Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, on May 5, 1960.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Dec. 22, 1963.

A publicity still for Elizabeth Taylor who was 9 years old when she appeared
in her first film, "There's One Born Every Minute" (1942).
Born in England to American parents (her mother was a former stage actress),
Taylor moved to the States with her family at the onset of World War II,
and won a screen role with Universal Pictures based on her dark beauty.
(Following a screen test MGM complained that she couldn't sing or dance.)
After Universal failed to renew her contract, MGM signed Taylor to star in "Lassie Come Home."

Elizabeth Taylor with Lassie. Taylor appeared in the 1943 film "Lassie Come Home"
and later starred in a sequel, "Courage of Lassie."

Loaned to 20th Century Fox, Taylor appeared (unbilled) with Peggy Ann Garner (as the
young Jane Eyre) in the 1943 Joan Fontaine-Orson Welles version of Charlotte Bronte's
classic. Taylor also had a small role in the Irene Dunne-starrer "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1944).

Elizabeth Taylor in "National Velvet" (1944), in which she and Mickey Rooney
train her horse for the Grand National steeplechase - ultimately disguising
herelf as a male jockey to ride "Pie" herself.

The long-running Broadway comedy hit "Life With Father" was turned into a hit
Warner Brothers film in 1947. Taylor co-starred with William Powell and Zasu Pitts.

Elizabeth Taylor with Mary Astor in "Cynthia" (1947), in which the young
actress played a teenager exploring greater independence and romance.

Robert Stack was backup to Elizabeth Taylor
in the 1948 MGM Musical "A Date With Judy".

Margaret O'Brien, Janet Leigh, June Allyson, Mary Astor and Elizabeth Taylor
in the 1949 film version of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women."

"Father of the Bride" (1950), Vincente Minelli's winning 1950 comedy, starred
Spencer Tracy as the unhappy dad of the happy couple (Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor).

Taylor's maturation from juvenile roles was definitely announced in her pairing with
Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun" (1951). Based on Theodore Dreiser's novel,
"An American Tragedy," the film tells of a social climber who latches onto a beautiful
socialite while trying to extricate himself from his pregnant lover.
The film won six Oscars, including Best Director (George Stevens).

Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor in the lavish costume drama "Ivanhoe"
(1952), based on Sir Walter Scott's novel.

Taylor was torn between two musicians (played by John Ericson and
Vittorio Gassman) in the romantic drama "Rhapsody" (1954).

Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch in "Elephant Walk" (1954). Taylor replaced
star Vivien Leigh who left the production after suffering a breakdown in Ceylon.

Elizabeth Taylor in a publicity still for "Elephant Walk."
1954 was a busy year for Taylor: in addition to "Elephant Walk" and "Rahpsody,"
she appered in "Beau Brummel" and "The Last Time I Saw Paris.

What a difference a few years makes: Wardrobe tests for Taylor for the films
"National Velvet" and "Giant."

Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in a publicity still for "Giant" (1956),
George Stevens' mammoth tale of oil men in Texas.

MGM's Civil War drama "Raintree County" (1957) sought to recapture the spectacle
and passion of "Gone With the Wind," but the film failed at the box office. Taylor was
reunited with her "Place in the Sun" co-star Montgomery Clift and joined by Eva Marie Saint
("On the Waterfront"). During production Clift nearly died in an auto accident.

Although the stage play's sexual proclivities were toned down somewhat for the film
version of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958), Taylor's voluptuous performance as Maggie
(which earned her an Oscar nomination) proved that she was perhaps the actress best
suited to portray Tennessee Williams' particular flavor of troubled, assertive Southern
women. It was during production when, having contracted a virus, Taylor cancelled plans
to fly to New York with her husband Mike Todd. Todd's plane crashed, killing everyone on board.

Another Tennessee William tale of debauchery and madness: Elizabeth
Taylor in "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1959). As a young woman suffering
from mental illness, Taylor earned another Academy Award nomination,
as did co-star Katharine Hepburn as her mother. Film censors tamed
(somewhat) the play's intimations of homosexuality and cannibalism.

Elizabeth Taylor in a scene from "BUtterfield 8" (1960), loosely adapted from
John O'Hara's novel. Though Taylor is said to have despised the film about a
promiscuous woman, she accepted the Academy Award for Best Actress
for her performance. Many believed she won a sympathy vote after a
near-fatal illness during filming of "Cleopatra."

"Cleopatra" (1963) was a troubled production whose costs - over $300 million
in inflation adjusted dollars, according to the L.A. Times - almost brought down
20th Century Fox. Taylor's bout of pneumonia, which almost killed her, halted
production and required hiring a new director and stars when filming resumed.
One of those stars: Richard Burton. The two soon married and became one of
the most recognizable couples in the world.

Louis Jourdan, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in "The VIPs" (1963),
the Terence Rattigan-scripted tale of lovers trapped at London's Heathrow Airport
when fog delays their escape. Rattigan said it was inspired by a similar fog-induced
romantic dissembling involving Vivien Leigh, her husband Laurence Olivier,
and her lover Peter Finch.

In "The Sandpiper" (1965), Taylor played a free-spirited single mother who begins
a torrid affair with the headmaster of her son's school, played by Richard Burton.