Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
Birthday	Saturday, February 27, 1932
Birthplace	Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, England, UK
Died	Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Nationality	British-American
Occupation	Actress, social activist

Taylor, Elizabeth

(1932–  ) movie actress; born in London, England. Just before World War II, the Taylors (who were American) returned to the U.S.A. Groomed by her mother to be a movie star, she made her screen debut in There's One Born Every Minute (1942) and already showed her star quality in National Velvet (1944). After a series of relatively light roles, she parlayed her beauty and popularity into an increasingly serious acting career, and although her first Oscar—best actress, in Butterfield 8 (1960)—was voted for sentimental reasons (she had just survived a major illness), her second—for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) – was well deserved. Her private life, meanwhile, became as theatrical as her roles—she would marry seven men, including Richard Burton (twice)—and her treatment for alcohol addiction, her weight problems, and her propensity for expensive jewelry and tough talk made her the epitome of the old-fashioned Hollywood celebrity whose every move was reported. In the 1980s she appeared on stage and on television and then took on a new role as outspoken advocate of AIDS sufferers.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.