Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was an Anglo-American film actress. With her registered beauty and powerful dramatic acting talent, she became a defining figure of Hollywood’s Golden Age. The countless films she appeared in turned into classics of American cinema, and due to her numerous marriages and turbulent private life, she also achieved international fame as one of the leading figures of celebrity and tabloid journalism.

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born on February 27, 1932, in the Hampstead district of London, as the second child of American art gallery owner Francis Lenn Taylor and Sara Viola Warmbrodt. Her mother Viola, who had performed on stage under the name Sara Sothern, abandoned her acting career after marrying in 1926 and began assisting her husband. When Francis Taylor purchased an art gallery in London, the family settled in Hampstead. Named after her grandmother Elizabeth Mary Rosemond, the famous actress held American citizenship through her family’s origins and British citizenship due to her birth in England.

Known within the film industry as Liz Taylor, she spent the first seven years of her life in London. As the early tensions of World War II began to be felt and unrest spread across England, the Taylor family returned to the United States to escape the war, leaving Francis behind temporarily to conclude his business affairs. They settled in the city of Los Angeles, California. Francis Taylor soon completed his work in London and rejoined his family.

Little Liz’s discovery and introduction to the screen came through a family friend, who advised her parents that her beauty and talent should be evaluated professionally. Taking this suggestion seriously, the family brought their nine-year-old daughter to Universal Studios for a screen test. This event radically changed Liz’s future, as she passed the test and signed a contract with Universal. Her first feature film was There's One Born Every Minute (1942), in which she appeared at only ten years old. When Universal later terminated her contract, Elizabeth moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) under a single-project agreement. Her first MGM film was the highly successful Lassie Come Home (1943). Following its success, MGM extended her contract for one year, during which she appeared in minor roles in The White Cliffs of Dover and Jane Eyre.

In 1944, the project that truly launched Elizabeth’s stardom arrived. Financed by 20th Century Fox and directed by Clarence Brown, National Velvet turned young Liz into MGM’s “child star.” Acting alongside Mickey Rooney, she delivered a memorable performance as Velvet Brown. The film broke box-office records with revenues of four million dollars, prompting MGM to sign her to a long-term contract. Interestingly, the role had originally been considered for Gene Tierney, but delays in the project led Tierney to sign with Fox, altering Liz Taylor’s destiny.

Despite the film’s success, Liz did not appear on screen for two years. Throughout the late 1940s, however, she starred in a series of successful projects that helped her mature as an actress. She returned to the screen in Courage of Lassie (1947), followed by Life with Father, where she acted alongside William Powell, Irene Dunne, and ZaSu Pitts. The same year, she earned acclaim for her portrayal of Amy in Little Women.

Taylor’s first romantic role as a young woman came in 1949 with Conspirator, in which she starred opposite Robert Taylor. As her acting career rapidly advanced, her private life also began to attract attention. In 1950, at the age of eighteen, she became romantically involved with millionaire Howard Hughes. Later that same year, she married hotel heir Conrad Nicky Hilton Jr., a marriage that caused worldwide sensation but lasted only nine months.

Toward the end of 1950, she delivered one of her most memorable performances in Father of the Bride, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring opposite Spencer Tracy. Its sequel, Father’s Little Dividend, was released the following year. In 1951, her performance in A Place in the Sun proved that she was becoming a truly accomplished actress. By this time, Elizabeth Taylor was one of the world’s most beautiful women and earned more than $5,000 per week. Despite this popularity, some box-office authorities criticized her 1950s performances as weak.

After divorcing Conrad Hilton in early 1951, Taylor married actor Michael Wilding in 1952. The couple had two sons, Michael Howard and Christopher Edward. The year 1954 marked an intense period in her career, with films such as Rhapsody, Beau Brummell, The Last Time I Saw Paris, and Elephant Walk.

In 1956, at the age of twenty-two, she achieved great success with Giant, starring opposite James Dean. Directed by George Stevens and adapted from a novel by Edna Ferber, the film became a classic. Tragically, Dean died in a car accident before the film’s release. The following year, Taylor earned an Academy Award nomination for her role as Susanna Drake in Raintree County, though the Oscar went to Joanne Woodward for The Three Faces of Eve.

In early 1957, following her divorce from Wilding, Taylor married producer Mike Todd. Their happiness was short-lived, as Todd died in a plane crash the following year, leaving Taylor widowed with their daughter Elizabeth Frances.

Her fame grew even further due to scandals surrounding her relationship with singer Eddie Fisher, who left his wife Debbie Reynolds for Taylor. In 1958, she starred in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, earning another Academy Award nomination, though she lost to Susan Hayward. In 1959, her bold performance in Suddenly Last Summer again earned her a nomination, this time losing to Simone Signoret. That same year, she married Eddie Fisher.

In 1960, despite her MGM contract nearing its end, she starred alongside Fisher in BUtterfield 8. Though the film received mixed reviews, Taylor’s performance won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. She subsequently left MGM.

In 1963, she accepted an unprecedented salary to star in Cleopatra opposite Richard Burton. Their relationship became one of Hollywood’s most infamous scandals, especially as both were married at the time. Despite public outrage and harsh criticism from tabloids and religious institutions, Taylor divorced Fisher in 1964 and married Burton. Burton later adopted Taylor’s daughter Maria.

Although many of her performances between 1963 and 1966 were considered weak, she regained critical acclaim with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, winning her second Academy Award. Later films failed to match this success, and by the late 1960s her box-office power declined.

From the 1970s onward, Taylor increasingly worked in television and became deeply involved in humanitarian causes. After the death of her close friend Rock Hudson, she became a leading advocate in the fight against AIDS, helping to establish amfAR and founding the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Her final film was The Flintstones (1994). She received numerous honors, including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the AFI Life Achievement Award, a DBE from Queen Elizabeth II, and the Presidential Citizens Medal from Bill Clinton.

Elizabeth Taylor died on March 23, 2011, at the age of seventy-nine, in Los Angeles. A two-time Academy Award winner, she is remembered as one of the greatest actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age and an enduring symbol of cinematic glamour.

Awards
Elizabeth Taylor received numerous prestigious awards for her artistic achievements and humanitarian work.

1972 – 22nd Berlin International Film Festival – Best Actress for Hammersmith Is Out
1967 – 39th Academy Awards – Best Actress for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1961 – 33rd Academy Awards – Best Actress for BUtterfield 8
1960 – 17th Golden Globe Awards – Best Actress for Suddenly, Last Summer
1992 – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
1993 – AFI Life Achievement Award
1999 – Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), awarded by Queen Elizabeth II
2001 – Presidential Citizens Medal, awarded by Bill Clinton

Filmography
As Actress

2010 – Wishful Drinking (TV Movie) – Herself
2007 – I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal – Herself
2001 – Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days (TV Movie) – Herself (archive footage)
1994 – The Flintstones
1992 – Oscar's Greatest Moments (Video) – Herself (archive footage)
1989 – The Simpsons (TV Series, 2 episodes) – Voice role
1988 – Moonwalker – Herself
1988 – Young Toscanini – Nadina Bulicioff
1985 – Larry King Live (TV Series) – Herself
1985 – North and South (TV Miniseries) – Madame Conti
1982 – Genocide – Narrator
1980 – The Mirror Crack'd – Marina Gregg
1979 – A Little Night Music – Desiree Armfeldt
1977 – A Little Night Music – Desiree Armfeldt
1976 – The Blue Bird – Queen of Light
1975 – Hooray for Hollywood – Herself (archive footage)
1974 – That's Entertainment! – Herself
1974 – Identikit – Lise
1973 – Night Watch – Ellen Wheeler
1973 – Ash Wednesday – Barbara Sawyer
1972 – X, Y and Zee – Zee Blakeley
1972 – Under Milk Wood – Rosie Probert
1972 – Hammersmith Is Out – Jimmie Jean Jackson
1970 – The Only Game in Town – Fran Walker
1968 – Secret Ceremony – Leonora
1968 – Boom! – Flora “Sissy” Goforth
1967 – Reflections in a Golden Eye – Leonora Penderton
1967 – The Taming of the Shrew – Katharina
1967 – Doctor Faustus – Helen of Troy
1966 – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Martha
1965 – The Sandpiper – Laura Reynolds
1963 – The V.I.P.s – Frances Andros
1963 – Cleopatra – Cleopatra
1960 – BUtterfield 8 – Gloria Wandrous
1959 – Suddenly, Last Summer – Catherine Holly
1958 – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Maggie Pollitt
1957 – Raintree County – Susanna Drake
1956 – Giant – Leslie Lynnton Benedict
1954 – Elephant Walk – Ruth Wiley
1954 – The Last Time I Saw Paris – Helen Ellswirth
1954 – Rhapsody – Louise Durant
1954 – Beau Brummell – Lady Patricia
1953 – The Girl Who Had Everything – Jean Latimer
1952 – Ivanhoe – Rebecca
1951 – A Place in the Sun – Angela Vickers
1951 – Quo Vadis – Christian prisoner in arena
1950 – Father of the Bride – Kay Banks
1949 – Little Women – Amy March
1949 – Conspirator – Melinda Greyton
1947 – Life with Father – Mary Skinner
1946 – Courage of Lassie – Kathie Merrick
1944 – National Velvet – Velvet Brown
1943 – Lassie Come Home – Priscilla
1943 – Jane Eyre – Helen Burns
1942 – There's One Born Every Minute – Gloria Twine

Source: Biyografiler.com