Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor was born in London on Feb. 27, 1932, to American parents who fled the looming war in 1939 by returning to the United States. In 1942, the budding beauty caught the eye of talent scouts in Los Angeles and was cast in There's One Born Every Minute. The next year, MGM signed her to a long-term contract.

Taylor's popularity skyrocketed with her roles in Lassie Come Home (1943) and National Velvet (1944). By the early '50s, she had moved into grown-up parts in Father of the Bride (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), Ivanhoe (1952) and Elephant Walk (1954). She won the Best Actress Oscar in 1961 for Butterfield 8 and again in 1967 for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (opposite her two-time husband, Richard Burton).

Health issues restricted Taylor's screen appearances in later years to occasional feature films such as 1994's The Flintstones and made-for-TV fare such as 2001's These Old Broads. She died March 23, 2011.

Filmography