Friday, February 26, 2010

Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born on February 27, 1932 in London, England. Her parents Francis Lenn Taylor and Sara Viola Warmbrodt were Americans originally from Arkansas, Kansas who were living in London at the time. Her father was an art dealer and her mother a former actress whose stage name was Sara Sothern.




Elizabeth Taylor is a dual citizen of the UK and the United States as she was born both a British subject and an American Citizen by being born on British soil under the principle of jus soli, and through her parents under the principle of jus sanguinis.

Shortly before the beginning of World War II, her parents decided to return to the United States to avoid hostilities. They settled in Los Angeles, California.

At the age of three, Elizabeth Taylor began taking ballet lessons with Vaccani. Elizabeth Taylor appeared in her first film at the age of nine: There's One Born Every Minute (1942).

As a child actress, Elizabeth Taylor appeared in such classics as Lassie Come Home (1943), National Velvet (1944), Courage of Lassie (1946), Life with Father (1947), Julia Misbehaves (1948) and Little Women (1949).







Unlike many child stars, Elizabeth Taylor easily made the transition into young adult roles. During her 20s, Elizabeth Taylor appeared in such classics as Father of the Bride (1950), Father's Little Dividend (1951), A Place in the Sun (1951),
Ivanhoe (1952), Giant (1956), Raintree County (1957), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959),
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and BUtterfield 8 (1960).




She would receive Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role
for her performances in Raintree County (1957), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).

She would win the Academy Award for Best Actress for BUtterfield 8 (1960).

During the filming of Raintree County, Montgomery Clift was seriously injured in an automobile accident after leaving a party at her house. It was she who found him first, got into the wreck and removed some teeth from his throat that threatened to choke him and saved his life.

As Elizabeth Taylor entered her 30s and 40s, she turned to more mature roles in Cleopatra (1963), The Sandpiper (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), Secret Ceremony (1968), The Blue Bird (1976) and
A Little Night Music (1977).




Elizabeth Taylor would win her second Academy Award for Best Actress for Who's Afraid of Viginia Woolf (1966).

As Elizabeth Taylor approached her 50s, she turned her acting talents to one of her favorite forms of entertainment: Soap Operas. She would appear on both General Hospital and All My Children, two of her favorite shows.

During the 1980s, Elizabeth Taylor also appeared in the epic mini series North and South.

In 1981, Elizabeth Taylor made her Broadway debut as Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, for which she received a Tony Award nomination, the Drama Desk Award nomination and won the Theatre World Special Award.

During the 1990s, Elizabeth Taylor provided her voice on two episodes of The Simpsons, once as herself and once as the voice of Little Maggie Simpson.

Elizabeth Taylor also appeared in The Flintstones (1994). Her final appearance was on an episdoe of God, the Devil and Bob in 2003.

In addition to being honored with two Academy Awards, Elizabeth Taylor received the 1982 Cecil B. DeMille Award , the 1992 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the 1998 Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2002 John F. Kennedy Center Honor, and has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for motion pictures.

Elizabeth Taylor has devoted much of her time and energy to AIDS-related charities and fundraising. She helped start the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

She also has a passion for jewlry. Elizabeth Taylor started designing jewels for the The Elizabeth Collection, creating fine jewelry with elegance and flair. The Elizabeth Taylor collection by Piranesi is sold at Christie's. She has also launched three perfumes, "Passion," "White Diamonds," and "Black Pearls."

Elizabeth Taylor has been married eight times to seven husbands and has three children and nine grandchildren. She is also the godmother to Michael Jackson's children Paris and Prince Michael.

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