Elizabeth Taylor

Born On: 27^th February 1932

Born In: Hampstead, London (United Kingdom)

Nationality: British

Career: Actress, Model, Producer

 

With her classic looks, unrivaled acting talent, glamorous lifestyle, grand personality and contentious conjugal life, Elizabeth Taylor is an iconic actress of yesteryears Hollywood. Emblematic of Hollywood’s golden years, her acting skills and beauty have elevated her to a status many dream of, but few attain. She started her film career as a pretty-faced child artist and in no time, emerged as a nationwide sensation. With two Academy Awards consummating her success, she remains one of the most popular screen legends until date. The American Film Institute has acclaimed Taylor as ‘seventh’ amongst the Greatest Female Stars of All Time.

 

ElizabethTaylorwas born as ‘Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor’ on 27^th February 1932 in Hampstead, London (United Kingdom). She was the second child of Francis Lenn Taylor, an art dealer, and Sara Viola Warmbrodt, a former stage actress. Even though, Elizabeth was born in Britain, both her parents were originally Americans, from the Arkansas City of Kansas. She has an older brother, named Howard Taylor (born in 1929).

 

From a very small age, Elizabeth exhibited the depth of her talents. She started taking ballet lessons at the mere age of three. During this period, when the World War II was gaining full momentum, Liz moved along with her family to her maternal grandparents’ home in Los Angeles, California. Finally, at the age of nine, she made her debut appearance in a motion picture for Universal.

 

After her contract with Universal dropped, Elizabeth signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appeared in the movie ‘Lassie Come Home’ (1943). She appeared in a number of movies as a child artist. However, the major break came when she appeared as Velvet Brown, a young horse trainer in Clarence Brown's movie ‘National Velvet’ (1944). The movie was a box-office success and young Elizabeth’s film career took a rapid flight.

 

As far as education was concerned, Elizabeth attended school on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot. In 1950, she also received a diploma from University High School in Los Angeles, California. The same year she tied her first nuptial knot with Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton, at the age of eighteen. Throughout the 1950s, she appeared in a number of movies. Three of them, Raintree County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly Last Summer, won her Academy Award nominations.

 

Elizabeth Taylor bragged her first Academy Award (Best Actress) for her role in ‘Butterfield 8’, in 1960. In 1966, she earned her second Academy Award for Mike Nichol’s ‘Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ In 1963, she appeared as Cleopatra for the 20^th Century Fox movie with the same name, pairing alongside her future (fifth) husband Richard Burton. She was paid $1,000,000 for her role, making her the highest paid movie star up until that time. Apart from silver screen, Taylor has also appeared in numerous television shows.

 

In 1973, she was seen with, then husband, Richard Burton on the show ‘Divorce His - Divorce Hers’. In 1985, she starred in ‘Malice in Wonderland’, as the movie gossip columnist Louella Parsons, alongside Jane Alexander. The same year she also showed herself in the television series called ‘North and South’. In the year 2001, she appeared in Carrie Fisher’s television film ‘These Old Broads’. Some of the popular TV shows graced by Elizabeth include names like ‘General Hospital’ and ‘All My Children’. Taylor also has many Broadway and West End performances to her credit.

 

Elizabeth’s marital affairs have been a target of many tabloids, Vatican newspapers and the public. She has been married eight times to seven husbands, twice to her fifth husband Richard Burton. She has two sons, named Michael and Christopher, from her second husband, Michael Wilding. She also has a daughter named Elizabeth Frances Todd (Liza), from her third husband Michael Todd. She is also mother to an adopted daughter named Maria Burton. Elizabeth became a grandmother on 25^th August 1971, at the age of 39. Among her many interests, Elizabeth is well-known for her penchant for jewelry and her enviable collection has been showcased to the world in her book ‘My Love Affair with Jewelry’ (2002).  

 

1942 - There's One Born Every Minute

1943 - Lassie Come Home

1944 - Jane Eyre, The White Cliffs of Dover, National Velvet

1946 - Courage of Lassie

1947- Life with Father, Cynthia

1948 - A Date with Judy, Julia Misbehaves

1949 - Little Women, Conspirator

1950 - The Big Hangover, Father of the Bride

1951 - Father's Little Dividend, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis,

1952 - Love Is Better Than Ever, Ivanhoe

1953 - The Girl Who Had Everything

1954 - Rhapsody, Elephant Walk, Beau Brummell, The Last Time I Saw Paris 1956 - Giant

1957 - Raintree County

1958 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

1959 - Suddenly Last Summer

1960 - Scent of Mystery, Butterfield 8

1963 - Cleopatra, The V.I.P.s

1965 - The Sandpiper

1966 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1967 - The Taming of the Shrew, Doctor Faustus, Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Comedians

1968 - Boom! Flora, Secret Ceremony

1969 - Anne of the Thousand Days

1970 - The Only Game in Town

1972 - X, Y, and Zee, Under Milk Wood, Hammersmith Is Out

1973 - Divorce His - Divorce Hers, Night Watch, Ash Wednesday (film)

1974 - Identikit

1976 - The Blue Bird, Victory at Entebbe

1977 - A Little Night Music

1978 - Return Engagement

1979 - Winter Kills

1980 - The Mirror Crack'd

1981 - General Hospital

1983 - Between Friends

1985 - Malice in Wonderland, North and South

1986 - There Must Be a Pony

1987 - Poker Alice

1988 - Young Toscanini

1989 - Sweet Bird of Youth

1994 - The Flintstones

1996 - The Nanny