Beginning as a child star, as an adult she came to be known for her acting talent and beauty, and had a much publicised private life, including eight marriages and several near death experiences. Taylor was considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh on its Female Legends list.
Contents
* 1 Early years 1932–1942
* 2 Adolescent star
* 3 Transition into adult roles
* 4 1955–1979
* 5 1980–2003
* 6 2003–2011
* 7 Other interests
* 8 Personal life
o 8.1 Marriages
o 8.2 Children
* 9 Death
* 10 List of awards and honors
* 11 See also
* 12 Notes
* 13 References
* 14 External links
Early years 1932–1942
Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in Hampstead, a wealthy district of North West London, the second child of Francis Lenn Taylor1897–1968 and Sara Viola Warmbrodt who were Americans residing in England. Taylor's older brother, Howard Taylor, was born in 1929
Her 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". Sothern retired from the stage when she and Francis Taylor married in 1926 in New York City. Taylor's two first names are in honor of her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Mary Rosemond Taylor. A dual citizen of the UK and the U.S., she was born a British subject through er birth on British soil and an American citizen through her parents.[ needed She reportedly sought, in 1965, to renounce her United States citizenship, to wit “Though never accepted by the State Department, Liz renounced in 1965. Attempting to shield much of her European income from US taxes, Liz wished to become solely a British citizen. According to news reports at the time, officials denied her request when she failed to complete the renunciation oath, refusing to say that she renounced “all allegiance to the United States of America
At the age of three, Taylor began taking ballet lessons with Vaccani. Shortly before the beginning of World War II, her parents decided to return to the United States to avoid hostilities. Her mother took the children first, arriving in New York in April 193 while her father remained in London to wrap up matters in the art business, arriving in November
Through Hedda Hopper, the Taylors were introduced to Andrea Berens, a wealthy English socialite and also fiancée of Cheever Cowden, chairman and major stockholder of Universal Pictures in Hollywood. Berens insisted that Sara bring Elizabeth to see Cowden who, she was adamant, would be dazzled by Elizabeth's breathtaking dark beauty; she was born with a mutation that caused double rows of eyelashes, which enhanced her appearance on cameraGoldwyn-Mayer soon took interest in the British youngster as well but she failed tosecure a contract with them after an informal audition with producer John Considine had shown that she couldn't sing. However, on September 18, 1941, Universal Pictures signed Elizabeth to a six-month renewable contract at $100 a week.
Taylor appeared in her first motion picture at the age of nine in There's One Born Every Minute, her only film for Universal Pictures. Less than six months after she signed with Universal, her contract was reviewed by Edward Muhl, the studio's production chief. Muhl met with Taylor's agent, Myron Selznick brother of David, and Cheever Cowden. Muhl challenged Selznick's and Cowden's constant support of Taylor: "She can't sing, she can't dance, she can't perform. What's more, her mother has to be one of the most unbearable women it has been my displeasure to meet Universal cancelled Taylor's contract just short of her tenth birthday in February 1942. Nevertheless on October 15, 1942, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed Taylor to $100 a week for up to three months to appear as "Priscilla" in the film Lassie Come Home.
Adolescent star
Lassie Come Home featured child star Roddy McDowall, with whom Taylor would share a lifelong friendship. Upon its release in 1943, the film received favourable attention for both McDowall and Taylor. On the basis for her performance in Lassie Come Home MGM signed Taylor to a conventional seven-year contract at $100 a week but increasing at regular intervals until it reached a hefty $750 during the seventh year. Her first assignment under her new contract at MGM was a loan-out to 20th Century Fox for the character of Helen Burns in a film version of the Charlotte Bronte novel Jane Eyre 1944 During this period she also returned to England to appear in another Roddy McDowall picture for MGM, The White Cliffs of Dover 1944. But it was Taylor's persistence in campaigning for the role of Velvet Brown in MGM's National Velvet that skyrocketed Taylor to stardom at the tender age of 12. Taylor's character, Velvet Brown, is a young girl who trains her beloved horse to win the Grand National. National Velvet, which also costarred beloved American favorite Mickey Rooney and English newcomer Angela Lansbury, became an overwhelming success upon its release in December 1944 and altered Taylor's life forever. Also, many of her back problems have been traced to when she hurt her back falling off a horse during the filming of National Velvet.
National Velvet grossed over US$4 million at the box office and Taylor was signed to a new long-term contract that raised her salary to $30,000 per year. To capitalize on the box office success of Velvet, Taylor was shoved into another animal opus, Courage of Lassie, in which a different dog named "Bill", cast as an Allied combatant in World War II, regularly outsmarts the Nazis, with Taylor going through another outdoors role. The 1946 success of Courage of Lassie led to another contract drawn up for Taylor earning her $750 per week, her mother $250, as well as a $1,500 bonus. Her roles as Mary Skinner in a loan-out to Warner Brothers' Life With Father 1947 Bishop in Cynthia 1947 Carol Pringle in A Date with Judy 1948 and Susan Prackett in Julia Misbehaves 194all proved to be successful. Her reputation as a bankable adolescent star and nickname of "One-Shot Lireferring to her ability to shoot a scene in one take promised her a full and bright career with Metro. Taylor's portrayal as Amy, in the American classic Little Women 1949 would prove to be her last adolescent role. In October 1948, she sailed aboard the RMS Queen Mary travelling to England where she would begin filming on Conspirator, in which she would play her first adult role.
Transition into adult roles
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