--- title: Were Elizabeth Taylor's Double Eyelashes Linked with Her Heart Failure? description: Elizabeth Taylor wasn't one for understatement: she had eight marriages, won two Oscars and was a bold pioneer in AIDS activism. And let's not forget... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7142112/elizabeth-taylors-killer-beauty/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2011-03-26T13:46:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T11:08:59.860Z article:section: Health og:title: Were Elizabeth Taylor's Double Eyelashes Linked with Her Heart Failure? og:description: Elizabeth Taylor wasn't one for understatement: she had eight marriages, won two Oscars and was a bold pioneer in AIDS activism. And let's not forget... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7142112/elizabeth-taylors-killer-beauty/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01eb88e46d6cb5ee/698a94ab09208f212c423796/eliztaylor.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 307 og:image:height: 173 og:image:alt: House of Taylor Acquires a Billion Dollar Jewel in Ireland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Were Elizabeth Taylor's Double Eyelashes Linked with Her Heart Failure? twitter:description: Elizabeth Taylor wasn't one for understatement: she had eight marriages, won two Oscars and was a bold pioneer in AIDS activism. And let's not forget... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01eb88e46d6cb5ee/698a94ab09208f212c423796/eliztaylor.jpg?branch=production&width=307&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Elizabeth Taylor's Killer Beauty by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Mar 26, 2011 1:46 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES - APRIL 13: House of Taylor Jewelry will partner with Kathy Ireland Worldwide, the design and marketing firm with over one billion dollars in annual retail sales, to bring Fashion and Bridal Collections to market, as announced today, jointly by Dame Elizabeth Taylor and Jack Abramov, President of House of Taylor Jewelry, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Business Wire via Getty Images) LOS ANGELES - APRIL 13: House of Taylor Jewelry will partner with Kathy Ireland Worldwide, the design and marketing firm with over one billion dollars in annual retail sales, to bring Fashion and Bridal Collections to market, as announced today, jointly by Dame Elizabeth Taylor and Jack Abramov, President of House of Taylor Jewelry, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Business Wire via Getty Images)Getty Images—2005 Business Wire by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Mar 26, 2011 1:46 PM UTC Elizabeth Taylor wasn’t one for understatement: she had eight marriages, won two Oscars and was a bold pioneer in AIDS activism. And let’s not forget those captivating violet eyes. Now, according to Slate’s Brow Beat blog, Taylor’s large, liquid eyes had the unusual benefit of a genetic mutation, one that left her with a double row of eyelashes.more (**MORE:** [Elizabeth Taylor, 1932–2011: Hollywood’s Star of Stars](http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2061005,00.html)) [Reported](http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2011/03/25/elizabeth-taylor-beautiful-mutant.aspx) Slate: --- > “” --- Taylor had a history of heart problems; she [had surgery](http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-09/entertainment/elizabeth.taylor.heart%5F1%5Fheart-procedure-elizabeth-taylor-heart-surgery?%5Fs=PM:SHOWBIZ) in 2009 to repair a leaky valve, and her death on March 23, 2011, was caused by congestive heart failure. (**MORE:** [Are You at Risk for Congestive Heart Failure?](http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/23/are-you-at-risk-for-congestive-heart-failure/)) Whatever its ultimate role in her health, the mutation served her movie career well. Said close friend and former co-star Roddy McDowall: “Who has double eyelashes except a girl who was absolutely born to be on the big screen?” **PHOTOS:** [The Many Marriages of Elizabeth Taylor](http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2060971,00.html) **PHOTOS:** [Through the Lens of Photo Legend Bob Willoughby](http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2061029,00.html) **VIDEO:** [Her Finest Roles: Remembering Elizabeth Taylor](http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,850438078001%5F2061096,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7142112/elizabeth-taylors-killer-beauty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7142112/elizabeth-taylors-killer-beauty/"},"headline":"Elizabeth Taylor's Killer Beauty","datePublished":"2011-03-26T13:46:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T11:08:59.860Z","description":"Elizabeth Taylor wasn't one for understatement: she had eight marriages, won two Oscars and was a bold pioneer in AIDS activism. And let's not forget...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7142112/elizabeth-taylors-killer-beauty/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01eb88e46d6cb5ee/698a94ab09208f212c423796/eliztaylor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01eb88e46d6cb5ee/698a94ab09208f212c423796/eliztaylor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"House of Taylor Acquires a Billion Dollar Jewel in Ireland","caption":"House of Taylor Acquires a Billion Dollar Jewel in Ireland","creditText":"Getty Images—2005 Business Wire","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7142112/elizabeth-taylors-killer-beauty/","name":"Elizabeth Taylor's Killer Beauty"}}]}] ```