As she grew older, the Hollywood legend began drinking heavily and grew addicted to prescription drugs. Her weight ballooned and she was lampooned by comedians. Yet, she overcame those problems, and when her friend Rock Hudson died of AIDS in 1985 she began a crusade to raise awareness and money to treat the deadly disease. In May 2000, Taylor received the title “Dame,” the female equivalent of a knighthood, from Queen Elizabeth. In her final few years, the once legendary beauty took to using a wheelchair in public to cope with crippling back pain, but she was still making appearances at charity events. She also had three hip replacement operations, a benign brain tumor, skin cancer, pneumonia and heart surgery.(SD-Agencies) | 