Elizabeth Taylor

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Elizabeth Taylor
from the trailer of Giant, 1956
Birth name	Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
Born	February 27, 1932 (age 75) Hampstead, London, England, United Kingdom
Other name(s)	Liz Taylor
Years active	1941-present
Spouse(s)	Conrad Hilton Jr. (1950-1951) Michael Wilding (1952-1957) Michael Todd (1957-1958) Eddie Fisher (1959-1964) Richard Burton (1964-1974) (1975-1976) John Warner (1976-1982) Larry Fortensky (1991-1996)
Notable roles	Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Cleopatra in Cleopatra
Academy Awards
Best Actress 1960 Butterfield 8 1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
BAFTA Awards
Best Actress 1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor DBE (b. February 27, 1932) is an iconic two-time Academy Award-winning British-American actress.

Her trademark is her violet eyes framed by a double row of eyelashes.^[1] Known for her acting skills and the depth of her personality along with her beauty, she is considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood’s golden years, as well as a larger-than-life celebrity.

The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Life and career 1.2 Marriages 2 Relationship with parents 2.1 Children 2.2 Other interests 2.3 Awards and honours 2.4 Recent years 3 Filmography 4 Other appearances 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Life and career

She was born in Hampstead, London, England, the second child of Francis Lenn Taylor (December 28, 1897 – November 20, 1968) and Sara Viola Warmbrodt (August 21, 1896 – September 11, 1994), who were Americans residing in England. Her older brother is Howard Taylor (born in 1929).

Though sometimes referred to as "Liz", she is not fond of that name and prefers her given name to be pronounced Eee-lizabeth^{[citation needed]}. Her first names are in honor of her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Taylor, who was born Elizabeth Mary Rosemond. When she was born, Taylor was both a British and American citizen, having acquired British citizenship by being born on British soil (under the principle of Jus soli) and American citizenship through her parents (under the principle of Jus sanguinis).

Both of her American parents were originally from Arkansas City, Kansas. Her father was an art dealer and her mother a former actress whose stage name was Sara Sothern. Sara retired from the stage when she and Francis Taylor married in 1926 in New York. It was also reported that her father was a weak figure who always capitulated to her mother^{[citation needed]}.

At the age of three, Elizabeth began taking ballet lessons. Shortly after the begin of World War II, her parents decided to return to the United States to avoid hostilities. Her mother took the children first, while her father remained in London to wrap up matters in the art business. They settled in Los Angeles, California, where Sara's family, the Warmbrodts, were then living.

Taylor appeared in her first motion picture at the age of 9 for Universal. They let her contract drop, and she was signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her first movie with that studio was Lassie Come Home (1943), which drew favorable attention. After a few more movies, the second on loan-out to 20th Century Fox, she appeared in her first leading role and achieved child star status playing Velvet Brown, a young girl who trains a horse to win the Grand National in Clarence Brown's movie National Velvet (1944) with Mickey Rooney. National Velvet was a big hit, grossing over $4,000,000 at the box-office, and she was signed to a long-term contract. Gene Tierney originally was offered the role in MGM's National Velvet but production was delayed so Tierney signed with Fox. The rest is Hollywood history.

She attended school on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot and received a diploma from University High School in Los Angeles on January 26, 1950, the same year she was first married at age 18.

Elizabeth Taylor won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performances in BUtterfield 8 (1960), which co-starred then husband Eddie Fisher, and again for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), which co-starred then-husband Richard Burton and the Supporting Actress Oscar-winner, Sandy Dennis.

Taylor was nominated for Raintree County (1957) with Montgomery Clift, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) with Paul Newman, and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) with Clift, Katharine Hepburn and Mercedes McCambridge.

In 1963, she became the highest paid movie star up until that time when she accepted $1,000,000 to play the title role in the lavish production of Cleopatra for 20th Century Fox. It was during the filming of that movie that she worked for the first time with future husband Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony. Movie magazines, the forerunners of today's tabloids, had a field day when Taylor and Burton began an affair during filming; both stars were married to other people at the time. She was even accused by a Vatican newspaper of having descended into "erotic vagrancy." A lot of people thought of Elizabeth Taylor as a "Scarlet Woman". She and many others disagree with that strongly. Richard Burton was quoted as saying: "You'd be surprised at the morals of many women stars who are regarded by the public as goody-two-shoes. They leap into bed with any male in grabbing distance. That's what makes me mad when I read stuff hinting Liz is a scarlet woman because she's been married five times. She's only had five men in her life whereas those good-two-shoes have lost count"^{[citation needed]}.

She has also appeared a number of times on television, including the 1973 made-for-TV movie with then husband Richard Burton, titled Divorce His - Divorce Hers. In 1985, she played movie gossip columnist Louella Parsons in Malice in Wonderland opposite Jane Alexander, who played Hedda Hopper, and also appeared in the mini-series North and South. In 2001, she played an agent in These Old Broads. She has also appeared on a number of other TV shows, including the soap operas General Hospital and All My Children and the animated The Simpsons (once as herself, and once as the voice of Maggie).

Taylor has also acted on the stage, making her Broadway and West End debuts in 1982 with a revival of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. She was then in a production of Noel Coward's Private Lives (1983), in which she starred with her former husband, Richard Burton. The student-run Burton-Taylor theatre in Oxford was named for the famous couple after Burton appeared as Doctor Faustus in the OUDS (Oxford University Dramatic Society) production of the Marlowe play. Elizabeth Taylor played the ghostly, wordless Helen of Troy, who is entreated by Faustus to 'make [him] immortal with a kiss'.

[edit] Marriages

Taylor has been married eight times to seven husbands:

• Conrad "Nicky" Hilton (May 6, 1950 - January 29, 1951) (divorced)

• Michael Wilding (February 21, 1952 - January 26, 1957) (divorced)

• Michael Todd (February 2, 1957 - March 22, 1958) (widowed)

• Eddie Fisher (May 12, 1959 - March 6, 1964) (divorced)

• Richard Burton (March 15, 1964 - June 26, 1974) (divorced) and a second time (October 10, 1975 - July 29, 1976) (divorced)

• John Warner (December 4, 1976 - November 7, 1982) (divorced)

• Larry Fortensky (October 6, 1991 - October 31, 1996) (divorced)

[edit] Relationship with parents

Taylor's mother Sara was a domineering figure who controlled Elizabeth's life from the outside with single-minded determination. She had similarly exerted her influence on her husband Francis, a shy and retiring man whom she attempted to mold into a confident, outgoing man. Taylor was never truly allowed to bond with her father, who was by and large a peripheral figure in a life dominated by her mother and her mother's obsession with public image. Even in 1968 when her father died and Taylor began crying at the funeral, her mother intervened. 'But I'm not crying dear. If a man's widow isn't crying it isn't good form for others to do so. It makes me seem unfeeling.'

Her mother also exerted influence on Taylor's life well into adulthood. After her marriage to Warner ended, with her weight ballooning she intervened at first with cruel prods and then by arranging a tea party. At this tea party her mother asked each of the elderly guests when they last felt they could've been described as gorgeous. Finally she turned to her daughter and enquired 'How about you dear?' There was an uncomfortable pause before Taylor replied 'My moment is yet to come, Mother.' Sara Taylor raised her glass and said 'I knew it! You'll be beautiful again! Prove them all fools.' She continued 'And if you avoid letting it slip in the first place you'll save us both a lot of trouble.'

Sara's pride in Taylor though, knew no bounds. Her house was covered with photos of Taylor in her prime and she used to demand of visitors 'Look at my daughter. Now if she is not the most beautiful woman in the world I don't know who is.'

Despite their often difficult relationship, Sara was always her daughter's biggest champion and when she died in 1994, Taylor was devastated. In 2000 when Taylor was made a Dame of the British Empire she raised a glass of sparkling cider and made a toast

There's a woman who deserves our deepest appreciation because if it weren't for her we'd all be somewhere else right now. Let's all drink to my mother Sara Taylor.

A guest shouted 'Hear, hear!' however Taylor then commanded

No! Let's drink to two things. To my mother and forgiveness.

[edit] Children

Taylor and Wilding had two sons, Michael Howard Wilding (born January 6, 1953), and Christopher Edward Wilding (born February 27, 1955). She and Todd had one daughter, Elizabeth Frances Todd, called "Liza," (born August 6, 1957). And in 1964, she and Fisher started adoption proceedings for a daughter, whom Burton later adopted, Maria Burton (born August 1, 1961).

[edit] Other interests

Taylor has a passion for jewelry. Over the years she has owned a number of well known pieces, two of the most talked about being the 33.19 carat (6.638 g) Krupp Diamond and the 69.42 carat (13.884 g) pear-shaped Taylor-Burton Diamond, which were among many dazzling gifts from husband Richard Burton. Her enduring collection of jewelry has been eternalized with her book My Love Affair with Jewelry (2002).

In 2005, she partnered with Jack and Monty Abramov of Mirabelle Luxury Concepts in Los Angeles to introduce the House of Taylor Jewelry. In 2005, House of Taylor Jewelry formed a partnership with Kathy Ireland Worldwide, a design-and-marketing firm with more than $1 billion in annual sales. She has also launched three perfumes, "Passion," "White Diamonds," and "Black Pearls," that together earn an estimated $200,000,000 in annual sales. In the Fall of 2006, Dame Elizabeth Taylor celebrated the 15th anniversary of her White Diamonds perfume, one of the top-10 best selling fragrances for more than the past decade.

Taylor has devoted much time and energy to AIDS-related charities and fundraising. She helped start the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) after the death of her former co-star and friend, Rock Hudson. She also created her own AIDS foundation, Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation (ETAF).^[2] By 1999, she had helped to raise an estimated $50,000,000 (USD) to fight the disease.

Recently, in the year 2006, Taylor donated $40,000 to the AIDS New Orleans Aids task force, a charity designed for the New Orleans population with AIDS and HIV. The NO/AIDS task force estimated that about 7,400 residents were infected with HIV before Hurricane Katrina. Taylor and Macy's donated a 37 ft. Care Van to help with the task. The Care Van included two examination tables, an X-Ray, and flat screen TV's.

In the early 1980s she moved to Bel-Air, which is her current home. The fenced and gated property is on tour maps sold at street corners and is frequently passed by tour guides.

Taylor was also a fan of the soap opera General Hospital. In fact, she was cast as the first Helena Cassedine, matriarch of the Cassedine family.

Taylor is a supprter of Kabbalah and member of the Kabbalah Centre. She encouraged friend Michael Jackson to wear a red string as protection from the evil-eye during his 2005 trial for molestation, where he was eventually cleared of all charges.

[edit] Awards and honours

Dame Elizabeth Taylor has won two Academy Awards for Best Actress. She won the first in 1960 for BUtterfield 8 and the second in 1966 for Mike Nichols' drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

Taylor received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1992 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The following year, 1993, she received the AFI Life Achievement Award. And in 2002, she was a Kennedy Center Honoree.

In 1999, she was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. Though she was thrilled with this honor, Taylor cracked, "I've always been a broad, now I'm a dame."

In 2001, U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Citizens Medal in recognition of her commitment to philanthropy. It is the second-highest civilian honor in the United States, awarded to U.S. citizens "who have performed exemplary deeds or services" for their country or fellow citizens, despite the fact that Taylor had relinquished her U.S. citizenship and is only an LPR (lawful permanent resident) of the U.S.

Elizabeth Taylor's hand and foot prints are immortalized in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater and she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6336 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

On November 10, 2005, Taylor received the Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in International Entertainment.

[edit] Recent years

In November 2004, Taylor announced that she had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, a condition in which the heart pumps insufficient amounts of blood throughout the body. She has broken her back five times, has survived a benign brain tumor operation, skin cancer, and has faced life-threatening bouts with pneumonia twice. She is reclusive and sometimes fails to make scheduled appearances due to illness or other personal reasons. She is now confined to a wheelchair to get around.

In 2005 she was a vocal supporter of her best friend, Michael Jackson, in his trial in California on charges of sexually abusing a child. He was acquitted.

In recent years, Taylor reportedly became closely attached to her pet dog, saying that she went nowhere without her little Maltese named Sugar. In an interview with American magazine W, Taylor said she was happiest while with husbands Todd and Burton, but now has to be content with Sugar for company. She explains, "I've never loved a dog like this in my life. It's amazing. Sometimes I think there's a person in there. There's something to say for this kind of love - it's unconditional." In June 2005, Taylor's beloved dog Sugar died. However, several months later (in September) she purchased a descendant of Sugar which she named Daisy.

It was reported on April 27, 2006 that Taylor was close to death. This was quickly denied by Taylor's publicist, Dick Guttman. "Dick Guttman says that he can refute every allegation in these published reports. In fact, he says they didn't get anything right. Guttman says Taylor has a very busy life, with her successful perfume and jewelry lines and the work she does for the fight against AIDS." On May 30, 2006, she appeared on Larry King Live to refute the claims that she has been ill, and denied the allegations that she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and was close to death.

In late August 2006 Taylor decided to take a boating trip to help prove that she was not even close to death. She also decided to make Christie's auction house the primary place where she will sell her jewelry, artwork, clothing, furniture, and memorabilia (September 2006).^[3]

In October 2006, it was widely reported that Taylor would be marrying her constant companion, artist Firooz Zahedi, 17 years her junior.^[4] Taylor responded by asserting that she and Zahedi "never have been and will never be romantically involved."^[5]

The February 2007 issue of Interview magazine devoted itself entirely to Elizabeth Taylor--a celebration of her life, career and her upcoming seventy-fifth birthday.

[edit] Filmography