Liz Smith Dead At 94 — Legendary Gossip’s Final Celebrity Secrets

Liz Smith, the legendary gossip columnist who ruled the '80s, passed away at her Manhattan home at the age of 94 on Nov. 12, 2017 — but the Grande Dame of Dish spent her final years dishing some real dirt!

During her long career as a popular syndicated columnist, Liz was known for being friendly to celebrities — with stars like Rob Lowe and James Woods saluting her for being a gossip columnist with tact. But as an aging Liz lost her powerful gossip columns, she also began to dish the real dirt that she'd left hidden for decades!

Liz started by blasting Barbara Walters for being a two-faced friend — saying that "The View" host ditched her as soon as Liz lost her newspaper columns. "I rarely hear from her now," Liz complained in 2012, long before Barbara's own shocking health issues turned her into a recluse.

The veteran columnist also finally dug up dirt on her old Hollywood pals, mocking Shelley Winters for running into expensive shops and just leaving with merchandise. Liz reported that the horrified shopkeepers "were afraid to ask her to pay." — adding: "I really disliked her after that."

Liz — who had started out in showbiz working on the popular show "Candid Camera" — also shocked fans by revealing that she had once helped arrange an abortion in the 1960s for the mistress of her boss Allan Funt. But, Liz revealed, Funt blew his top when presented with a $700 bill for the illegal procedure.

Liz even made a rare turn into controversy by ]suspecting a cover-up in TV star David Janssen's sudden death at the age of 48 in 1980. Liz claimed David was planning a marriage to Angie Dickinson after divorcing his then-wife Dani — and called his funeral "another grotesque Hollywood charade wherein big stars came who hardly knew him in life!"

Nothing could get Liz to spill dirt on Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who she credited as good friends who "really helped" her career. Liz was finally willing to expose her own secrets, though — outing herself as a lesbian in 2000.

Liz confirmed decades of gossip by admitting that she had been in a longtime relationship with archaeologist Iris Love. She also admitted to a sham marriage to help her second husband Fred get a green card — and that she had her first lesbian romance as a college student at the University of Austin after her first divorce.

She had secretly lived with Iris for several years, although the relationship later ended. Some people blasted Liz for staying in the closet herself, but she remained the rare gossip columnist well-loved in showbiz — with Al Roker praising her as "nothing short of fabulous."