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Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth TaylorAKA Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor

Born: 27-Feb-1932
Birthplace: London, England
Died: 23-Mar-2011
Location of death: Los Angeles, CA [1]
Cause of death: Heart Failure
Remains: Buried, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, CA

Gender: Female
Religion: Jewish
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Cleopatra

Elizabeth Taylor sang a duet with "Little Rascal" Carl Switzer in There's One Born Every Minute (1942), her first scene in her first film, a small role at age 10. That performance earned her a supporting role opposite young Roddy McDowall in the original Lassie Come Home (1943). After that, she wanted the lead in National Velvet (1944) so much she reportedly had two teeth pulled to accommodate the braces the role required. She landed the part, became a quintessential movie star for decades, and for decades after her career faded she remained a fashion icon and a major presence in newspapers' society pages, largely due to her eight marriages to seven men.

She won her first Oscar for playing a hooker in Butterfield 8 (1960), a movie she has said she despised. (Mattel manufactured an Elizabeth Taylor Butterfield 8 doll in 1960, possibly the company's only prostitute product.) Cleopatra (1963) won her Richard Burton -- they married and co-starred in eight movies and a TV mini-series (Divorce His, Divorce Hers) before divorcing, remarrying, and divorcing again. Most of the Taylor/Burton movies were duds, but she won a second Oscar for her spectacular performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

She spoke Maggie's only word on The Simpsons, played Fred's mother-in-law in the movie adaptation of The Flintstones (1994), and became one of the first Hollywood celebrities to speak openly and honestly about AIDS, supporting charities and research into the disease while the topic was still taboo. She described Michael Jackson as her dearest friend, and she was the godmother of his son until her death in 2011.


[1] Cedars Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles, CA.

Father: Francis Lenn Taylor (art dealer, b. 1897, d. 1968)
Mother: Sara Sothern (aka Sara Viola Warmbrodt, stage actress)
Husband: Nicholas Conrad Hilton Jr. (hotel magnate, m. 1950, div. 1951)
Husband: Michael Wilding (actor, m. 1952, div. 1956)
Husband:
Michael Todd (producer, m. 1957, d. 1958, one daughter)
Daughter: Liza Todd Burton (b. 6-Aug-1957)
Husband: Eddie Fisher (actor-singer, m. 1959, div. 1964)
Husband: Richard Burton (actor, m. 1964, div. 1974, m. 1975, div. 1976, d. 1984)
Husband: John Warner (US Senator, m. 1976, div. 1982)
Husband: Larry Fortensky (teamster, m. 1991, div. 1996)
Boyfriend: Victor Luna (Mexican attorney, b. circa 1929, dated in 1993, purportedly dated 2004)
Boyfriend: Jason Winters (agent, b. circa 1960, together since 2007)

    High School: University High School, Los Angeles, CA

    Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
    Alcoholics Anonymous
    amfAR Founding International Chairman
    Oscar for Best Actress 1961 for Butterfield 8
    Oscar for Best Actress 1967 for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
    Golden Globe 1960 for Suddenly, Last Summer
    Golden Globe 1974 World Film Favorite, Female
    American Film Institute Life Achievement Award 1993
    Dame of the British Empire 2000
    Kennedy Center Honor 2002
    Hollywood Walk of Fame 6336 Hollywood Blvd.
    Endorsement of Unilever Lux soap (1950)
    Converted to Judaism prior to marrying Eddie Fisher
    Tracheotomy Jul-1968
    Appendectomy Los Angeles, CA Dec-1957
    Tonsillectomy
    Hysterectomy London Jul-1968
    Suicide Attempt Feb-1962
    Drug Overdose Feb-1962
    Intervention
    Betty Ford Center Dec-1983
    Betty Ford Center Nov-1988
    Wedding: Larry Fortensky and Elizabeth Taylor (1991)
    Hip Replacement Surgery 23-Mar-1994
    Wedding: David Gest and Liza Minnelli (2002)
    Funeral: Michael Jackson (2009)
    Brain Surgery (Feb-1997)
    Risk Factors: Alcoholism, Diabetes, Obesity, Bulimia, Appendicitis

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    These Old Broads (12-Feb-2001)
    The Flintstones (27-May-1994) · Pearl Slaghoople
    Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (20-Apr-1992) · Herself
    Sweet Bird of Youth (1-Oct-1989)
    Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989) · Herself
    Young Toscanini (5-Sep-1988)
    North and South (3-Nov-1985)
    Malice in Wonderland (12-May-1985)
    Between Friends (11-Sep-1983)
    Genocide (14-Mar-1982) · Narrator [VOICE]
    The Mirror Crack'd (19-Dec-1980)
    A Little Night Music (Sep-1977)
    Victory at Entebbe (13-Dec-1976)
    The Blue Bird (5-Apr-1976)
    That's Entertainment! (23-May-1974) · Herself
    The Driver's Seat (20-May-1974)
    Ash Wednesday (1-Nov-1973)
    Night Watch (10-Aug-1973)
    Hammersmith Is Out (12-May-1972)
    Under Milk Wood (27-Jan-1972)
    Zee and Co. (21-Jan-1972) · Zee Blakeley
    The Only Game in Town (21-Jan-1970) · Fran Walker
    Secret Ceremony (23-Oct-1968) · Leonora
    Boom (26-May-1968) · Flora Goforth
    The Comedians (31-Oct-1967)
    Reflections in a Golden Eye (11-Oct-1967) · Leonora Penderton
    Doctor Faustus (10-Oct-1967)
    The Taming of the Shrew (27-Feb-1967)
    Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (21-Jun-1966) · Martha
    The Sandpiper (23-Jun-1965) · Laura Reynolds
    The V.I.P.'s (1-Sep-1963) · Frances Andros
    Cleopatra (12-Jun-1963) · Cleopatra
    Butterfield 8 (4-Nov-1960) · Gloria Wandrous
    Suddenly, Last Summer (22-Dec-1959)
    Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (18-Sep-1958) · Maggie Pollitt
    Raintree County (4-Oct-1957)
    Giant (10-Oct-1956) · Leslie Benedict
    The Last Time I Saw Paris (18-Nov-1954) · Helen Ellswirth
    Beau Brummell (1-Oct-1954)
    Elephant Walk (21-Apr-1954)
    Rhapsody (11-Mar-1954)
    The Girl Who Had Everything (27-Mar-1953) · Jean Latimer
    Ivanhoe (31-Jul-1952) · Rebecca
    Love Is Better Than Ever (23-Feb-1952) · Stacie Macaboy
    A Place in the Sun (28-Aug-1951) · Angela Vickers
    Father's Little Dividend (12-Apr-1951) · Kay Dunstan
    Father of the Bride (16-Jun-1950) · Kay Banks
    The Big Hangover (26-May-1950)
    Conspirator (9-Dec-1949)
    Little Women (10-Mar-1949) · Amy
    Julia Misbehaves (8-Aug-1948)
    A Date with Judy (21-Jun-1948)
    Cynthia (29-Aug-1947)
    Life with Father (15-Aug-1947) · Mary
    Courage of Lassie (8-Nov-1946) · Kathie Merrick
    National Velvet (14-Dec-1944) · Velvet Brown
    Lassie Come Home (10-Oct-1943) · Priscilla
    There's One Born Every Minute (26-Jun-1942)

Appears on the cover of:
Life, 14-Jul-1947, DETAILS: (headshot by Robert Landry)


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