document: Elizabeth Taylor has rallied from a near-fatal bout with pneumonia _ and even joked about coming out in her `` balcony attire '' to wave to reporters _ but is `` not out of the woods , '' doctors say . `` I believe her life was in jeopardy over the weekend and I believe that has now passed , '' Dr. Bernard Weintraub , a lung specialist treating Miss Taylor at St. Johns Hospital and Health Center , said Wednesday . The 58-year-old actress was taken off the ventilator that had aided her breathing for several days and was smiling again and `` very happy the tube was out , '' said Dr. Patricia Murray , an infectious disease specialist . `` She said she 'd come out and wave to you but she 's not in her balcony attire , '' the doctor said . About 80 reporters and camera crew members , along with some 100 St. Johns employees , jammed the hospital courtyard to hear the latest reports on Miss Taylor . Miss Taylor has had back troubles since she fell off a horse during filming in 1945 of `` National Velvet . '' She had to undergo a tracheotomy during a bout with pneumonia in 1961 that nearly killed her . In 1983 she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers , and her weight has been up and down over the years . In response to persistent rumors about AIDS and other illnesses , Weintraub said there was `` no suggestion of either cancer or infections commonly seen in AIDS . '' The actress had issued a statement earlier denying she has AIDS . Weintraub said the actress , hospitalized since April 9 , remained in intensive care . `` She is in serious condition . She is not out of the woods , '' he said . With her were her four children from three marriages , Maria Burton-Carson , Liza Todd-Tivey and Christopher and Michael Wilding . The hospital released a statement on Miss Taylor 's behalf thanking fans and friends for their cards and letters .
extractive_keyphrases: elizabeth taylor pneumonia miss taylor
abstractive_keyphrases: near-fatal bout st. johns hospital 58-year-old actress