ACTING legend Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who was raised in Hampstead Garden Suburb, has died aged 79.

The two-time Oscar winner was born and spent the first seven years of her life up in Wildwood Road, just a stone’s throw from Hampstead Heath.

Born to American parents, they decided to relocate the family to Los Angeles before the start of the Second World War to avoid hostilities in Europe.

In 2007 she was patron of the Hampstead Garden Suburb’s centenary celebrations, saying: ““The happiest days of my youth were when my brother and I would run through the woods and feel quite safe.

“I wonder whether the Suburb is still like that now. I do hope so. It was heaven for this child and her brother.”

Last year she was reportedly looking for a new home in the area hoping to rekindle some of those childhood memories.

During her career, which included the films National Velvet, Cleopatra, Little Women and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe, Taylor won two best actress Oscars, joining an exclusive club.

She was famously married eight times to seven different men and in her day was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world.

However, in 2004 she revealed she had been diagnosed with congestive heart disease, restricting the flow of blood around her body, which became steadily worse over the years.

In her later years she appeared in several TV movies and series, and dedicated a great deal of time to charities promoting the awareness of Aids.

She died today, aged 79, at a clinic in Los Angeles surrounded by her family, who released a statement saying: “We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it.

"Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts."

She is survived by four children, ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.