Taylor in hospital but is 'fine'

 

Dame Elizabeth Taylor passes the time on Twitter

Dame Elizabeth Taylor has been admitted to hospital in Los Angeles but only as a matter of "routine", a spokesman for the star has said.

A publicist for the 77-year-old actress said she "entered the hospital for a routine visit and is doing fine".

Taylor's spokesman Dick Guttman added that she was well enough to be posting messages on Twitter, with which she had "fallen in love".

He gave no more details about her health or where she is being treated.

Guttman said Taylor "will be home soon" but he did not specify when she would be released.

Last year the actress spent several weeks in a Los Angeles hospital but then again Mr Guttman gave little detail about her state of health.

He would only confirm reports in People magazine that she was "living her life" and "having dinner with friends".

A month earlier he had dismissed reports the actress was seriously ill.

He said the stories were "dramatic, overstated and untrue".

Brittle bones

Dame Elizabeth, who uses a wheelchair, has suffered from a number of health problems in recent years.

They include a hip replacement in 1995 and surgery to remove a brain tumour in 1997.

She has broken her back five times and has the brittle bone disease osteoporosis.

In an interview with CNN in 2006, she denied speculation that she was gravely ill or being treated for Alzheimer's disease saying: "Oh come on, do I look like I'm dying?"

London-born Dame Elizabeth first achieved stardom aged 12 in National Velvet.

She went on to win Oscars for her roles in the 1960 film Butterfield 8 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The screen star, who has three children and adopted a fourth with ex-husband Richard Burton, was made an honorary dame by the Queen in 2000.

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