All About Elizabeth Taylor (2024)

MarriedAtTheMovies

6 min read

Elizabeth Taylor’s Vital Statistics:

Born: February 27, 1932
Height: 5’2
Weight: 120
Years in the business: 70
Films: 50
Marriages: Eight (Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton, Michael Wilding, Michael Todd, Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton (twice), John Warner, and Larry Fortensky.)
Oscar Nominations: Five (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Raintree County, Suddenly Last Summer, BUtterfield 8 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf)
Oscar Wins: Two (Butterfield 8 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf)
Tabloid headlines: Countless. (“Love. Lust. And Liz.”; “The Night Burton Got Smashed Because Of Liz” ; “New Trouble Ahead for Liz”; “Passion & Waste” ; “Liz’s Final Days”; “The End”)

Elizabeth Taylor was born in London, 1932, to a prominent American art dealer and former stage actress.
Taylor was born with a thick layer of black hair covering her body, a rare condition known as hypertrichosis. She also had a double row of eyelashes.
Taylor’s mother blamed herself for the condition, thinking that she’d failed to ‘imbibe beautiful thoughts of the requisite strength’. The condition wore off, revealing a stunning baby of unnatural beauty.
After the onslaught of World War II, the family returned to America and in Los Angeles in 1941.
Elizabeth Taylor’s mother, Sara, was the ultimate stage mother. She had been a bit player on the stage during the 1920s, and recognized that her young child had a promising “star quality”.
Taylor’s mother hounded the Hollywood studios, securing a contract in 1943 thanks largely in part to the girl’s striking beauty: raven black hair and violet eyes.
Taylor literally grew up in front of the camera; never attending a traditional school, she attended the Little Red Schoolhouse on MGM’s lot.

“I have the emotions of a child in the body of a woman. I was rushed into womanhood for the movies. It caused me long moments of unhappiness and doubt.”

The fact that Taylor never had an “awkward phase”, meant that her blossoming beauty ensured steady work throughout her adolescence, in teenage movies like A Date with Judy as well as more illustrious productions like Little Women.
Created, cultivated and bred by MGM, Taylor was, initially, just another ‘product’ to be exploited by studio suits.

“If someone’s dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I’m certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.”
See Also
Elizabeth Taylor Said 'I Do' 8 Times — Take a Look Back at All of Her Husbands In Order

During the 1950s, Taylor was one of the most popular movie stars in the business, and as she grew, she graduated to more adult roles, earning a total of 5 Oscar nominations and 2 wins (BUtterfield 8 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
Throughout her life, Taylor was a loyal friend. In fact, she actually saved the life of her co-star and closest friend, Montgomery Clift, rescuing him from choking to death after a car crash in 1957.
When her husband Michael Todd was killed in a plane crash, the public mourned with Taylor and its obsession with her personal life began. But grieving brought her a little too close to Todd’s best friend…singer Eddie Fisher. Fisher was married to America’s sweetheart Debbie Reynolds and the love triangle became one of the most publicized ones in Hollywood history.
Taylor nearly died from pneumonia a few years after the affair, and her public battle for her life moved the public and they quickly forgave her.

“Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together.”

Taylor’s life was plagued with life-threatening illnesses, making her a true survivor. Born with scoliosis, Taylor spent her life in and out of hospitals because of severe back pain, not to mention bouts of pneumonia, seizures, a stroke, skin cancer, and a benign brain tumor.
During the ’60s, Taylor was a superstar and often appeared alongside her husband Richard Burton, including the most expensive film ever made to that time, Cleopatra: it cost $300 million to make (adjusted for inflation).
Taylor still managed to challenge herself with complex roles, often opposite Richard Burton (here at Warner Archive we’ve got two of them, The V.I.P.s and The Sandpiper) but their off-screen relationship was so sensational that it often eclipsed their movies.

During her later years, Taylor became a tireless champion for AIDS research.
Her campaigning resulted in being awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In the year 2000, she became Dame Elizabeth Taylor.
Her close friendship with Michael Jackson also ensured she was never far from tabloid headlines, even right up to her passing in 2010 at age 79.

“The ups and downs, the problems and stress, along with all the happiness, have given me optimism and hope because I am living proof of survival.”

Elizabeth Taylor’s Filmography (*= available on Warner Archive)

1942 There’s One Born Every Minute
1943 Lassie Come Home
1944 The White Cliffs of Dover
1944 National Velvet
1944 Jane Eyre
1946 Courage of Lassie
1947 Life with Father
1947 Cynthia
1948 Julia Misbehaves
1948 A Date with Judy
1949 Little Women
1949 Conspirator
1950 Father of the Bride
1950 The Big Hangover
1951 A Place in the Sun
1951 Father’s Little Dividend
1951 Callaway Went Thataway
1952 Love Is Better Than Ever
1952 Ivanhoe
1953 The Girl Who Had Everything
1954 Rhapsody
1954 The Last Time I Saw Paris
1954 Elephant Walk
1954 Beau Brummell
1956 Giant
1957 Raintree County
1958 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1959 Suddenly, Last Summer
1960 BUtterfield 8
1963 The V.I.P.s
1963 Cleopatra
1965 The Sandpiper
1966 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1967 The Taming of the Shrew
1967 Reflections in a Golden Eye
1967 Doctor Faustus
1967 The Comedians
1968 Secret Ceremony
1968 Boom!
1969 Anne of the Thousand Days
1970 The Only Game in Town
1972 X,Y, and Zee
1972 Under Milk Wood
1972 Hammersmith Is Out
1973 Night Watch
1973 Divorce His, Divorce Hers
1973 Ash Wednesday
1974 Identikit
1976 Victory at Entebbe
1976 The Blue Bird
1977 A Little Night Music
1985 North and South
1985 Malice in Wonderland
1994 The Flintstones

Here at Warner Archive, we are honored to have 6 Elizabeth Taylor films in our library, waiting for your in glorious HD on the all new Warner Archive, available on desktop as well as Roku, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and Android. Join now and receive a *free* Roku streaming stick with your annual subscription: