HENDERSON, Nev. -- Dressed in diamonds and fur, Elizabeth Taylor arrived fashionably late to her 75th birthday party Tuesday night at a Las Vegas-area resort.

The Hollywood icon sat in a wheelchair as she was escorted into the Medici Cafe and Terrace at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas by her 52-year-old son Christopher Wilding. Wilding shares the same birthday with his mother.

When asked for the secret to her longevity, she said: "Hangin' in."

Guests including Debbie Reynolds, her daughter Carrie Fisher, magicians Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn and model Kathy Ireland turned out for the closed party.

Taylor has won two Oscars for best actress and starred in more than 55 films.

Taylor, who turned from a promising child actor into an international superstar, has been nominated for five Oscars throughout her career, and winning two -- both for Best Actress -- for 1960's "Butterfield 8" and 1966's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

She was also awarded the Jean Hersholt honorary Oscar in 1993 for her humanitarian efforts.

Taylor burst onto the screen in 1943 with a lead role in "Lassie Come Home," and in 1944, she starred in the classic family drama "National Velvet."

Also among her credits of more than 55 films are "Little Women," "Father of the Bride," "Giant" and "Cleopatra."

Taylor's Oscar win for 1960's "Butterfield 8" was preceded by three consecutive Best Actress nominations, for 1957's "Raintree County," 1958's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and 1959's "Suddenly, Last Summer."

Born Feb. 27, 1932, in Hampstead, London, England, Taylor has been married eight times -- including a remarriage to Richard Burton.