Actress Elizabeth Taylor has been taken to hospital with congestive heart failure.
Her spokeswoman, Sally Morrison, said that the Oscar-winning actress was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre within the past couple of days.
The 78-year-old Taylor is being treated for symptoms caused by congestive heart failure, a condition she disclosed she had back in November 2004.
Ms Morrison said it is unknown how long she might be in the hospital.
She added that Ms Taylor's family appreciated the support from fans, but asked for privacy to allow the medical team space to do its work.
Ms Taylor had been scheduled to attend an amfAR benefit gala in New York, where she was to receive an award alongside President Bill Clinton and designer Diane von Furstenberg, celebrating their dedication to Aids research.
Elizabeth Taylor has appeared in more than 50 films and won Oscars for her performances in Butterfield 8 (1960) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
But she has been just as famous for her marriages - all eight of them, including two to Richard Burton - and her lifelong battles with substance abuse, her weight and physical ailments.
The actress had near-fatal bouts with pneumonia in 1961 and 1990, and another respiratory infection forced her to cancel all engagements for several weeks in late 1992. She had both hip joints replaced in 1994 and 1995.
Her 2004 diagnosis for congestive heart failure, compounded with spinal fractures and the effects of scoliosis, left her nearly bedridden.
She has also battled ulcers, amoebic dysentery, bursitis, and had a benign brain tumour removed in 1997. In recent years, she has had to use a wheelchair when out in public.
Agencies