ELIZABETH TAYLOR - STRIKING PICKET LINES COME DOWN FOR TAYLOR

ELIZABETH TAYLOR returned to the stage on Saturday (01Dec07), after convincing striking Hollywood writers to put down their picket signs for the night. The movie veteran appealed to the Writers Guild of America union officials, asking them to halt their protests so she could perform a one-off charity staging of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters at the Paramount Pictures lot with "a clear conscience". Taylor threatened to boycott the benefit performance, which was held to raise funds for AIDS charities, if she saw a picket as she entered the studio site in Hollywood. Her plea was heeded and the play went ahead as planned. Ailing Taylor arrived at the studio theatre in a wheelchair, dressed in a coral gown and fur jacket. Her boyfriend, Jason Winters, acted as her date. Taylor's co-star for the World AIDS Day performance was James Earl Jones and among the 500 guests who paid $2,500 (GBP1,250) to see the great Dame on stage included California's First Lady Maria Shriver. In a statement made shortly before the play, Taylor thanked the striking writers for putting the world's Aids problems before their own. In a statement, she said, "The Writers Guild of America has shown great humanity, empathy and courage by allowing our little evening to move forward."