Elizabeth Taylor's 1991 Wedding Photos Raised $1 Million. 35 Years Later, It's Still Paying Off

Elizabeth Taylor was a Hollywood star unlike any other. She was widely considered one of the world's most beautiful women, enjoying a decades-long career in the entertainment industry. As William Mann, one of Taylor's biographers, told the BBC in 2011, "She was one of the first to really make her personal life as important as her professional life in terms of her stardom." When it came to the actor's romantic life, there was certainly plenty to talk about. Taylor was married eight times in total, including twice to fellow actor Richard Burton. Taylor's relationships were a who's who of Old Hollywood, except for her eighth husband, Larry Fortnesky, a construction worker she met in 1988 at the Betty Ford Clinic. 

The legendary star married Fortnesky in 1991, and later sold the photos from the big day to People for $1 million. With that money, she started The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which 35 years later is still providing help to those living with HIV and AIDS. Taylor and Fortensky were one of those celebrity couples with a big age difference — he was 20 years younger than she was. They got hitched at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, with paparazzi helicopters circling overhead. While their marriage only lasted five years, the wedding photos' legacy lives on. 

Taylor's work with HIV/AIDS advocacy was one of her greatest achievements, and it was something that she valued quite highly too. The Oscar winner was one of the first and biggest celebrities to take up the cause. Not long before she passed away, Taylor told Us Weekly in 2011 that one of the things you might not know about her is, "My family and people with HIV/AIDS are my life."

When Elizabeth Taylor married Larry Fortnesky in 1991, it was a notably tumultuous time when it came to HIV in the U.S. The deadly disease had first emerged in the 1980s as a mystery affliction, and by the following decade, it had become the top cause of death for men aged 25-44, according to the CDC. Along with creating her own foundation, the "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" star was a spokesperson for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). Taylor even testified before Congress to advocate for additional funding for research, and she wrote a letter to President Ronald Reagan asking directly for his increased support for the cause.

During a 2003 appearance on "Larry King Live," the iconic star talked about getting involved with the cause in the 1980s. "We all heard of it and nobody was doing anything about it," Taylor explained. "And it made me so angry that we all sat around the dining room table, isn't this awful, isn't this tragic? Oh, my god. But nobody was doing anything. And that really angered me so much. [...] I thought, well, it's got to start someplace. It's got to start with someone. And I thought why can't I be [...] that someone?"

The Oscar winner set up her estate so portions of the proceeds from the sale of House of Taylor products, including her famous White Diamonds perfume, went to her foundation. As she continued to fight for this cause through the years, it helped inspire others to step up as well. As Taylor reasoned simply, "I have to show up because it galvanizes people. They know I'm not there to sell or gain anything. I'm there for the same reason they are: To get something done," (via ElizabethTaylorAidsFoundation.org).