Elizabeth Taylor

Background

Elizabeth Taylor is one of the greatest actresses of the classic Hollywood era in the 1950s. Her prowess has earned her the title of the seventh-greatest female legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema by the American Film Institute. She was born Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor on February 27, 1932, in Heathwood, London. Her parents were art dealer Francis Taylor and former stage actress Sara Sothern. She grew up in London before her family decided to move to California, United States in 1939 because of the impending war in Europe.

She started acting when she was living in California, passing the auditions for Universal Pictures and M.G.M. in 1941. She eventually chose Universal Pictures and appeared in a minor role in “There’s One Born Every Minute” (1941). Sadly, the company chose to not continue with her contract because of how different her image was from other child actors at that time. In 1942, she began starring in films under M.G.M. Her first starring role was in the sports film “National Velvet” (1944) on film director Clarence Brown’s recommendation. The film became a box-office success, and Taylor earned highly positive comments, marking this as the beginning of her stardom. Throughout the years, Taylor starred in several critically-acclaimed films, such as “Julia Misbehaves” (1948), “Father of the Bride” (1950), and “A Place in the Sun” (1951). After finishing her contract with M.G.M., she starred in “Cleopatra” (1963), which “Life” magazine dubbed the ‘Most Talked About Movie Ever Made.’ Taylor began her semi-retirement from films in the 1980s, eventually acting in television productions. She ventured into activism for H.I.V./AIDS. in the 1990s and had several T.V. cameos.

Being one of the biggest stars of her generation, Taylor’s private life garnered intense media attention and public comments. She has married a total of eight times, twice to the same man. Her first marriage was when she was 18, to American socialite Conrad “Nicky” Hilton Jr. in 1950. After their divorce in 1951, she married her second husband, actor Michael Wilding in 1952. The couple had two sons: Michael Howard and Christopher Edward, and their divorce took place in 1957. She then married film producer Mike Todd in the same year, and the couple had one daughter, Elizabeth Frances. Todd passed away in a plane crash in 1958, which lead to her affair with singer Eddie Fisher, whom she married in 1959. They divorced in 1964 after it was discovered that Taylor had an affair with her “Cleopatra” co-star, Richard Burton. She married Burton 10 days afterward. They would separate in 1974, but would remarry in 1975 and would again end up divorcing in 1976. She then married politician John Warner in 1976 and divorced him in 1982. In 1991, she married her seventh and last husband, construction worker Larry Fortensky, with whom she would stay until 1996. They kept in touch until her passing, and she included him in her will.