Taylor, Dame Elizabeth

Taylor, Dame Elizabeth

▪ American actress
in full  Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor 
born Feb. 27, 1932, London, Eng.

      American motion picture actress noted for her beauty and her portrayals of emotionally volatile characters.

 Taylor's American parents were residing in England at the time of her birth. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II her parents returned to the United States, settling in Los Angeles. Her beauty brought her to the attention of a talent scout, and in 1942 she made her first film, There's One Born Every Minute. This was closely followed by Lassie Come Home (1943) and a role as the girl heroine in National Velvet (1944) that made her a star.

  Taylor made a smooth transition from juvenile to adult roles in the films Life with Father (1947), Father of the Bride (1950), and An American Tragedy (1951). After appearing in The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Giant (1956), and Raintree County (1957), she gave compelling performances in film adaptations of Tennessee Williams (Williams, Tennessee)'s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). Her mature screen persona was that of a glamorously beautiful, passionate woman who is easily carried away by emotions of love and anger.

      Taylor won an Academy Award for her performance as a New York call girl in Butterfield 8 (1960). She met and fell in love with the British actor Richard Burton (Burton, Richard) while they were filming Cleopatra (1963), and she won a second Academy Award for her performance opposite him in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), directed by Mike Nichols from the play by Edward Albee (Albee, Edward). She costarred with Burton again in a film adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew (1967), and they made five more films together. After the mid-1970s, however, she appeared only intermittently in films, Broadway plays, and television films.

 Taylor's personal life was exceptionally well publicized and often tended to overshadow her acting career. Among her eight marriages were those to film producer Michael Todd (Todd, Michael), singer Eddie Fisher, and U.S. Senator John Warner and two to Richard Burton (1964–74, 1975–76). An active philanthropist, she was the founder (1985) and head of the American Foundation for AIDS Research. In 1993 Taylor received the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. She was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2000.

Additional Reading
Donald Spoto, A Passion for Life (1995), is a biography.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Taylor, Dame Elizabeth (Rosemond) — born Feb. 27, 1932, London, Eng. U.S. film actress. She left London for Los Angeles with her American parents at the outset of World War II. Noted for her exceptional beauty from childhood, she was discovered by a talent scout in Beverly Hills.… …   Universalium

  • Taylor, Dame Elizabeth (Rosemond) — (n. 27 feb. 1932, Londres, Inglaterra). Actriz de cine estadounidense. Se mudó de Londres a Los Ángeles junto con sus padres estadounidenses a comienzos de la segunda guerra mundial. Su excepcional belleza fue evidente desde su niñez. Un buscador …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor — Elizabeth Taylor, 1981 Dame Elizabeth „Liz“ Taylor, DBE (* 27. Februar 1932 in Hampstead, London als Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor) ist eine US amerikanisch britische Schauspielerin. Sie wurde für ihre Verbindung von Schönheit und Schauspielkunst als …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Elizabeth — /i liz euh beuhth/, n. 1. Douay Bible. Elisabeth. 2. (Elizaveta Petrovna) 1709 62, empress of Russia 1741 62 (daughter of Peter the Great). 3. (Pauline Elizabeth Ottilie Luise, Princess of Wied) ( Carmen Sylva ) 1843 1916, queen of Rumania 1881… …   Universalium

  • dame — /daym/, n. 1. (cap.) (in Britain) a. the official title of a female member of the Order of the British Empire, equivalent to that of a knight. b. the official title of the wife of a knight or baronet. 2. (formerly) a form of address to any woman… …   Universalium

  • Elizabeth — ► C. de E.U.A., en el estado de Nueva Jersey; 110 000 h. Universidad de Princeton. * * * (as used in expressions) Agassiz, Elizabeth Cabot Elizabeth Cabot Cary Anderson, Elizabeth Garret Julia Elizabeth Wells Arden, Elizabeth Bishop, Elizabeth… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Dame — (as used in expressions) Andrews, Dame Julie Ashcroft, Dame Peggy Christie, Dame Agatha (Mary Clarissa) Compton Burnett, Dame Ivy Cooper, Dame Gladys De Valois, Dame Ninette Dench, Dame Judi(th Olivia) Evans, Dame Edith (Mary) Fields, Dame Gracie …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Taylor — /tay leuhr/, n. 1. A(lan) J(ohn) P(ercivale), 1906 90, English historian. 2. Bayard /buy euhrd, bay /, (James Bayard), 1825 78, U.S. poet, novelist, and travel writer. 3. Brook, 1685 1731, English mathematician. 4. Cecil (Percival), born …   Universalium

  • Elizabeth Taylor — Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE (häufig auch: „Liz“ Taylor;[1] * 27. Februar 1932 in Hampstead, London; † 23. März 2011 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien) war eine US amerikanisch britische Filmschauspielerin. Sie erlangte Starruhm als… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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