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dablink|This article is about the actress. There
are also articles about the Elizabeth Taylor
(painter)|painter and the Elizabeth Taylor
(novelist)|novelist of the same name.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor (born February 27, 1932) is
an England|English-born Academy Award winning
Actor|actress.

She was born Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor 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). Her older brother is
Howard Taylor (born 1929).

Though sometimes referred to as "Liz," she is not
fond of that name. She prefers her given name to
be pronounced Eee-lizabeth. Her given and middle
name|middle names were in honor of her
father|paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Taylor, who
was born Elizabeth Mary Rosemond. 

Taylor was born with dual United Kingdom|British
and United States|American citizenship. Her
American parents were both originally from
Arkansas City, Kansas|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 Theatre|stage when she and
Francis Taylor married in 1926 in New York
City|New York. 

At the age of three, Elizabeth began taking ballet
lessons. After the UK entered 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 Film|motion picture
at the age of nine for Universal
Studios|Universal. They let her contract drop and
she was signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her first
movie with that movie studio|studio was Lassie
Come Home (1943 in film|1943). This drew favorable
attention. After a couple more movies, the second
on loan-out to 20th Century Fox, she appeared in
her first leading role and achieved child movie
star|star status playing Velvet Brown, a young
girl who trains a horse to win the Aintree Grand
National|Grand National in Clarence Brown's movie
National Velvet (1944 in film|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. 

She attended school on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM
lot and University High School in Los Angeles,
where she received her diploma on January 26,
1950. 

Taylor is famous for her beauty, violet eyes and
raven hair. Considered one of the most beautiful
women in the world, she also gained great respect
as an accomplished actress. 

Elizabeth Taylor won the Academy Award for Academy
Award for Best Actress|Best Actress in a Leading
Role for her performances in BUtterfield 8 (1960
in film|1960) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(1966 in film|1966). She was nominated for
Raintree County (1957 in film|1957), Cat on a Hot
Tin Roof (1958 in film|1958) and Suddenly, Last
Summer (1959 in film|1959).

In 1963 in film|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 (movie)|Cleopatra for 20th
Century Fox. And it was during the filming of that
movie that she worked for the first time with
future husband, Richard Burton (actor)|Richard
Burton, who played Mark Antony.

She has been married eight times to seven
husbands:
*Hilton Hotel|Hotel heir Conrad Hilton, Jr|Nicky
Hilton (married May 6, 1950-divorced January 29,
1951)
*Actor Michael Wilding (actor)|Michael Wilding
(married February 21, 1952-divorced January 26,
1957)
*Producer Michael Todd|Mike Todd (married February
2, 1957-his death March 22, 1958)
*Singer Eddie Fisher (singer)|Eddie Fisher
(married May 12, 1959-divorced March 6, 1964)
*Actor Richard Burton (actor)|Richard Burton
(married March 15, 1964-divorced June 26, 1974)
*Actor Richard Burton (2nd Marriage) (married
October 10, 1975-divorced July 29, 1976)
*United States Senate|Senator John Warner (married
December 4, 1976-divorced November 7, 1982)
*Teamsters|Teamster construction-equipment
operator Larry Fortensky (married October 6,
1991-divorced October 31, 1996)

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).

In recent years, Taylor has found comfort in her
little dog. She has reportedly said that she "goes
nowhere without her little Maltese (dog)|Maltese,
Sugar. Sugar has spent more time in her bed than
any of the men she has had in her whole life.
Eight husbands and one dog..."  In an interview
with W (magazine)|American magazine W, Taylor says
she was "happiest while with Todd and Burton, but
now has to be content with her Maltese dog 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."

Taylor has also appeared a number of times on
television, including the 1973 in television|1973
made-for-TV movie with then husband, Richard
Burton, titled Divorce His - Divorce Hers. In 1985
in television|1985, she played movie columnist
Louella Parsons in Malice in Wonderland and
appeared in the mini-series North and South. And
in 2001 in television|2001, she played an agent in
These Old Broads. She has also appeared on a
number of TV programs, including General Hospital,
All My Children and The Simpsons (as the voice of
The Simpsons/Maggie|Maggie).


She has also acted on stage in revivals of Lillian
Hellman's The Little Foxes (1982) and Noel
Coward's Private Lives (1983), the latter she
starred in with former husband, Richard Burton.

She also launched two perfumes, "Passion" and
"White Diamonds," that together earn an estimated
$200,000,000 in annual sales.

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
(mass)|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.

Taylor has devoted much time and energy to
AIDS-related charity|charities and fundraising.
She helped start the http://www.amfar.org/
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. By 1999, she had helped to raise an
estimated $50,000,000 to fight the disease.

In 1992, she received the The Jean Hersholt
Humanitarian Award|Jean Hersholt Humanitarian
Award. The following year, 1993, she received the
American Film Institute|AFI AFI Life Achievement
Award|Life Achievement Award. And in 2002, she was
a Kennedy Center Honors|Kennedy Center Honoree.

She received the title Order of the British
Empire|Dame Commander of the Order of the British
Empire by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen
Elizabeth in 1999, and may now be addressed as
"Dame Elizabeth."  Though she was thrilled with
this honor, Taylor cracked, "I've always been a
broad, now I'm a dame."

In the early 1980s, she moved to Bel-Air, Los
Angeles, California|Bel-Air, California, 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.

In November 2004, Taylor announced that she has
been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, a
terminal 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, and has faced
life-threatening bouts with pneumonia twice.

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|Hollywood.

==Filmography==
*There's One Born Every Minute (1942 in film|1942)
(Universal) ... Gloria Twine
*Lassie Come Home (1943 in film|1943) (MGM) ...
Priscilla
*The White Cliffs of Dover (1944 in film|1944)
(MGM) ... Betsy at 10 (uncredited)
*Jane Eyre (1944 in film|1944) (20th Century Fox)
... Helen Burns (uncredited)
*National Velvet (1944 in film|1944) (MGM) ...
Velvet Brown
*Courage of Lassie (1946 in film|1946) (MGM) ...
Kathie Merrick
*Life with Father (1947 in film|1947) (MGM) ...
Mary
*Cynthia (1947 in film|1947) (MGM) ... Cynthia
Bishop
*A Date with Judy (1948 in film|1948) (MGM) ...
Carol Pringle
*Julia Misbehaves (1948 in film|1948) (MGM) ...
Susan Packett
*Little Women (1949 in film|1949) (MGM) ... Amy
March
*Conspirator (1949 in film|1949) (MGM) ... Melinda
Greyton
*The Big Hangover (1950 in film|1950) (MGM) ...
Mary Belney
*Father of the Bride (1950 in film|1950) (MGM) ...
Kay Banks
*Quo Vadis (1951 movie)|Quo Vadis? (1951 in
film|1951) (MGM) ... Christian prisoner in arena
(uncredited)
*Father's Little Dividend (1951 in film|1951)
(MGM) ... Kay "Kitten" Dunston
*A Place in the Sun (1951 in film|1951)
(Paramount) ... Angela Vickers
*Love Is Better Than Ever (1952 in film|1952)
(MGM) ... Anastacia "Stacie" Macaboy
*Ivanhoe (1952 in film|1952) (MGM) ... Rebecca
*The Girl Who Had Everything (1953 in film|1953)
(MGM) ... Jean Latimer
*Rhapsody_(movie)|Rhapsody (1954 in film|1954)
(MGM) ... Louise Durant
*Elephant Walk (1954 in film|1954) (Paramount) ...
Ruth Wiley
*Beau Brummell (1954 in film|1954) (MGM) ... Lady
Patricia
*The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954 in film|1954)
(MGM) ... Helen Ellswirth/Wills
*Giant (movie)|Giant (1956 in film|1956) (Warner
Bros.) ... Leslie Lynnton Benedict
*Raintree County (1957 in film|1957) (MGM) ...
Susanna Drake
*Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958 in film|1958) (MGM)
... Maggie "The Cat" Pollitt
*Suddenly, Last Summer (1959 in film|1959)
(Columbia) ... Catherine Holly
*Scent of Mystery (1960 in film|1960) (Michael
Todd Company) ... the real Sally Kennedy
(uncredited)
*BUtterfield 8 (1960 in film|1960) (MGM) ...
Gloria Wandrous
*Cleopatra (movie)|Cleopatra (1963 in film|1963)
(20th Century Fox) ... Cleopatra
*The V.I.P.s (1963 in film|1963) (MGM) ... Frances
Andros
*The Sandpiper (1965 in film|1965) (MGM) ... Laura
Reynolds
*Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966 in
film|1966) (Warner Bros.) ... Martha
*The Taming of the Shrew (1967 in film|1967)
(Columbia) ... Katharina
*Doctor Faustus (movie)|Doctor Faustus (1967 in
film|1967) (Columbia) ... Helen of Troy
*Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967 in film|1967)
(Warner Bros.) ... Leonora Penderton
*The Comedians (novel)|The Comedians (1967 in
film|1967) (MGM) ... Martha Pineda
*Boom (1968 in film|1968) (Universal) ... Flora
Goforth
*Secret Ceremony (1968 in film|1968) (Universal)
Leonora
*Anne of the Thousand Days (1969 in film|1969)
(Universal) ... Courtesan (uncredited)
*The Only Game in Town (1970 in film|1970) (20th
Century Fox) ... Fran Walker
*Zee and Co. (1972 in film|1972) (Columbia) ...
Zee Blakeley ... aka X, Y and Zee
*Under Milk Wood (1973 in film|1973) (Altura Films
International) ... Rosie Probert
*Hammersmith Is Out (1972 in film|1972) (Cinerama
Releasing Corporation) ... Jimmie Jean Jackson
*Night Watch (1973 movie)|Night Watch (1973 in
film|1973) (Avco Embassy Pictures) ... Ellen
Wheeler
*Ash Wednesday (1973 in film|1973) (Paramount) ...
Barbara Sawyer
*The Driver's Seat (1974 in film|1974) (Rizzoli
Film S.p.a.) ... Lise
*Victory At Entebbe (1976 in film|1976)
*The Blue Bird (movie)|The Blue Bird (1976 in
film|1976) (20th Century Fox) ... Queen of Light
*A Little Night Music (1977 in film|1977) (New
World Pictures) ... Desiree Armfelt
*Winter Kills (1979 in film|1979) (Avco Embassy
Pictures) ... Lola Comante (uncredited)
*The Mirror Crack'd (1980 in film|1980)
(Associated Film Distribution) ... Marina Rudd
*Il Giovane Toscanini (1988 in film|1988) (RAI)
... Nadina Bulichoff
*The Flintstones (movie)|The Flintstones (1994 in
film|1994) (Universal) ... Pearl Slaghoople

==External links==

*imdb name|id=0000072|name=Elizabeth Taylor
*http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?
fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3813&source_ty
pe=A Kennedy Center bio. for Elizabeth Taylor
*http://www.amfar.org/ American Foundation for
AIDS Research (amfAR)

==References==
*Diamond Bug.
http://diamondbug.blogspot.com/2005/05/elizabeth-t
aylors-life-long-love.html "Elizabeth Taylor's
life-long love affair with Jewelry". Retrieved May
15, 2005.