gift from Richard Burton.

In 2000, Elizabeth was the recipient of the GLAAD Vanguard Award for, in the words of Carrie Fisher, who presented her with the award, “her bold support of [the] gay and lesbian community before the invention of a gay movement and her superhuman fight against AIDS”. As Elizabeth so aptly put it from the podium that evening: “Long live love!”

Elizabeth was posthumously honoured on June 16, 2011 with the Norma Zarky Humanitarian Award at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. The award recognizes “women who have used their prominent entertainment industry profiles to effect radical change and shed light on issues using their powerful voices.”

Her granddaughter, Naomi Wilding, was on hand to accept the award at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

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Elizabeth received the David di Donatello Golden Plate Award for her performance in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) on January 16, 1962. L’accademia del Cinema Italiano belatedly presented her with the award at the premiere of the French-Italian film adaptation of Arthur Miller’s play A View From the Bridge, at the Cinema di Roma. The jewelry she’s wearing includes her Bulgari emerald and diamond flower brooch and “ice skating rink” engagement ring from Mike.

Elizabeth was named World Film Favorite for a third time at the 1974 Golden Globes. She was also nominated that year for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her portrayal of Barbara Sawyer, a woman desperate to win back the love of her husband, in Ash Wednesday (1973).

Philanthropist Wallis Annenberg presented Elizabeth with an award at the Devereux Foundation Awards in Beverly Hills on July 12, 1984.

At the 20th Annual FiFi Awards, Elizabeth’s massively successful White Diamonds, which would go on to become the top-selling celebrity fragrance of all time, tied with Coty’s Tribe in the Fragrance of the Year – Women’s Popular category.

Elizabeth wore a gown by Canadian designer Arnold Scaasi (and the red AIDS ribbon) to the ceremony held at New York’s Tavern on the Green in June 1992.

Elizabeth was the third recipient of the Marian Anderson Award, in recognition of her “untiring efforts in support of AIDS research and AMFAR.” Philadelphia’s Marian Anderson Award is bestowed to “artists whose leadership benefits humanity.”

“I am honored to have been chosen to receive this very special award,” Elizabeth said, “which is named in memory of Marian Anderson, a humanitarian and wonderful artist. The AIDS epidemic is far from over and I accept this award on behalf of all of you who continue to fight the fight against this dreadful disease.”

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Elizabeth received the 1963 Exhibitor Award from the The Film Buyers of the Motion Picture Industry for being, as is inscribed on the award, “High Among All-Time Female Stars / At [the] World Box Office”. That year saw the release of both Cleopatra (the top-grossing film of the year) and The V.I.P.s, which was also extremely popular at the box office.

Elizabeth received the Human Relations Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 1977. ADL strives to “stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and secure justice and fair treatment to all,” something that Elizabeth believed in wholeheartedly and fought for with great determination over the course of her life.

Elizabeth and Sarah Brady (the wife of White House Press Secretary James Brady) were the recipients of the United Service Organization’s Woman of the Year award in September 1984.

Elizabeth’s White Diamonds earned her a second FiFi in 1992 for the best Media Campaign of the Year – Women’s Commercial. In “White Diamonds Starring Elizabeth Taylor,” the black and white commercial that has become nearly as iconic as the fragrance itself, Elizabeth interrupts a “high-stakes poker game” when one of the players is on the verge of discarding his hand. “Not so fast, Von Ryan. These have always brought me luck,” she says, removing her diamond earrings and dropping them in the pot.

Learn more about the White Diamonds media blitz.

Elizabeth was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian award in the United States, from President Bill Clinton at the White House South Lawn Pavilion on January 8, 2001. The medal is bestowed on someone “who has performed exemplary deeds or services for his or her country or fellow citizens.”

“Elizabeth Taylor has brought to life unforgettable characters on film, but she has brought even more hope to millions more around the world,” said President Clinton. “We thank her for sharing her talent and her heart.”

In 1966, Elizabeth was the recipient of the Henrietta Award (World Film Favorite) at the Golden Globes. According to the Globe’s official website, the winner of the special World Film Favorite award was “determined according to the result of a worldwide survey by the Reuters News Bureau, [and] was given until 1980. The trophy was a Golden Globe surmounted by an angel.”

On February 15, 1977, Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals honoured Elizabeth as its Woman of the Year during a ceremony held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she was presented with her award, a Pudding Pot. Elizabeth also took part in the traditional parade through the streets of Cambridge, and participated in a seminar sponsored by OFA’s Learning From Performers program, during which she met with Harvard students “interested in acting.”

Elizabeth received the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 42nd Golden Globes on January 27, 1985. The award is bestowed for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment”.

In her deeply moving speech, Liza Minnelli, who presented Elizabeth with the award, praised her legendary career and qualities as a friend: “I feel like I’ve known Elizabeth my whole life, but that, in fact, is not true. When I was little, I met her on the set when my father was directing her at MGM. But I really didn’t know her. I mean, I only got to know her when I grew up. And she was just the biggest star in the world. And I realized, as time went by and the years passed, and we became really good friends, one thing remained constant: Wherever we were and whenever we met, Elizabeth always was the biggest star in the world. I mean, the woman is the biggest star in the world. Sure, she played parts people expected her to play, but she also surprised the hell out of everybody. Five Academy Award nominations. Two Oscars as Best Actress. Her lifetime achievement most certainly is distinguished. Her career is extraordinary. And most importantly, and I can say this because I know this, if you ever need her as a friend, she’s right there, and she’s beside you, and she’s solid, and I love you very much.”

Elizabeth’s characteristic self-deprecating sense of humour was in evidence as she accepted her award from the stage: “I never dreamed, ever, that I would be standing here one day holding this award myself—not even to give it to somebody else! But to have it for myself—it’s amazing to me. And to be given it by the press? That’s really incredible!”

The audience roared its approval.

Elizabeth received the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award on March 11, 1993. She was only the fourth woman, after Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, and Barbara Stanwyck, to receive the honour since it was first bestowed in 1973. “The recipient, should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.”

Roddy McDowall, Dennis Hopper, Angela Lansbury, Michael York, Michael Caine, and Dr. Mathilde Krim were all on hand to pay tribute to Elizabeth. George Stevens Jr., son of the legendary George Stevens, who directed her in A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956), and The Only Game in Town (1970), presented her with the Life Achievement Award.

“When I first heard about the award, I went into a state of shock,” Elizabeth told a room full of admirers, colleagues, friends, and family, including her children, as she delivered her acceptance speech. “I guess it’s a long time since I've thought of myself as an actress. I, along with the critics, have never taken myself very seriously—my craft, yes, but as an actress, no. But I wasn’t all that bad, was I? You’ve made me realize how much I really do miss it. But my life is full and good. It has taken so many diverse twists and turns, and I have grown into what I do…”

In 2002, Elizabeth was the recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors, the “highest award for achievement in the performing arts” in the United States.

Her fellow honourees included James Earl Jones, James Levine, Chita Rivera, and Paul Simon. “It is a great honor to be amongst such talented and prestigious company,” Elizabeth said in a statement when the news was announced. “I am thrilled and thank all of you who made it possible.”

The Kennedy Center Honors were created by George Stevens Jr. (the son of Elizabeth’s three time director George Stevens) in 1978 (Stevens Jr. also produced and co-wrote the 2002 Honors Gala show). The Honors “recognizes and celebrates individuals whose unique artistic contributions have shaped our world. Recipients have each had an impact on the rich tapestry of American life and culture through the performing arts. Whether in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television, each Kennedy Center Honoree has a unique place in the fabric of our nation and their influence has inspired audiences from all walks of life.”

Elizabeth and her fellow honourees were presented with their medals on Saturday, December 7, at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State Colin Powell. The following evening, President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush presided over the Honors Gala, held at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Elizabeth later shared that she had suffered a longitudinal spiral fracture the morning of the Honors Gala, and was in considerable pain throughout the evening.

Elizabeth and Richard were awarded the distinguished Golden Mask as Best Non-Italian Actors by the Rome Newsmen Association at the Silver Mask Awards. She wore a “Tiziani sequinned and yellow chiffon evening gown with a matching turban” to the awards, which were held at Rome’s Sistina Theatre in October 1966.

City of Hope named Elizabeth Woman of the Decade at the Spirit of Life Award dinner held in San Francisco on February 23, 1978. She received the award, which was presented by Lia Belli, for dedicating “her time, talent, and energy to hospitals all over the world.”

Elizabeth was made a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres at the Ministère de la Culture in Paris in September 1985. Jack Lange, the French Minister of Culture, draped the insignia around her neck before kissing her on both cheeks.

The order recognizes individuals that have “distinguished themselves through their creations in the artistic or literary field or through the contribution they have made to the influence of Arts and Letters in France and throughout the world.”

She wore a quilted navy blue silk jacket and matching skirt.

On March 29, 1993, Elizabeth graced the Oscars stage for what would be the final time when Angela Lansbury presented her with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 65th Academy Awards for her pioneering work in the fight against AIDS. After receiving two competitive Best Actress Academy Awards, it was this honourary award that Elizabeth held closest to her heart. She wore a dress by Valentino, the Daisy Parure by Van Cleef & Arpels, and the red AIDS ribbon.

Here is Elizabeth's moving speech in its entirety:

"Thank you so much. I have been on this stage many times as a presenter, I have sat in the audience as a loser, and I have had the thrill and the honor of standing here as a winner. But I never ever thought I would come out here to receive this award. It is the highest possible accolade I could receive from my peers, and for doing something I just have to do, that my passion must do. I am filled with pride and humility.

"I accept this award in honor of all the men, women and children with AIDS who are waging incredibly valiant battles for their lives, those to whom I have given my commitment, the real heroes of the pandemic of AIDS. I am so proud of the work that people in Hollywood have done to help so many others, like dearest, gentle Audrey [Hepburn]. And while she is, I know, in heaven, forever guarding her beloved children, I will remain here as rowdy an activist as I have to be and, God willing, for as long as I have to be.

"Tonight I am asking for your help. I call upon you to draw from the depths of your being to prove that we are a human race. To prove that our love outweighs our need to hate. That our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame. That our sensitivity to those in need is stronger than our greed. That our ability to reason overcomes our fear. And that at the end of each of our lives, we can look back and be proud that we have treated others with the kindness, dignity and respect that every human being deserves. Thank you and God bless."

Elizabeth was honoured with the inaugural Diamond Icon Award from amfAR and the Diamond Information Center in 2003 for her work in the fight against AIDS.

The National Board of Review chose Elizabeth as the year’s Best Actress for her searing portrayal of Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? “Since 1909, the National Board of Review has dedicated its efforts to the support of cinema as both art and entertainment. Each year, this select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics view over 250 films and participates in illuminating discussions with directors, actors, producers and screenwriters before announcing their selections for the best work of the year.”

Although Virginia Woolf lost out in the Best Film category, it was still named one of the year’s top ten films.

Elizabeth received the Trouper of the Year award from the Troupers, “an organization of show-business wives,” at New York’s Waldorf Astoria on February 4, 1979.

The Women in Film Crystal Award was created “in 1977 to honor outstanding individuals who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.”

Elizabeth, in honour of her AIDS charity work, was one of two recipients of the first Jackson Family Honors Awards, presented by her dear friend Michael Jackson. The Jackson Family Honors were held on February 19, 1994 at MGM Grand Hotel’s Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Learn more about this award.

Dame Elizabeth received the BAFTA/LA Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in International Entertainment at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 10, 2005.

The Britannia Awards, which were handed out from 1989 to 2019, was “BAFTA Los Angeles’ highest accolades, recognizing both outstanding British talent, and exceptional international talent by virtue of their strong connection to the British industry through their body of work.” The Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in International Entertainment, later renamed the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment, recognized “the rare type of iconic and trail-blazing individuals whose innovative approach has had a profound, lasting impact on the worldwide entertainment industry.”

Both Shirley MacLaine and Dennis Hopper were on hand to pay tribute to Elizabeth’s dazzling career. She was accompanied by two of her beloved grandchildren: Naomi Wilding and Quinn Tivey.

Elizabeth was unable to attend the 39th Academy Awards where, on April 10, 1967, her name was called for the second time as the year’s best actress, for her bravura performance in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Anne Bancroft accepted the award on her behalf. The statuette was formally presented to Elizabeth at the 20th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), where her performance in the same film earned her the BAFTA as the year’s Best British Actress.

In September 1985, the 11th Deauville American Film Festival fêted Elizabeth Taylor, the woman they dubbed “the star of all stars” (no argument from this corner!), with “an exceptional tribute.”

Elizabeth was honoured with the Life Achievement Award at the 4th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on March 8, 1998. She was given the award, SAG President Richard Masur said when the announcement was made, for “fostering the finest ideals of the acting profession,” and for waging a courageous battle in the fight against AIDS. “From the time Miss Taylor first entered our lives as the innocent child in ‘National Velvet,’ the world has loved her. As we watched her grow, both as a person and an actor, she presented us with gift after gift in the form of her performances.” 

Elizabeth, who was convalescing in hospital after suffering a fall the previous week, was unable to attend. She sent along an acceptance speech, which was read by her friend, Gregory Peck, who accepted the award on her behalf:

I’m so disappointed that I can’t be there with all of you tonight.  Please know that I am watching.  And this award is especially important to me because it’s given by my peers. Not only for my first career, acting -- but, for what has now become my life, the eradication of the AIDS epidemic.

As we all know, ours was one of the first industries to be directly and dramatically effected by the AIDS epidemic.  And it’s heartening to me that this community has risen to the challenge. And the foundation of the Screen Actors Guild, which I’m so proud to be a member, is no exception having made a very generous donation to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS foundation.  Thank you all for honoring me tonight.

Love, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s White Diamonds, the top-selling celebrity fragrance of all time, entered the Fragrance Hall of Fame for women’s fragrances at the FiFi Awards in 2009, seventeen years after it was named Fragrance of the Year in the Women’s Popular category.

Elizabeth was named Best British Actress for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) at the 20th British Academy Film Awards on April 26, 1967. Richard Burton was honoured for his performance in the same film, as well as for The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. Elizabeth's work in Virginia Woolf had also earned her the Best Actress Oscar earlier that month, but she had been unable to attend the ceremony. She was formally presented with her statuette at the BAFATAs.

On Valentine’s Day 1985, the Starlight Foundation, which grants the wishes of dying children, honoured Elizabeth with the Starlight Award at their second annual benefit gala at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Elizabeth wore a red beaded Nolan Miller gown, which she also donned the previous year during her guest appearance on the TV show Hotel.

Elizabeth was honoured for a “Lifetime of Glamour” at the 17th Annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards in New York in February 1998. Her award was presented by Demi Moore.

“I just love the irony of the fact that I’ve been on every worst [dressed] list ever, so you eat your heart out Mr. Blackwell,” Elizabeth said to the delight of the audience, referring to the fashion critic who published an annual worst-dressed list.

Living up to her lifetime of glamour, Elizabeth wore a dove grey Gianfranco Ferré wild silk evening coat over a pale blue chiffon silver beaded empire-waist evening gown. Both complemented her silvery, close-cropped hairstyle and favourite Mike Todd chandelier earrings.

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Elizabeth was named the year’s Best Actress for her performance as Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by the New York Film Critics Circle, “an organization of film reviewers from New York-based publications that exists to honor excellence in U.S. and world cinema.”

On February 10, 1986, Elizabeth was honoured by the Arizona AIDS Foundation Trust for her work in the fight against AIDS at the Registry Resort Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was accompanied that evening by George Hamilton.

In 1999, Elizabeth was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship. The highest honour the Academy bestows, it’s presented to an individual for “outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image”. Elizabeth was only the fourth woman to receive the BAFTA Fellowship for contribution to film since the award was first handed out in 1971 (Jeanne Moreau, Dame Maggie Smith, and Julie Christie preceded her).

It was an emotional return for Elizabeth to the country of her birth—her first time in England in seven years. “It’s so wonderful to be back. It feels like I’ve come home after seven years,” she said, acknowledging that the strict animal quarantine laws in place had kept her away. “I’m here to thank you for this most incredible award, that I never in my lifetime thought I would receive, I guess because I don’t think of myself as an actress—and I didn’t think any of you did!” she said with a laugh. “It makes me want to act again!”

Elizabeth received the David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress for her spirited portrayal of Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew (1967), and, in a first in that category, tied with Julie Christie for her performance in Doctor Zhivago (1965, but not released in Italy until 1966). It was also a tie for Best Foreign Actor, with both Richard Burton taking home the David di Donatello for his Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, as well as Peter O’Toole for The Night of the Generals.

The Burtons received their awards during the Taormina Film Festival.

On May 5, 1986, Elizabeth became only the fourth woman to be fêted by the Film Society of Lincoln Center with its prestigious Chaplin Award. Elizabeth, wearing a gown by Canadian designer Arnold Scaasi, was mobbed by fans as she arrived at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall on the arm of George Hamilton.

Marking the occasion in the New York Times, film critic Vincent Canby wrote: “More than anyone else I can think of, Elizabeth Taylor represents the complete movie phenomenon – what movies are as an art and an industry, and what they have meant to those of us who have grown up watching them in the dark.”

Elizabeth was presented with Project Angel Food’s Angel Award on July 10, 1999. The evening honouring Elizabeth and celebrating the tenth anniversary of the organization set an Angel Awards fundraising record of $700,000, which wouldn’t be broken for another 20 years.

Founded in 1989 by Marianne Williamson (who would officiate Elizabeth’s 1991 wedding to Larry Fortensky), Project Angel Food “nourishes the health and spirit of people facing critical and life-threatening illnesses by preparing and delivering medically tailored meals with love, care and dignity.” In 1992, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation gave Project Angel Food its first grant ($150,000). Elizabeth also sat on the Board of Trustees.

In 2001, Elizabeth would present the Angel Award to her friend, Whoopi Goldberg.

Both Elizabeth and Richard Burton collected prizes at the BAMBI Awards, held in Munich, Germany, in 1968, for their powerhouse performances in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

French President François Mitterrand awarded Elizabeth the Légion d’Honneur, the country’s highest honour for excellence in the arts, in the gilded ballroom of the Élysée Palace in Paris, on May 14, 1987.

“Awarded on the sole criterion of services rendered to the nation, it brings together men and women from all walks of life, both civilian and military, in keeping with its founder Napoleon Bonaparte’s desire for universality. … [The] award recognizes long-term commitment and dedication, even to the point of supreme sacrifice.”

This prestigious honour came just one day after one of Elizabeth’s most spectacular public appearances, where, resplendent in Nolan Miller and arriving on the arm of George Hamilton, she was the guest of honour at a dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of the legendary Cannes Film Festival.

Elizabeth received her second Henrietta Award (World Film Favorite) at the Golden Globes in 1969, which was “determined according to the result of a worldwide survey by the Reuters News Bureau”.

On June 8, 1988, Elizabeth took home her very first FiFi Award—the fragrance industry’s equivalent to the Oscars—when Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion came out tops in the Fragrance of the Year – Women’s Prestige category. 

She wore her kunzite, amethyst, and diamond “Triphanes” ear pendants by Van Cleef & Arpels and the Krupp diamond, gifts from Richard Burton, to the ceremony held at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel.

On February 23, 1989, Elizabeth became the second recipient of the America’s Hope Award, named after iconic entertainer and humanitarian Bob Hope. Hosted by Charles Bronson, the evening included tributes from a galaxy of stars “honouring the humanitarian achievements of the world’s most celebrated star.” Those on hand to celebrate Elizabeth included Carol Burnett, Mickey Rooney, Dudley Moore, Stevie Wonder, Ann Miller, June Allyson, Cyd Charisse, Robert Stack, Margaret O’Brien, Kenny Rogers, Beau Bridges, Roddy McDowall, Burt Bacharach, and Carol Bayer Sager.

One of the most touching moments of the evening came when Michael Wilding Jr. took to the stage to pay tribute to his mother on behalf of his family. “We’re especially proud of the example you’ve set on behalf of people in need,” he said. “No matter how controversial the cause, you have inspired and enriched not only our lives but the lives of many, many people around the world, and I’m glad that you’re finally being recognized for things you’ve done that until now most people have been unaware of.”