Dame Elizabeth Taylor DBE
Taylor c. 1955
Born	Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (1932-02-27)February 27, 1932 London, England
Died	March 23, 2011(2011-03-23) (aged 79) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Citizenship	United Kingdom United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1941–2007
Works	Full list
Spouses	Conrad Hilton Jr. (m. 1950; div. 1951) Michael Wilding (m. 1952; div. 1957) Mike Todd (m. 1957; died 1958) Eddie Fisher (m. 1959; div. 1964) Richard Burton (m. 1964; div. 1974) (m. 1975; div. 1976) John Warner (m. 1976; div. 1982) Larry Fortensky (m. 1991; div. 1996)
Children	4
Parents	Francis Lenn Taylor (father) Sara Sothern (mother)
Awards	Full list
Website	elizabethtaylor.com
Signature

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (born Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor; February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She then became the world's highest-paid movie star in the 1960s, remaining a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her seventh on its greatest female screen legends list.

Born in London to socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939 at the age of 7. She made her acting debut with a minor role in the Universal Pictures film There's One Born Every Minute (1942), but the studio ended her contract after a year. She was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and became a popular teen star after appearing in National Velvet (1944). She transitioned to mature roles in the 1950s, when she starred in the comedy Father of the Bride (1950) and received critical acclaim for her performance in the drama A Place in the Sun (1951). She starred in the historical adventure epic Ivanhoe (1952) with Robert Taylor and Joan Fontaine. Despite being one of MGM's most bankable stars, Taylor wished to end her career in the early 1950s. She resented the studio's control and disliked many of the films to which she was assigned.

She began receiving more enjoyable roles in the mid-1950s, beginning with the epic drama Giant (1956), and starred in several critically and commercially successful films in the following years. These included two film adaptations of plays by Tennessee Williams: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959); Taylor won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for the latter. Although she disliked her role as a call girl in BUtterfield 8 (1960), her last film for MGM, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. During the production of the film Cleopatra in 1961, Taylor and co-star Richard Burton began an extramarital affair, which caused a scandal. Despite public disapproval, they continued their relationship and were married in 1964. Dubbed "Liz and Dick" by the media, they starred in 11 films together, including The V.I.P.s (1963), The Sandpiper (1965), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). Taylor received the best reviews of her career for Woolf, winning her second Academy Award and several other awards for her performance. She and Burton divorced in 1974 but reconciled soon after, remarrying in 1975. The second marriage ended in divorce in 1976.

Taylor's acting career began to decline in the late 1960s, although she continued starring in films until the mid-1970s, after which she focused on supporting the career of her sixth husband, United States Senator John Warner. In the 1980s, she acted in her first substantial stage roles and in several television films and series. She became the second celebrity to launch a perfume brand after Sophia Loren. Taylor was one of the first celebrities to take part in HIV/AIDS activism. She co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991. From the early 1990s until her death, she dedicated her time to philanthropy, for which she received several accolades, including the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001.

Throughout her career, Taylor's personal life was the subject of constant media attention. She was married eight times to seven men, converted to Judaism, endured several serious illnesses, and led a jet set lifestyle, including assembling one of the most expensive private collections of jewelry in the world. After many years of ill health, Taylor died from congestive heart failure in 2011, at the age of 79.

Early life

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Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born on 27 February 1932, at Heathwood, her family's home at 8 Wildwood Road in Hampstead Garden Suburb, northwest London, England.^[1]^: 3–10 She received dual British–American citizenship at birth as her parents, art dealer Francis Lenn Taylor (1897–1968) and stage actress Sara Sothern (1895–1994), were United States citizens, both originally from Arkansas City, Kansas.^[1]^: 3–10^[a]

They had moved to London in 1929 and opened an art gallery on Bond Street; their first child, a son named Howard (died 2020), was born the same year. The family lived in London during Taylor's childhood.^[1]^: 11–19 Their social circle included artists such as Augustus John and Laura Knight and politicians such as Colonel Victor Cazalet.^[1]^: 11–19 Cazalet was Taylor's unofficial godfather and an important influence in her early life.^[1]^: 11–19 She was enrolled in Byron House School, a Montessori school in Highgate, and was raised according to the teachings of Christian Science, the religion of her mother and Cazalet.^[1]^{: 3, 11–19, 20–23}

In early 1939, the Taylors decided to return to the United States due to fear of impending war in Europe.^[1]^: 22–26 United States ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy contacted her father, urging him to return to the US with his family.^[5] Sara and the children left first in April 1939 aboard the ocean liner SS Manhattan and moved in with Taylor's maternal grandfather in Pasadena, California.^[1]^: 22–28^[6] Francis stayed behind to close the London gallery and joined them in December.^[1]^: 22–28 In early 1940, he opened a new gallery in Los Angeles. After briefly living in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, with the Chapman family, the Taylor family settled in Beverly Hills, California, where the two children were enrolled in Hawthorne School.^[1]^: 27–34

Acting career

[edit]

1941–1949: Early roles and teenage stardom

[edit]

In California, Taylor's mother was frequently told that her daughter should audition for films.^[1]^: 27–30 Taylor's eyes in particular drew attention; they were blue, to the extent of appearing violet, and were rimmed by dark double eyelashes caused by a genetic mutation.^[7]^[1]^: 9 Sara was initially opposed to Taylor appearing in films, but after the outbreak of war in Europe made return there unlikely, she began to view the film industry as a way of assimilating to American society.^[1]^: 27–30 Francis Taylor's Beverly Hills gallery had gained clients from the film industry soon after opening, helped by the endorsement of gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, a friend of the Cazalets.^[1]^: 27–31 Through a client and a school friend's father, Taylor auditioned for both Universal Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in early 1941.^[8]^: 27–37 Both studios offered Taylor contracts, and Sara Taylor chose to accept Universal's offer.^[8]^: 27–37

Taylor began her contract in April 1941 and was cast in a small role in There's One Born Every Minute (1942).^[8]^: 27–37 She did not receive other roles, and her contract was terminated after a year.^[8]^: 27–37 Universal's casting director explained her dislike of Taylor, stating that "the kid has nothing ... her eyes are too old, she doesn't have the face of a child".^[8]^: 27–37 Biographer Alexander Walker agrees that Taylor looked different from the child stars of the era, such as Shirley Temple and Judy Garland.^[8]^: 32 Taylor later said that, "apparently, I used to frighten grown ups, because I was totally direct".^[9]

Taylor received another opportunity in late 1942, when her father's acquaintance, MGM producer Samuel Marx, arranged for her to audition for a minor role in Lassie Come Home (1943), which required a child actress with an English accent.^[1]^{: 22–23, 27–37} After a trial contract of three months, she was given a standard seven-year contract in January 1943.^[1]^: 38–41 Following Lassie, she appeared in minor uncredited roles in two other films set in England – Jane Eyre (1943) playing Helen Burns, and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944).^[1]^: 38–41

Mickey Rooney and Taylor in *National Velvet* (1944), her first major film role

Taylor was cast in her first starring role at the age of 12, when she was chosen to play a girl who wants to compete as a jockey in the exclusively male Grand National in National Velvet.^[1]^: 40–47 She later called it "the most exciting film" of her career.^[10] Since 1937, MGM had been looking for a suitable actress with a British accent and the ability to ride horses. They decided on Taylor at the recommendation of White Cliffs director Clarence Brown, who knew she had the necessary skills.^[1]^: 40–47 At that time Taylor was deemed too short for the role, so filming was delayed several months in order for her to grow an inch or two. In the interim Taylor spent her time practicing her horseback riding.^[1]^: 40–47

In MGM's effort developing Taylor into a film star, they required her to wear braces to straighten her teeth, and had two of her baby teeth pulled out.^[1]^: 40–47 The studio also wanted to dye her hair, change the shape of her eyebrows, and proposed that she use the screen name "Virginia", but Taylor and her parents refused.^[9]

National Velvet became a box-office success upon its release on Christmas 1944.^[1]^: 40–47 Bosley Crowther of The New York Times stated that "her whole manner in this picture is one of refreshing grace",^[11] while James Agee of The Nation wrote that she "is rapturously beautiful... I hardly know or care whether she can act or not."^[12]

Taylor later stated that her childhood ended when she became a star, as MGM started to control every aspect of her life.^[9]^[13]^[1]^: 48–51 She described the studio as a "big extended factory", where she was required to adhere to a strict daily schedule.^[9] Her days were spent attending school, and filming at the studio lot. In the evenings, Taylor took dancing and singing classes, and practiced the following day's scenes.^[1]^: 48–51 Following the success of National Velvet, MGM gave Taylor a new seven-year contract with a weekly salary of $750. They cast her in a minor role in the third film of the Lassie series, Courage of Lassie (1946).^[1]^: 51–58 MGM also published a book of Taylor's writings about her pet chipmunk, Nibbles and Me (1946), and had paper dolls and coloring books made in her likeness.^[1]^: 51–58

When Taylor turned 15 in 1947, MGM began to cultivate a more mature public image for her by organizing photo shoots and interviews that portrayed her as a "normal" teenager attending parties and going on dates.^[8]^{: 56–57, 65–74} Film magazines and gossip columnists also began comparing her to older actresses such as Ava Gardner and Lana Turner.^[8]^: 71 Life called her "Hollywood's most accomplished junior actress" for her two film roles that year.^[8]^: 69 In the critically panned Cynthia (1947), Taylor portrayed a frail girl who defies her over-protective parents to go to the prom; in the period film Life with Father (1947), opposite William Powell and Irene Dunne, she portrayed the love interest of a stockbroker's son.^[14]^[1]^: 58–70^[15]

They were followed by supporting roles as a teenaged "man-stealer" who seduces her peer's date to a high school dance in the musical A Date with Judy (1948), and as a bride in the romantic comedy Julia Misbehaves (1948). This became a commercial success, grossing over $4 million in the box office.^[16]^[1]^: 82

Taylor's last adolescent role was as Amy March in Mervyn LeRoy's Little Women (1949), a box-office success.^[17] The same year, Time featured Taylor on its cover, and called her the leader among Hollywood's next generation of stars, "a jewel of great price, a true sapphire".^[18]

1950–1951: Transition to adult roles

[edit]

Taylor made the transition to adult roles when she turned 18 in 1950. In her first mature role, the thriller Conspirator (1949), she plays a woman who begins to suspect that her husband is a Soviet spy.^[1]^: 75–83 Taylor had been only 16 at the time of its filming, but its release was delayed until March 1950, as MGM disliked it and feared it could cause diplomatic problems.^[1]^: 75–83^[19] Taylor's second film of 1950 was the comedy The Big Hangover (1950), co-starring Van Johnson.^[20] It was released in May. That same month, Taylor married hotel-chain heir Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr. in a highly publicized ceremony.^[1]^: 99–105 The event was organized by MGM, and used as part of the publicity campaign for Taylor's next film, Vincente Minnelli's comedy Father of the Bride (1950), in which she appeared opposite Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett as a bride preparing for her wedding.^[1]^: 99–105 The film became a box-office success upon its release in June, grossing $6 million worldwide ($78,414,938 in 2024 dollars ^[21]), and was followed by a successful sequel, Father's Little Dividend (1951), ten months later.^[22]

Taylor's next film release, George Stevens' A Place in the Sun (1951), marked a departure from her earlier films. According to Taylor, it was the first film in which she had been asked to act, instead of simply being herself,^[13] and it brought her critical acclaim for the first time since National Velvet.^[1]^: 96–97 Based on Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy (1925), it featured Taylor as a spoiled socialite who comes between a poor factory worker (Montgomery Clift) and his pregnant girlfriend (Shelley Winters).^[1]^: 91 Stevens cast Taylor as she was "the only one ... who could create this illusion" of being "not so much a real girl as the girl on the candy-box cover, the beautiful girl in the yellow Cadillac convertible that every American boy sometime or other thinks he can marry."^[1]^: 92^[23]

A Place in the Sun was a critical and commercial success, grossing $3 million.^[24] Herb Golden of Variety said that Taylor's "histrionics are of a quality so far beyond anything she has done previously, that Stevens' skilled hands on the reins must be credited with a minor miracle."^[25] A.H. Weiler of The New York Times wrote that she gives "a shaded, tender performance, and one in which her passionate and genuine romance avoids the pathos common to young love as it sometimes comes to the screen."^[26]

1952–1955: Continued success at MGM

[edit]

Taylor next starred in the romantic comedy Love Is Better Than Ever (1952).^[1]^{: 124–125} According to Alexander Walker, MGM cast her in the "B-picture" as a reprimand for divorcing Hilton in January 1951 after only eight months of marriage, which had caused a public scandal that reflected negatively on her.^[1]^{: 124–125} After completing Love Is Better Than Ever, Taylor was sent to Britain to take part in the historical epic Ivanhoe (1952), which was one of the most expensive projects in the studio's history.^[1]^{: 129–132} She was not happy about the project, finding the story superficial and her role as Rebecca too small.^[1]^{: 129–132} Regardless, Ivanhoe became one of MGM's biggest commercial successes, earning $11 million in worldwide rentals.^[27]

Taylor's last film made under her old contract with MGM was The Girl Who Had Everything (1953), a remake of the pre-code drama A Free Soul (1931).^[1]^: 145 Despite her grievances with the studio, Taylor signed a new seven-year contract with MGM in the summer of 1952.^[1]^{: 139–143} Although she wanted more interesting roles, the decisive factor in continuing with the studio was her financial need; she had recently married British actor Michael Wilding, and was pregnant with her first child.^[1]^{: 139–143} In addition to granting her a weekly salary of $4,700 ($55,237 in 2024 dollars ^[21]), MGM agreed to give the couple a loan for a house, and signed her husband for a three-year contract.^[1]^{: 141–143} Due to her financial dependency, the studio now had even more control over her than previously.^[1]^{: 141–143}

Taylor's first two films made under her new contract were released ten days apart in early 1954.^[1]^: 153 The first was Rhapsody, a romantic film starring her as a woman caught in a love triangle with two musicians. The second was Elephant Walk, a drama in which she played a British woman struggling to adapt to life on her husband's tea plantation in Ceylon. She had been loaned to Paramount Pictures for the film after its original star, Vivien Leigh, fell ill.^[1]^{: 148–149}

In the fall, Taylor starred in two more film releases. Beau Brummell was a Regency era period film, another project in which she was cast against her will.^[1]^{: 153–154} Taylor disliked historical films in general, as their elaborate costumes and makeup required her to wake up earlier than usual to prepare. She later said that she gave one of the worst performances of her career in Beau Brummell.^[1]^{: 153–154} The second film was Richard Brooks' The Last Time I Saw Paris, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story. Although she had wanted to be cast in The Barefoot Contessa (1954) instead, Taylor liked the film, and later stated that it "convinced me I wanted to be an actress instead of yawning my way through parts."^[1]^{: 153–157}^[28] While The Last Time I Saw Paris was not as profitable as many other MGM films, it garnered positive reviews.^[1]^{: 153–157}^[28] Taylor became pregnant again during the production, and had to agree to add another year to her contract to make up for the period spent on maternity leave.^[1]^{: 153–157}

1956–1960: Critical acclaim

[edit]

By the mid-1950s, the American film industry was beginning to face serious competition from television, which resulted in studios producing fewer films, and focusing instead on their quality.^[8]^{: 158–165} The change benefited Taylor, who finally found more challenging roles after several years of career disappointments.^[8]^{: 158–165} After lobbying director George Stevens, she won the female lead role in Giant (1956), an epic drama about a ranching dynasty, which co-starred Rock Hudson and James Dean.^[8]^{: 158–165} Its filming in Marfa, Texas, was a difficult experience for Taylor, as she clashed with Stevens, who wanted to break her will to make her easier to direct, and was often ill, resulting in delays.^[8]^{: 158–165}^[29] To further complicate the production, Dean died in a car accident only days after completing filming; the grieving Taylor still had to film reaction shots to their joint scenes.^[8]^{: 158–166} When Giant was released a year later, it became a box-office success, and was widely praised by critics.^[8]^{: 158–165} Although not nominated for an Academy Award like her co-stars, Taylor garnered positive reviews for her performance, with Variety calling it "surprisingly clever",^[30] and The Manchester Guardian lauding her acting as "an astonishing revelation of unsuspected gifts." It named her one of the film's strongest assets.^[31]

MGM reunited Taylor with Montgomery Clift in Raintree County (1957), a Civil War drama which it hoped would replicate the success of Gone with the Wind (1939).^[1]^{: 166–177} Taylor found her role as a mentally disturbed Southern belle fascinating, but overall disliked the film.^[1]^{: 166–177} Although the film failed to become the type of success MGM had planned,^[32] Taylor was nominated for the first time for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.^[33]

Taylor considered her next performance as Maggie the Cat in the screen adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) a career "high point." But it coincided with one of the most difficult periods in her personal life.^[13] After completing Raintree County, she had divorced Wilding and married producer Mike Todd. She had completed only two weeks of filming in March 1958, when Todd was killed in a plane crash.^[1]^{: 186–194} Although she was devastated, pressure from the studio and the knowledge that Todd had large debts led Taylor to return to work only three weeks later.^[1]^{: 195–203} She later said that "in a way ... [she] became Maggie", and that acting "was the only time I could function" in the weeks after Todd's death.^[13]

During the production, Taylor's personal life drew more attention when she began an affair with singer Eddie Fisher, whose marriage to actress Debbie Reynolds had been idealized by the media as the union of "America's sweethearts."^[1]^{: 203–210} The affair – and Fisher's subsequent divorce – changed Taylor's public image from a grieving widow to a "homewrecker". MGM used the scandal to its advantage by featuring an image of Taylor posing on a bed in a slip in the film's promotional posters.^[1]^{: 203–210} Cat grossed $10 million in American cinemas alone, and made Taylor the year's second-most profitable star.^[1]^{: 203–210} She received positive reviews for her performance, with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times calling her "terrific",^[34] and Variety praising her for "a well-accented, perceptive interpretation."^[35] Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award^[33] and a BAFTA.^[36]

Taylor's next film, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), was another Tennessee Williams adaptation, with a screenplay by Gore Vidal and also starring Montgomery Clift and Katharine Hepburn. The independent production earned Taylor $500,000 for playing the role of a severely traumatized patient in a mental institution.^[1]^{: 203–210} Although the film was a drama about mental illness, childhood traumas, and homosexuality, it was again promoted with Taylor's sex appeal; both its trailer and poster featured her in a white swimsuit. The strategy worked, as the film was a financial success.^[37] Taylor received her third Academy Award nomination^[33] and her first Golden Globe for Best Actress for her performance.^[1]^{: 203–210}

By 1959, Taylor owed one more film for MGM, which it decided should be BUtterfield 8 (1960), a drama about a high-class call girl, in an adaptation of a John O'Hara 1935 novel of the same name.^[1]^{: 211–223} The studio correctly calculated that Taylor's public image would make it easy for audiences to associate her with the role.^[1]^{: 211–223} She hated the film for the same reason, but had no choice in the matter, although the studio agreed to her demands of filming in New York and casting Eddie Fisher in a sympathetic role.^[1]^{: 211–223} As predicted, BUtterfield 8 was a major commercial success, grossing $18 million in world rentals.^[1]^{: 224–236} Crowther wrote that Taylor "looks like a million dollars, in mink or in negligée",^[38] while Variety stated that she gives "a torrid, stinging portrayal with one or two brilliantly executed passages within."^[39] Taylor won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.^[1]^{: 224–236}

1961–1967: Cleopatra and other collaborations with Richard Burton

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After completing her MGM contract, Taylor starred in 20th Century-Fox's Cleopatra (1963). According to film historian Alexander Doty, this historical epic made her more famous than ever before.^[40] She became the first movie star to be paid $1 million for a role; Fox also granted her 10% of the film's gross profits, as well as shooting the film in Todd-AO, a widescreen format for which she had inherited the rights from Mike Todd.^[8]^: 10–11^[1]^{: 211–223} The film's production – characterized by costly sets and costumes, constant delays, and a scandal caused by Taylor's extramarital affair with her co-star Richard Burton – was closely followed by the media, with Life proclaiming it the "Most Talked About Movie Ever Made."^[8]^{: 11–12, 39, 45–46, 56} Filming began in England in 1960, but had to be halted several times because of bad weather and Taylor's ill health.^[8]^: 12–13 In March 1961, she developed nearly fatal pneumonia, which necessitated a tracheotomy; one news agency erroneously reported that she had died.^[8]^: 12–13 Once she had recovered, Fox discarded the already filmed material, and moved the production to Rome, changing its director to Joseph Mankiewicz, and the actor playing Mark Antony to Burton.^[8]^: 12–18 Filming was finally completed in July 1962.^[8]^: 39 The film's final cost was $62 million (equivalent to $644 million in 2024), making it the most expensive film made up to that point.^[8]^: 46

Cleopatra became the biggest box-office success of 1963 in the United States; the film grossed $15.7 million at the box office (equivalent to $161 million in 2024).^[8]^: 56–57 Regardless, it took several years for the film to earn back its production costs, which drove Fox near to bankruptcy. The studio publicly blamed Taylor for the production's troubles and unsuccessfully sued Burton and Taylor for allegedly damaging the film's commercial prospects with their behavior.^[8]^: 46 The film's reviews were mixed to negative, with critics finding Taylor overweight and her voice too thin, and unfavorably comparing her with her classically trained British co-stars.^[8]^: 56–58^[1]^{: 265–267}^[41] In retrospect, Taylor called Cleopatra a "low point" in her career, and said that the studio had cut out the scenes which she felt provided the "core of the characterization."^[13]

Taylor intended to follow Cleopatra by headlining an all-star cast in Fox's black comedy What a Way to Go! (1964), but negotiations fell through, and Shirley MacLaine was cast instead. In the meantime, film producers were eager to profit from the scandal surrounding Taylor and Burton, and they next starred together in Anthony Asquith's The V.I.P.s (1963), which mirrored the headlines about them.^[8]^: 42–45^[1]^{: 252–255, 260–266} Taylor played a famous model attempting to leave her husband for a lover, and Burton her estranged millionaire husband. Released soon after Cleopatra, it became a box-office success.^[1]^: 264 Taylor was also paid $500,000 (equivalent to $5.14 million in 2024) to appear in a CBS television special, Elizabeth Taylor in London, in which she visited the city's landmarks and recited passages from the works of famous British writers.^[8]^: 74–75

Taylor and Burton in *The Sandpiper* (1965)

After completing The V.I.P.s, Taylor took a two-year hiatus from films, during which she and Burton divorced their spouses and married each other.^[8]^: 112 The supercouple continued starring together in films in the mid-1960s, earning a combined $88 million over the next decade; Burton once stated, "They say we generate more business activity than one of the smaller African nations."^[8]^: 193^[42] Biographer Alexander Walker compared these films to "illustrated gossip columns", as their film roles often reflected their public personae, while film historian Alexander Doty has noted that the majority of Taylor's films during this period seemed to "conform to, and reinforce, the image of an indulgent, raucous, immoral or amoral, and appetitive (in many senses of the word) 'Elizabeth Taylor'".^[1]^: 294^[43] Taylor and Burton's first joint project following her hiatus was Vincente Minnelli's romantic drama The Sandpiper (1965), about an illicit love affair between a bohemian artist and a married clergyman in Big Sur, California. Its reviews were largely negative, but it grossed a successful $14 million in the box office (equivalent to $140 million in 2024).^[8]^{: 116–118}

Their next project, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), an adaptation of a play of the same name by Edward Albee, featured the most critically acclaimed performance of Taylor's career.^[8]^{: 142, 151–152}^[1]^: 286 She and Burton starred as Martha and George, a middle-aged couple going through a marital crisis. In order to convincingly play 50-year-old Martha, Taylor gained weight, wore a wig, and used makeup to make herself look older and tired – in stark contrast to her public image as a glamorous film star.^[8]^{: 136–137}^[1]^{: 281–282} At Taylor's suggestion, theatre director Mike Nichols was hired to direct the project, despite his lack of experience with film.^[8]^{: 139–140} The production differed from anything she had done previously, as Nichols wanted to thoroughly rehearse the play before beginning filming.^[8]^: 141 Woolf was considered ground-breaking for its adult themes and uncensored language, and opened to "glorious" reviews.^[8]^{: 140, 151} Variety wrote that Taylor's "characterization is at once sensual, spiteful, cynical, pitiable, loathsome, lustful, and tender."^[44] Stanley Kauffmann of The New York Times stated that she "does the best work of her career, sustained and urgent."^[45] The film also became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year.^[8]^{: 151–152}^[1]^: 286 Taylor received her second Academy Award, and BAFTA, National Board of Review, and New York City Film Critics Circle awards for her performance.

In 1966, Taylor and Burton performed Doctor Faustus for a week in Oxford to benefit the Oxford University Dramatic Society; he starred and she appeared in her first stage role as Helen of Troy, a part which required no speaking.^[8]^{: 186–189} Although it received generally negative reviews, Burton produced it as a film, Doctor Faustus (1967), with the same cast.^[8]^{: 186–189} It was also panned by critics and grossed only $600,000 in the box office (equivalent to $5.66 million in 2024).^[8]^{: 230–232} Taylor and Burton's next project, Franco Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew (1967), which they also co-produced, was more successful.^[8]^: 164 It posed another challenge for Taylor, as she was the only actor in the project with no previous experience of performing Shakespeare; Zeffirelli later stated that this made her performance interesting, as she "invented the part from scratch."^[8]^: 168 Critics found the play to be fitting material for the couple, and the film became a box-office success by grossing $12 million (equivalent to $113.16 million in 2024).^[8]^{: 181, 186}

Taylor's third film released in 1967, John Huston's Reflections in a Golden Eye, was her first without Burton since Cleopatra. Based on a novel of the same name by Carson McCullers, it was a drama about a repressed gay military officer and his unfaithful wife. It was originally slated to co-star Taylor's old friend Montgomery Clift, whose career had been in decline for several years owing to his substance abuse problems. Determined to secure his involvement in the project, Taylor even offered to pay for his insurance.^[8]^{: 157–161} But Clift died from a heart attack before filming began; he was replaced in the role by Marlon Brando.^[8]^{: 175, 189} Reflections was a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release.^[8]^{: 233–234} Taylor and Burton's last film of the year was the adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, The Comedians, which received mixed reviews and was a box-office disappointment.^[8]^{: 228–232}

1968–1979: Career decline

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Taylor's career was in decline by the late 1960s. She had gained weight, was in her late 30s and did not fit in with New Hollywood stars such as Jane Fonda and Julie Christie.^[8]^{: 135–136}^[1]^{: 294–296, 307–308} After several years of nearly constant media attention, the public was tiring of Burton and her, and criticized their jet set lifestyle.^[8]^{: 142, 151–152}^[1]^{: 294–296, 305–306} In 1968, Taylor starred in two films directed by Joseph Losey – Boom! and Secret Ceremony – both of which were critical and commercial failures.^[8]^{: 238–246} The former, based on Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, features her as an ageing, serial-marrying millionaire, and Burton as a younger man who turns up on the Mediterranean island on which she has retired.^[8]^{: 211–217} Secret Ceremony is a psychological drama that also stars Mia Farrow and Robert Mitchum.^[8]^{: 242–243, 246} Taylor's third film with George Stevens, The Only Game in Town (1970), in which she played a Las Vegas showgirl who has an affair with a compulsive gambler, played by Warren Beatty, was unsuccessful.^[8]^: 287^[46]

The three 1972 films in which Taylor acted were somewhat more successful. X Y & Zee, which portrayed Michael Caine and her as a troubled married couple, won her the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress. She appeared with Burton in the adaptation of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood; although her role was small, the producers decided to give her top-billing to profit from her fame.^[8]^{: 313–316} Her third film role that year was playing a blonde diner waitress in Peter Ustinov's Faust parody Hammersmith Is Out, her tenth collaboration with Burton. Although it was overall not successful,^[8]^: 316 Taylor received some good reviews, with Vincent Canby of The New York Times writing that she has "a certain vulgar, ratty charm",^[47] and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times saying, "The spectacle of Elizabeth Taylor growing older and more beautiful continues to amaze the population."^[48] Her performance won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival.^[46]

Taylor and Burton's last film together was the Harlech Television film Divorce His, Divorce Hers (1973), fittingly named as they divorced the following year.^[8]^: 357 Her other films released in 1973 were the British thriller Night Watch (1973) and the American drama Ash Wednesday (1973).^[8]^{: 341–349, 357–358} For the latter, in which she starred as a woman who undergoes multiple plastic surgeries in an attempt to save her marriage, she received a Golden Globe nomination.^[49] Her only film released in 1974, the Italian Muriel Spark adaptation The Driver's Seat (1974), was a failure.^[8]^{: 371–375}

Taylor took fewer roles after the mid-1970s, and focused on supporting the career of her sixth husband, Republican politician John Warner, a US senator. In 1976, she participated in the Soviet-American fantasy film The Blue Bird (1976), a critical and box-office failure, and had a small role in the television film Victory at Entebbe (1976). In 1977, she sang in the critically panned film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music (1977).^[8]^{: 388–389, 403}

1980–2007: Stage and television roles; retirement

[edit]

After a period of semi-retirement from films, Taylor starred in The Mirror Crack'd (1980), adapted from an Agatha Christie mystery novel and featuring an ensemble cast of actors from the studio era, such as Angela Lansbury, Kim Novak, Rock Hudson, and Tony Curtis.^[8]^: 435 Wanting to challenge herself, she took on her first substantial stage role, playing Regina Giddens in a Broadway production of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes.^[8]^: 411^[1]^{: 347–362} Instead of portraying Giddens in negative light, as had often been the case in previous productions, Taylor's idea was to show her as a victim of circumstance, explaining, "She's a killer, but she's saying, 'Sorry fellas, you put me in this position'."^[1]^: 349

The production premiered in May 1981, and had a sold-out six-month run despite mixed reviews.^[8]^: 411^[1]^{: 347–362} Frank Rich of The New York Times wrote that Taylor's performance as "Regina Giddens, that malignant Southern bitch-goddess ... begins gingerly, soon gathers steam, and then explodes into a black and thunderous storm that may just knock you out of your seat",^[50] while Dan Sullivan of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Taylor presents a possible Regina Giddens, as seen through the persona of Elizabeth Taylor. There's some acting in it, as well as some personal display."^[51] She appeared as evil socialite Helena Cassadine in the day-time soap opera General Hospital in November 1981.^[1]^{: 347–362} The following year, she continued performing The Little Foxes in London's West End, but received largely negative reviews from the British press.^[1]^{: 347–362}

Encouraged by the success of The Little Foxes, Taylor and producer Zev Buffman founded the Elizabeth Taylor Repertory Company.^[1]^{: 347–362} Its first and only production was a revival of Noël Coward's comedy Private Lives, starring Taylor and Burton.^[8]^{: 413–425}^[1]^{: 347–362}^[52] It premiered in Boston in early 1983, and although commercially successful, received generally negative reviews, with critics noting that both stars were in noticeably poor health – Taylor admitted herself to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center after the play's run ended, and Burton died the following year.^[8]^{: 413–425}^[1]^{: 347–362} After the failure of Private Lives, Taylor dissolved her theatre company.^[53] Her only other project that year was the television film Between Friends.^[54]

Taylor and Bob Hope perform in a United Service Organization show aboard the training aircraft carrier USS Lexington during the celebration of the 75th anniversary of naval aviation in 1986

From the mid-1980s, Taylor acted mostly in television productions. She made cameos in the soap operas Hotel and All My Children in 1984, and played a brothel keeper in the historical mini-series North and South in 1985.^[8]^{: 363–373} She also starred in several television films, playing gossip columnist Louella Parsons in Malice in Wonderland (1985), a fading movie star in the drama There Must Be a Pony (1986),^[55] and a character based on Poker Alice in the eponymous Western (1987).^[1]^{: 363–373} She re-united with director Franco Zeffirelli to appear in his French-Italian biopic Young Toscanini (1988), and had the last starring role of her career in a television adaptation of Sweet Bird of Youth (1989), her fourth Tennessee Williams play.^[1]^{: 363–373} During this time, she also began receiving honorary awards for her career – the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1985,^[49] and the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Chaplin Award in 1986.^[56]

In the 1990s, Taylor focused her time on HIV/AIDS activism. Her few acting roles included characters in the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1992) and The Simpsons (1992, 1993),^[57] and cameos in four CBS series – The Nanny, Can't Hurry Love, Murphy Brown, and High Society – all airing on February 26, 1996, to promote her new fragrance.^[58]

Her last theatrically released film was the critically panned, but commercially successful, The Flintstones (1994), in which she played Pearl Slaghoople in a brief supporting role.^[8]^: 436 Taylor received American and British honors for her career: the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1993,^[59] the Screen Actors Guild honorary award in 1997,^[60] and a BAFTA Fellowship in 1999.^[61] In 2000, she was appointed a Dame Commander in the chivalric Order of the British Empire in the millennium New Year Honours List by Queen Elizabeth II.^[62]^[63] After supporting roles in the television film These Old Broads (2001) and in the animated sitcom God, the Devil and Bob (2001), Taylor announced that she was retiring from acting to devote her time to philanthropy.^[8]^: 436^[64] She gave one last public performance in 2007, when she performed the play Love Letters at an AIDS benefit at the Paramount Studios with James Earl Jones.^[8]^: 436

Other ventures

[edit]

HIV/AIDS activism

[edit]

Taylor was one of the first celebrities to participate in HIV/AIDS activism and helped to raise more than $270 million for the cause since the mid-1980s.^[65] She began her philanthropic work after becoming frustrated with the fact that very little was being done to combat the disease despite the media attention.^[66] She later explained for Vanity Fair that she "decided that with my name, I could open certain doors, that I was a commodity in myself – and I'm not talking as an actress. I could take the fame I'd resented and tried to get away from for so many years – but you can never get away from it – and use it to do some good. I wanted to retire, but the tabloids wouldn't let me. So, I thought: If you're going to screw me over, I'll use you."^[67]

Taylor began her philanthropic efforts in 1984, helping to organize and by hosting the first AIDS fundraiser to benefit the AIDS Project Los Angeles.^[67]^[68] In August 1985, she and Michael Gottlieb founded the National AIDS Research Foundation after her friend and former co-star Rock Hudson announced that he was dying of the disease.^[67]^[68] The following month, the foundation merged with Mathilde Krim's AIDS foundation to form the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).^[69]^[70] As amfAR's focus is on research funding, Taylor founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) in 1991 to raise awareness and to provide support services for people with HIV/AIDS, paying for its overhead costs herself.^[67]^[68]^[71] Since her death, her estate has continued to fund ETAF's work, and donates 25% of royalties from the use of her image and likeness to the foundation.^[71] In addition to her work for people affected by HIV/AIDS in the United States, Taylor was instrumental in expanding amfAR's operations to other countries; ETAF also operates internationally.^[67]

Taylor testified before the Senate and House for the Ryan White Care Act in 1986, 1990, and 1992.^[70]^[72] She persuaded President Ronald Reagan to acknowledge the disease for the first time in a speech in 1987, and publicly criticized presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton for lack of interest in combatting the disease.^[67]^[68] Taylor also founded the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center to offer free HIV/AIDS testing and care at the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, DC, and the Elizabeth Taylor Endowment Fund for the UCLA Clinical AIDS Research and Education Center in Los Angeles.^[70] In 2015, Taylor's business partner Kathy Ireland claimed that Taylor ran an illegal "underground network" that distributed medications to Americans suffering from HIV/AIDS during the 1980s, when the Food and Drug Administration had not yet approved them.^[73] The claim was challenged by several people, including amfAR's former vice-president for development and external affairs, Taylor's former publicist, and activists who were involved in Project Inform in the 1980s and 1990s.^[74]

Taylor was honored with several awards for her philanthropic work. She was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honour in 1987, and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1993, the Screen Actors' Guild Lifetime Achievement Award for Humanitarian service in 1997, the GLAAD Vanguard Award in 2000, and the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001.^[70]

Fragrance and jewelry brands

[edit]

Taylor created a collection of fragrances whose unprecedented success helped establish the trend of celebrity-branded perfumes in later years.^[75]^[76]^[77] In collaboration with Elizabeth Arden, Inc., she began by launching two best-selling perfumes – Passion in 1987, and White Diamonds in 1991.^[76] Taylor personally supervised the creation and production of each of the 11 fragrances marketed in her name.^[76] According to biographers Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, she earned more money through the fragrance collection than during her entire acting career,^[8]^: 436 and upon her death, the British newspaper The Guardian estimated that the majority of her estimated $600 million-$1 billion estate consisted of revenue from fragrances.^[76] In 2005, Taylor also founded a jewelry company, House of Taylor, in collaboration with Kathy Ireland and Jack and Monty Abramov.^[78]

Personal life

[edit]

Marriages, relationships, and children

[edit]

Throughout her adult years, Taylor's personal life, especially her eight marriages (two to the same man), drew a large amount of media attention and public disapproval. According to biographer Alexander Walker, "Whether she liked it or not ... marriage is the matrix of the myth that began surrounding Elizabeth Taylor from [when she was sixteen]."^[1]^: 126 In 1948, MGM arranged for her to date American football champion Glenn Davis and she announced plans for them to marry once he returned from Korea.^[79] The following year, Taylor was briefly engaged to William Pawley Jr., son of US ambassador William D. Pawley.^[80]^[1]^: 75–88 Film tycoon Howard Hughes also wanted to marry her, and offered to pay her parents a six-figure sum of money if she were to become his wife.^[1]^: 81–82 Taylor declined the offer, but was otherwise eager to marry young, as her "rather puritanical upbringing and beliefs" made her believe that "love was synonymous with marriage."^[13] Taylor later described herself as being "emotionally immature" during this time due to her sheltered childhood, and believed that she could gain independence from her parents and MGM through marriage.^[13]

Taylor was 18 years old when she married Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr., heir to the Hilton Hotels chain, at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills on May 6, 1950.^[81]^[1]^{: 106–112} MGM organized the large and expensive wedding, which became a major media event.^[1]^{: 106–112} In the weeks after their wedding, Taylor realized that she had made a mistake; not only did she and Hilton have few interests in common, but he was also abusive and a heavy drinker.^[1]^{: 113–119} Taylor suffered a miscarriage during one of his violent outbursts.^[82]^[83]^[84] She announced their separation on December 14, 1950,^[85] and was granted a divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty on January 29, 1951, eight months after their wedding.^[86]^[1]^{: 120–125}

Taylor married her second husband, British actor Michael Wilding – a man 20 years her senior – in a low-key ceremony at Caxton Hall in London on February 21, 1952.^[1]^: 139 She had first met him in 1948 while filming The Conspirator in England, and their relationship began when she returned to film Ivanhoe in 1951.^[1]^{: 131–133} Taylor found their age gap appealing. She wanted "the calm and quiet and security of friendship" from their relationship;^[13] he hoped that the marriage would aid his career in Hollywood.^[1]^: 136 They had two sons: Michael Howard (born January 6, 1953) and Christopher Edward (born February 27, 1955; Taylor's 23rd birthday).^[1]^{: 148, 160} As Taylor grew older and more confident in herself, she began to drift apart from Wilding, whose failing career was also a source of marital strife.^[1]^{: 160–165} When she was away filming Giant in 1955, gossip magazine Confidential caused a scandal by claiming that he had entertained strippers at their home.^[1]^{: 164–165} Taylor and Wilding announced their separation on July 18, 1956, and were divorced on January 26, 1957.^[87]

Taylor was three months pregnant when she married her third husband, theatre and film producer Mike Todd, in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, on February 2, 1957.^[1]^{: 178–180} They had one daughter, Elizabeth "Liza" Frances (born August 6, 1957).^[1]^: 186 Todd, known for publicity stunts, encouraged the media attention to their marriage; for example, in June 1957, he threw a birthday party at Madison Square Garden, which was attended by 18,000 guests and broadcast on CBS.^[8]^: 5–6^[1]^: 188 His death in a plane crash on March 22, 1958, left Taylor devastated.^[8]^: 5–6^[1]^{: 193–202} She was comforted by a friend of Todd's and hers, singer Eddie Fisher, with whom she soon began an affair.^[8]^: 7–9^[1]^{: 201–210} Fisher was still married to actress Debbie Reynolds. The affair resulted in a public scandal, with Taylor being branded a "homewrecker."^[8]^: 7–9^[1]^{: 201–210} Taylor and Fisher were married at the Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas on May 12, 1959; she later stated that she married him only due to her grief.^[8]^: 7–9^[1]^{: 201–210}^[13] Taylor and Reynolds would reconcile in the 1960s.^[88]

While filming Cleopatra in Italy in 1962, Taylor began an affair with her co-star, Welsh actor Richard Burton, although Burton was also married. Rumors about the affair began to circulate in the press, and were confirmed by a paparazzi shot of them on a yacht in Ischia.^[8]^: 27–34 According to sociologist Ellis Cashmore, the publication of the photograph was a "turning point", beginning a new era in which it became difficult for celebrities to keep their personal lives separate from their public images.^[89] The scandal caused Taylor and Burton to be condemned for "erotic vagrancy" by the Vatican, with calls also in the US Congress to bar them from re-entering the country.^[8]^: 36 Taylor was granted a divorce from Fisher on March 5, 1964, in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, and married Burton 10 days later in a private ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Montreal.^[8]^: 99–100 Burton subsequently adopted Liza Todd and Maria McKeown (born 1961), a German orphan whose adoption process Taylor had begun while married to Fisher.^[90]^[91]

Dubbed "Liz and Dick" by the media, Taylor and Burton starred together in 11 films, and led a jet-set lifestyle, spending millions on "furs, diamonds, paintings, designer clothes, travel, food, liquor, a yacht, and a jet."^[8]^: 193 Sociologist Karen Sternheimer states that they "became a cottage industry of speculation about their alleged life of excess. From reports of massive spending [...] affairs, and even an open marriage, the couple came to represent a new era of 'gotcha' celebrity coverage, where the more personal the story, the better."^[92] They divorced for the first time in June 1974, but reconciled, and remarried in Kasane, Botswana, on 10 October 1975.^[8]^{: 376, 391–394} The second marriage lasted less than a year, ending in divorce in July 1976.^[8]^{: 384–385, 406} Taylor and Burton's relationship was often referred to as the "marriage of the century" by the media, and she later stated, "After Richard, the men in my life were just there to hold the coat, to open the door. All the men after Richard were really just company."^[8]^{: vii, 437} Soon after her final divorce from Burton, Taylor met her sixth husband, John Warner, a Republican politician from Virginia.^[8]^{: 402–405} They were married on 4 December 1976, after which Taylor concentrated on working for his electoral campaign.^[8]^{: 402–405} Once Warner had been elected to the Senate, she started to find her life as a politician's wife in Washington, D.C. boring and lonely, becoming depressed, overweight, and increasingly addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol.^[8]^{: 402–405} Taylor and Warner separated in December 1981, and divorced on 5 November 1982.^[8]^{: 410–411}

After the divorce from Warner, Taylor dated actors Anthony Geary^[93] and George Hamilton,^[94] and was engaged to Mexican lawyer Victor Luna in 1983–1984,^[8]^{: 422–434} and New York businessman Dennis Stein in 1985.^[95] She met her seventh and last husband, construction worker Larry Fortensky, at the Betty Ford Center in 1988.^[8]^: 437^[1]^{: 465–466} They were married at the Neverland Ranch of her close friend Michael Jackson on October 6, 1991.^[96] The wedding was again subject to intense media attention, with one photographer parachuting to the ranch and Taylor selling the wedding pictures to People for $1 million (equivalent to $2.31 million in 2024), which she used to start her AIDS foundation.^[97]^[70] Taylor and Fortensky divorced on October 31, 1996,^[8]^: 437 but remained in contact for life.^[98] She attributed the split to her painful hip operations and his obsessive-compulsive disorder.^[99]^[100] In the winter of 1999, Fortensky underwent brain surgery after falling off a balcony and was comatose for six weeks; Taylor immediately notified the hospital she would personally guarantee his medical expenses.^[101] At the end of 2010, she wrote him a letter that read: "You’re a part of my life that cannot be carved out nor do I ever wish it to be."^[102] Taylor's last phone call with Fortensky was on February 7, 2011, one day before she checked into the hospital for what turned out to be her final stay. He told her she would outlive him.^[103] Although they had been divorced for almost 15 years, Taylor left Fortensky $825,000 in her will.^[104]

In the last years of her life, she had a platonic friendship with the actor Colin Farrell. On the phone, they often talked about the topic of insomnia and how to deal with it.^[105]

Judaism

[edit]

Taylor was raised as a Christian Scientist, and converted to Judaism in 1959.^[8]^{: 173–174}^[1]^{: 206–210} Although two of her husbands – Mike Todd and Eddie Fisher – were Jewish, Taylor stated that she did not convert because of them, and had wanted to do so "for a long time",^[106] and that there was "comfort and dignity and hope for me in this ancient religion that [has] survived for four thousand years... I feel as if I have been a Jew all my life."^[107] Walker believed that Taylor was influenced in her decision by her godfather, Victor Cazalet, and her mother, who were active supporters of Zionism during her childhood.^[1]^: 14

Following her conversion, Taylor became an active supporter of Jewish and Zionist causes.^[108]^[109] In 1959, she purchased $100,000 worth of Israeli bonds, which led to her films being banned by Arab countries throughout the Middle East and Africa.^[110]^[109] She was also barred from entering Egypt to film Cleopatra in 1962, but the ban was lifted two years later after the Egyptian officials deemed that the film brought positive publicity for the country.^[108] In addition to purchasing bonds, Taylor helped to raise money for organizations such as the Jewish National Fund,^[108] and sat on the board of trustees of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.^[111]

Taylor also advocated for the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel, cancelled a visit to the USSR because of its condemnation of Israel due to the Six-Day War, and signed a letter protesting the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 of 1975.^[108] In 1976, she offered herself as a replacement hostage after more than 100 Israeli civilians were taken hostage in the Entebbe skyjacking.^[108] She had a small role in the television film made about the incident, Victory at Entebbe (1976), and narrated Genocide (1981), an Academy Award-winning documentary about the Holocaust.^[111]

Style and jewelry collection

[edit]

Taylor is considered a fashion icon both for her film costumes and personal style.^[112]^[113]^[114] At MGM, her costumes were mostly designed by Helen Rose and Edith Head,^[115] and in the 1960s by Irene Sharaff.^[113]^[116] Her most famous costumes include a white ball gown in A Place in the Sun (1951), a Grecian dress in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), a green A-line dress in Suddenly Last Summer (1959), and a slip and a fur coat in BUtterfield 8 (1960).^[112]^[113]^[114] Her look in Cleopatra (1963) started a trend for "cat-eye" makeup done with black eyeliner.^[8]^{: 135–136}

Taylor collected jewelry through her life, and owned the 33.19-carat (6.638 g) Krupp Diamond, the 69.42-carat (13.884 g) Taylor-Burton Diamond, and the 50-carat (10 g) La Peregrina Pearl, all three of which were gifts from husband Richard Burton.^[8]^{: 237–238, 258–259, 275–276} She also published a book about her collection, My Love Affair with Jewelry, in 2002.^[113]^[117] Taylor helped to popularise the work of fashion designers Valentino Garavani^[115]^[118] and Halston.^[113]^[119] She received a Lifetime of Glamour Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 1997.^[120] After her death, her jewelry and fashion collections were auctioned by Christie's to benefit her AIDS foundation, ETAF. The jewelry sold for a record-breaking sum of $156.8 million,^[121] and the clothes and accessories for a further $5.5 million.^[122]

Illness and death

[edit]

Taylor struggled with health problems for most of her life.^[65] She was born with scoliosis^[123] and broke her back while filming National Velvet in 1944.^[1]^: 40–47 The fracture went undetected for several years, although it caused her chronic back problems.^[1]^: 40–47 In 1956, she underwent an operation in which some of her spinal discs were removed and replaced with donated bone.^[1]^: 175 Taylor was also prone to other illnesses and injuries, which often necessitated surgery; in 1961, she survived a near-fatal bout of pneumonia that required a tracheotomy.^[8] She was treated for the pneumonia with bacteriophage.^[124] In 1968 she underwent an emergency hysterectomy, which exacerbated her back problems and contributed to hip problems. Perhaps self-medicating, she was addicted to alcohol and prescription pain killers and tranquilizers. She was treated at the Betty Ford Center for seven weeks from December 1983 to January 1984, becoming the first celebrity to openly admit herself to the clinic.^[8]^{: 424–425} She relapsed later in the decade and entered rehabilitation again in 1988.^[1]^{: 366–368} Taylor also struggled with her weight – she became overweight in the 1970s, especially after her marriage to Senator John Warner, and published a diet book about her experiences, Elizabeth Takes Off (1988).^[125]^[126] Taylor was a heavy smoker until she experienced a severe bout of pneumonia in 1990.^[127]

Taylor's health increasingly declined during the last two decades of her life and she rarely attended public events after 1996.^[123] Taylor had serious bouts of pneumonia in 1990 and 2000,^[68] two hip replacement surgeries in the mid-1990s,^[65] a surgery for a benign brain tumor in 1997,^[65] and successful treatment for skin cancer in 2002.^[123] She used a wheelchair due to her back problems and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2004.^[128]^[129] She died of the illness aged 79 on March 23, 2011, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, six weeks after being hospitalized.^[130] Her funeral took place the following day at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. The service was a private Jewish ceremony presided by Rabbi Jerome Cutler. At Taylor's request, the ceremony began 15 minutes behind schedule, as, according to her representative, "She even wanted to be late for her own funeral."^[131] She was entombed in the cemetery's Great Mausoleum.^[132]

Los Angeles residence

[edit]

Taylor lived at 700 Nimes Road in the Bel Air district of Los Angeles from 1982 until her death in 2011. The art photographer Catherine Opie created an eponymous photographic study of the house in 2011.^[133]

Legacy

[edit]

More than anyone else I can think of, Elizabeth Taylor represents the complete movie phenomenon – what movies are as an art and an industry, and what they have meant to those of us who have grown up watching them in the dark... Like movies themselves, she's grown up with us, as we have with her. She's someone whose entire life has been played in a series of settings forever denied the fourth wall. Elizabeth Taylor is the most important character she's ever played.^[134]

—Vincent Canby of The New York Times in 1986

Taylor was one of the last stars of classical Hollywood cinema^[135]^[136] and one of the first modern celebrities.^[137] During the era of the studio system, she exemplified the classic film star. She was portrayed as different from "ordinary" people, and her public image was carefully crafted and controlled by MGM.^[138] When the era of classical Hollywood ended in the 1960s, and paparazzi photography became a normal feature of media culture, Taylor came to define a new type of celebrity whose real private life was the focus of public interest.^[139]^[140]^[141] "More than for any film role," Adam Bernstein of The Washington Post wrote, "she became famous for being famous, setting a media template for later generations of entertainers, models, and all variety of semi-somebodies."^[142]

Regardless of the acting awards she won during her career, Taylor's film performances were often overlooked by contemporary critics;^[10]^[143] according to film historian Jeanine Basinger, "No actress ever had a more difficult job in getting critics to accept her onscreen as someone other than Elizabeth Taylor... Her persona ate her alive."^[142] Her film roles often mirrored her personal life, and many critics continue to regard her as always playing herself, rather than acting.^[140]^[142]^[144] In contrast, Mel Gussow of The New York Times stated that "the range of [Taylor's] acting was surprisingly wide", despite the fact that she never received any professional training.^[10] Film critic Peter Bradshaw called her "an actress of such sexiness it was an incitement to riot – sultry and queenly at the same time", and "a shrewd, intelligent, intuitive acting presence in her later years."^[145] David Thomson stated that "she had the range, nerve, and instinct that only Bette Davis had had before – and like Davis, Taylor was monster and empress, sweetheart and scold, idiot and wise woman."^[146] Five films in which she starred – Lassie Come Home, National Velvet, A Place in the Sun, Giant, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – have been preserved in the National Film Registry, and the American Film Institute has named her the seventh greatest female screen legend.

Taylor has also been discussed by journalists and scholars interested in the role of women in Western society. Camille Paglia writes that Taylor was a "pre-feminist woman" who "wields the sexual power that feminism cannot explain and has tried to destroy. Through stars like Taylor, we sense the world-disordering impact of legendary women like Delilah, Salome, and Helen of Troy."^[147] In contrast, cultural critic M.G. Lord calls Taylor an "accidental feminist", stating that while she did not identify as a feminist, many of her films had feminist themes and "introduced a broad audience to feminist ideas."^[148]^[b] Similarly, Ben W. Heineman Jr. and Cristine Russell write in The Atlantic that her role in Giant "dismantled stereotypes about women and minorities."^[149]

Taylor is considered a gay icon, and received widespread recognition for her HIV/AIDS activism.^[142]^[150]^[151]^[152] After her death, GLAAD issued a statement saying that she "was an icon not only in Hollywood, but in the LGBT community, where she worked to ensure that everyone was treated with the respect and dignity we all deserve",^[150] and Sir Nick Partridge of the Terrence Higgins Trust called her "the first major star to publicly fight fear and prejudice towards AIDS."^[153] According to Paul Flynn of The Guardian, she was "a new type of gay icon, one whose position is based not on tragedy, but on her work for the LGBTQ community."^[154] Speaking of her charity work, former President Bill Clinton said at her death, "Elizabeth's legacy will live on in many people around the world whose lives will be longer and better because of her work and the ongoing efforts of those she inspired."^[155]

Since Taylor's death, House of Taylor,^[156] Elizabeth Taylor's estate, has preserved Taylor's legacy through content, partnerships, and products. The estate is managed by three trustees selected by Elizabeth prior to her death. They continue to be involved with The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation^[157] and oversee The Elizabeth Taylor Archive.

In 2022, House of Taylor released Elizabeth The First,^[158] a 10-part podcast series with Imperative Entertainment and Kitty Purry Productions and narrated by Katy Perry. In December 2022, Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon by Kate Andersen Brower,^[159] the first Elizabeth Taylor biography authorized by the estate, was released.

In 2019, it was announced that Rachel Weisz would portray Taylor in A Special Relationship, an upcoming film about Taylor's journey from actress to activist written by Simon Beaufoy.^[160]

In 2024, it was announced that Kim Kardashian would executive produce and feature in a docuseries about Taylor. Commissioned by the BBC, it's been given the working title Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar.^[161]

See also

[edit]

List of most valuable celebrity memorabilia

Explanatory notes

[edit]

^ In October 1965, as her then-husband Richard Burton was British, she signed an oath of renunciation at the US Embassy in Paris, but with the phrase "abjure all allegiance and fidelity to the United States" struck out. US State Department officials declared that her renunciation was invalid due to the alteration, and Taylor signed another oath, this time without alteration, in October 1966.^[2] She applied for restoration of US citizenship in 1977, during then-husband John Warner's Senate campaign, stating she planned to remain in America for the rest of her life.^[3]^[4]
^ For example, National Velvet (1944) was about a girl attempting to compete in the Grand National despite gender discrimination; A Place in the Sun (1951) is "a cautionary tale from a time before women had ready access to birth control"; her character in BUtterfield 8 (1960) is shown in control of her sexuality; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) "depicts the anguish that befalls a woman when the only way she can express herself is through her husband's stalled career and children".^[148]

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av ^aw ^ax ^ay ^az ^ba ^bb ^bc ^bd ^be ^bf ^bg ^bh ^bi ^bj ^bk ^bl ^bm ^bn ^bo ^bp ^bq ^br ^bs ^bt ^bu ^bv ^bw ^bx ^by ^bz ^ca ^cb ^cc ^cd ^ce ^cf ^cg ^ch ^ci ^cj ^ck ^cl ^cm ^cn ^co ^cp ^cq ^cr ^cs ^ct ^cu ^cv ^cw ^cx ^cy ^cz ^da ^db ^dc ^dd ^de ^df ^dg ^dh Walker, Alexander (1990). Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Taylor. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3769-5.
^ Boyce, Richard H. (April 14, 1967). "Liz Taylor Renounces U.S. Citizenship". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ "Liz Taylor Applies To Be U.S. Citizen". Toledo Blade. February 19, 1978. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Wilson, Earl (June 15, 1977). "Will Liz Taylor be our First Lady?". St. Joseph Gazette. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Heymann 1995, p. 14.
^ Heymann 1995, p. 27.
^ Roxanne, Palmer (March 25, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor: Beautiful Mutant". Slate. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av ^aw ^ax ^ay ^az ^ba ^bb ^bc ^bd ^be ^bf ^bg ^bh ^bi ^bj ^bk ^bl ^bm ^bn ^bo ^bp ^bq ^br ^bs ^bt ^bu ^bv ^bw ^bx ^by ^bz ^ca ^cb ^cc ^cd ^ce ^cf ^cg ^ch ^ci ^cj ^ck ^cl ^cm ^cn Kashner, Sam; Schoenberger, Nancy (2010). Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century. JR Books. ISBN 978-1-907532-22-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cott, Jonathan (March 29, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Interview". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c Gussow, Mel (March 23, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor, 1932–2011: A Lustrous Pinnacle of Hollywood Glamour". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Crowther, Bosley (December 15, 1944). "'National Velvet,' Color Film, With Rooney and Elizabeth Taylor, at Music Hall – 'Tall in Saddle' Comes to the Palace". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Agee, James (March 24, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor in 'National Velvet'". The Nation. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Meryman, Richard (December 18, 1964). "I refuse to cure my public image". Life. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Gehring 2006, pp. 157–158.
^ "Life With Father (1947)". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Troyan 1999, p. 211.
^ Clark 2014, p. 158.
^ "Elizabeth Taylor: Star Rising". Time. August 9, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
^ "Conspirator (1950)". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ "The Big Hangover". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ Curtis 2011, pp. 599–609.
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^ Capua 2002, p. 72; Moss 2004, p. 166.
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^ ^a ^b Daniel 2011, pp. 80–81.
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^ "Review: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Variety. December 31, 1965. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
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^ Laura C., Smith (January 26, 1996). "Elizabeth Taylor's divorce from Nicky Hilton". EW.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
^ Kelley 1981, p. 128.
^ Nordyke, Kimberly (March 24, 2011). "Debbie Reynolds Reveals How She Forgave Elizabeth Taylor". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
^ Sternheimer 2015, p. 174.
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^ "Q&A: An update on Elizabeth Taylor's four children". St. Petersburg Times. January 12, 2010. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Sternheimer 2015, pp. 200–201.
^ Bowe, Jillian (April 12, 2010). "DC Interview: Tony Geary on Liz Taylor: "I'll Always Cherish Her"". Daytime Confidential.
^ "George Hamilton Says of Previous Flame Elizabeth Taylor, "A Year With Her Could Fill a Lifetime"". Closer. May 23, 2014.
^ Staff (August 12, 1991). "Eight Is Enough". People. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ McMillan, Penelope (October 7, 1991). "Amid Wedding Hoopla, a Town Goes Hollywood : Ceremony: Liz Taylor-Larry Fortensky vows draw the star-struck and airborne onlookers to Santa Ynez Valley". Los Angeles Times.
^ Baker, KC (October 21, 2014). "Elizabeth Taylor & Michael Jackson at Her Final Wedding: Never-Before-Seen Photos". People.
^ "Wedding Wednesday: Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky". Katie Callahan & Co. May 15, 2019. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
^ 20/20, February 14, 1997.
^ "Elizabeth Taylor Discusses Her Life and Career". CNN.com. January 15, 2001. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
^ "Liz rushes to the aid of stricken ex husband Larry". thefreelibrary.com. March 14, 1999.
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^ "Larry Fortensky Breaks Silence on Ex-Wife Elizabeth Taylor". etonline.com. April 25, 2011. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
^ "Elizabeth Taylor wills more than $800K to her last husband, Larry Fortensky". nydailynews.com. April 24, 2011.
^ "Colin Farrell reveals 'affair' with Elizabeth Taylor: 'She was my". The Independent. December 17, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
^ Oyster, Marcy (March 23, 2011). "Actress Elizabeth Taylor dies". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Heymann 1995, p. 195.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Eden, Ami (March 23, 2011). "In the JTA Archive: Liz Taylor says trade me for Entebbe hostages". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Burstein, Nathan (March 25, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor and Israel, a lasting love". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Kelley 1981, p. 134.
^ ^a ^b "Wiesenthal Center Mourns the Passing of Elizabeth Taylor, Longtime Friend and Supporter". Simon Wiesenthal Center. March 23, 2011. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Horyn, Cathy (March 23, 2011). "An Alluring Beauty Exempt From Fashion's Rules". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Vesilind, Emili (March 23, 2011). "As a fashion icon, Elizabeth Taylor could turn simple into sexy, elegance into excess". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Fox, Imogen (March 23, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor: style icon". The Guardian. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Cosgrave, Bronwyn (March 24, 2011). "End Of An Era". Vogue. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ "Release: The Icon And Her Haute Couture -The Collection Of Elizabeth Taylor". Christie's. September 20, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Peltason, Ruth (November 23, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor: A Life in Jewels". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ "Elizabeth Taylor". Valentino Garavani Museum. March 24, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Wohlfert, Lee (June 20, 1977). "Cover Story: Dressing the Stars". People. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Cowles, Charlotte (March 23, 2011). "A Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor: Fashion Icon". New York. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ "The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor". Christies. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
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^ ^a ^b ^c "Elizabeth Taylor: history of health problems". The Daily Telegraph. March 23, 2011. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Twilley, Nicola (December 14, 2020). "When a Virus Is the Cure". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 15, 2020. Still, as late as 1961, phage therapy had some American adherents, including Elizabeth Taylor, who received a dose of staph bacteriophage when she developed near-fatal pneumonia during the filming of Cleopatra and needed an emergency tracheotomy.
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^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2007). Elizabeth: The Biography of Elizabeth Taylor. p. 432.
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^ Gabler, Neal (March 25, 2011). "Taylor's celebrity: her lasting legacy". CNN. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2018.; Kuntz, Jonathan (March 23, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor Was the Original Modern Celebrity". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2018.; Frankel, Susannah (October 26, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor: A life less ordinary". The Independent. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.; JohnJoseph, La (March 24, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor: the icon's icon". The Guardian. Retrieved December 1, 2018.; Vaidyanathan, Rajini (March 23, 2011). "How Elizabeth Taylor redefined celebrity". BBC News. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
^ Rojek 2012, p. 177.
^ Cashmore 2006, p. 75.
^ ^a ^b Gabler, Neal (March 25, 2011). "Taylor's celebrity: her lasting legacy". CNN. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
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^ French, Philip (March 24, 2011). "Elizabeth Taylor: an enduring icon of Hollywood's golden age". The Guardian. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
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^ "Elizabeth Taylor's Feisty, Feminist Turn in Giant". The Atlantic. November 5, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
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^ Stein, Joel (April 9, 2011). "Is It Possible To Become A Gay Icon?". Time. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
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^ Ritman, Alex (January 29, 2024). "Kim Kardashian to Produce and Feature in Elizabeth Taylor Docuseries". Variety. Retrieved January 29, 2024.

General sources

[edit]

Capua, Michelangelo (2002). Montgomery Clift: A Biography. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1432-1.
Cashmore, Ellis (2006). Celebrity/Culture. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-37310-4.
Clark, Beverly Lyon (2014). The Afterlife of "Little Women". Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-1558-1.
Curtis, James (2011). Spencer Tracy: A Biography. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-178524-6.
Doty, Alexander (2012). "Elizabeth Taylor: The Biggest Star in the World". In Wojcik, Pamela Robertson (ed.). New Constellations: Movie Stars of the 1960s. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-5171-5.
Daniel, Douglass K. (2011). Tough as Nails: The Life and Films of Richard Brooks. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-25123-9.
Dye, David (1988). Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., pp. 226–227.
Gehring, Wes D. (2006) [2003]. Irene Dunne: First Lady of Hollywood. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5864-0.
Hernán, Vera; Gordon, Andrew M. (2003). Screen Saviors: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness. Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 0-8476-9947-1.
Heymann, David C. (1995). Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor. Birch Lane Press. ISBN 1-55972-267-3.
Kashner, Sam; Schoenberger, Nancy (2010). Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century. JR Books. ISBN 978-1-907532-22-1.
Kelley, Kitty (1981). Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-5676-3.
Kennedy, Matthew (2024). On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-019-76641-17.
Lewis, Roger (2023). Erotic Vagrancy: Everything about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. London: Hachette. ISBN 978-0-85-738172-9.
Lower, Cheryl Bray; Palmer, R. Barton (2001). Joseph L. Mankiewicz: Critical Essays with an Annotated Bibliography and a Filmography. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0987-7.
Moss, Marilyn Ann (2004). Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-20430-8.
Rojek, Chris (2012). Fame Attack: The Inflation of Celebrity and its Consequences. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-84966-071-6.
Sternheimer, Karen (2015). Celebrity Culture and the American Dream (Second ed.). Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1-138-02395-6.
Stubbs, Jonathan (2013). Historical Film: A Critical Introduction. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-84788-498-5.
Troyan, Michael (1999). A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson. The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-9150-8.
Walker, Alexander (1990). Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Taylor. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3769-5.

External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elizabeth Taylor.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Elizabeth Taylor.

Official website
Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF)
Elizabeth Taylor at IMDb
Elizabeth Taylor at the Internet Broadway Database
Elizabeth Taylor at the TCM Movie Database
Elizabeth Taylor at the American Film Institute Catalog
Elizabeth Taylor at Playbill Vault
Elizabeth Taylor at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
Elizabeth Taylor at the BFI's Screenonline
"Elizabeth Taylor". FBI Records: The Vault. FBI.
Appearances on C-SPAN

Awards for Elizabeth Taylor

v t e Academy Award for Best Actress
1928–1950	Janet Gaynor (1928) Mary Pickford (1929) Norma Shearer (1930) Marie Dressler (1931) Helen Hayes (1932) Katharine Hepburn (1933) Claudette Colbert (1934) Bette Davis (1935) Luise Rainer (1936) Luise Rainer (1937) Bette Davis (1938) Vivien Leigh (1939) Ginger Rogers (1940) Joan Fontaine (1941) Greer Garson (1942) Jennifer Jones (1943) Ingrid Bergman (1944) Joan Crawford (1945) Olivia de Havilland (1946) Loretta Young (1947) Jane Wyman (1948) Olivia de Havilland (1949) Judy Holliday (1950)
1951–1975	Vivien Leigh (1951) Shirley Booth (1952) Audrey Hepburn (1953) Grace Kelly (1954) Anna Magnani (1955) Ingrid Bergman (1956) Joanne Woodward (1957) Susan Hayward (1958) Simone Signoret (1959) Elizabeth Taylor (1960) Sophia Loren (1961) Anne Bancroft (1962) Patricia Neal (1963) Julie Andrews (1964) Julie Christie (1965) Elizabeth Taylor (1966) Katharine Hepburn (1967) Katharine Hepburn / Barbra Streisand (1968) Maggie Smith (1969) Glenda Jackson (1970) Jane Fonda (1971) Liza Minnelli (1972) Glenda Jackson (1973) Ellen Burstyn (1974) Louise Fletcher (1975)
1976–2000	Faye Dunaway (1976) Diane Keaton (1977) Jane Fonda (1978) Sally Field (1979) Sissy Spacek (1980) Katharine Hepburn (1981) Meryl Streep (1982) Shirley MacLaine (1983) Sally Field (1984) Geraldine Page (1985) Marlee Matlin (1986) Cher (1987) Jodie Foster (1988) Jessica Tandy (1989) Kathy Bates (1990) Jodie Foster (1991) Emma Thompson (1992) Holly Hunter (1993) Jessica Lange (1994) Susan Sarandon (1995) Frances McDormand (1996) Helen Hunt (1997) Gwyneth Paltrow (1998) Hilary Swank (1999) Julia Roberts (2000)
2001–present	Halle Berry (2001) Nicole Kidman (2002) Charlize Theron (2003) Hilary Swank (2004) Reese Witherspoon (2005) Helen Mirren (2006) Marion Cotillard (2007) Kate Winslet (2008) Sandra Bullock (2009) Natalie Portman (2010) Meryl Streep (2011) Jennifer Lawrence (2012) Cate Blanchett (2013) Julianne Moore (2014) Brie Larson (2015) Emma Stone (2016) Frances McDormand (2017) Olivia Colman (2018) Renée Zellweger (2019) Frances McDormand (2020) Jessica Chastain (2021) Michelle Yeoh (2022) Emma Stone (2023) Mikey Madison (2024)

AFI Life Achievement Award

John Ford (1973)
James Cagney (1974)
Orson Welles (1975)
William Wyler (1976)
Bette Davis (1977)
Henry Fonda (1978)
Alfred Hitchcock (1979)
James Stewart (1980)
Fred Astaire (1981)
Frank Capra (1982)
John Huston (1983)
Lillian Gish (1984)
Gene Kelly (1985)
Billy Wilder (1986)
Barbara Stanwyck (1987)
Jack Lemmon (1988)
Gregory Peck (1989)
David Lean (1990)
Kirk Douglas (1991)
Sidney Poitier (1992)
Elizabeth Taylor (1993)
Jack Nicholson (1994)
Steven Spielberg (1995)
Clint Eastwood (1996)
Martin Scorsese (1997)
Robert Wise (1998)
Dustin Hoffman (1999)
Harrison Ford (2000)
Barbra Streisand (2001)
Tom Hanks (2002)
Robert De Niro (2003)
Meryl Streep (2004)
George Lucas (2005)
Sean Connery (2006)
Al Pacino (2007)
Warren Beatty (2008)
Michael Douglas (2009)
Mike Nichols (2010)
Morgan Freeman (2011)
Shirley MacLaine (2012)
Mel Brooks (2013)
Jane Fonda (2014)
Steve Martin (2015)
John Williams (2016)
Diane Keaton (2017)
George Clooney (2018)
Denzel Washington (2019)
Julie Andrews (2022)
Nicole Kidman (2024)
Francis Ford Coppola (2025)

BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

1952–1967

British	Vivien Leigh (1952) Audrey Hepburn (1953) Yvonne Mitchell (1954) Katie Johnson (1955) Virginia McKenna (1956) Heather Sears (1957) Irene Worth (1958) Audrey Hepburn (1959) Rachel Roberts (1960) Dora Bryan (1961) Leslie Caron (1962) Rachel Roberts (1963) Audrey Hepburn (1964) Julie Christie (1965) Elizabeth Taylor (1966) Edith Evans (1967)
Foreign	Simone Signoret (1952) Leslie Caron (1953) Cornell Borchers (1954) Betsy Blair (1955) Anna Magnani (1956) Simone Signoret (1957) Simone Signoret (1958) Shirley MacLaine (1959) Shirley MacLaine (1960) Sophia Loren (1961) Anne Bancroft (1962) Patricia Neal (1963) Anne Bancroft (1964) Patricia Neal (1965) Jeanne Moreau (1966) Anouk Aimée (1967)

1968–present

Katharine Hepburn (1968)
Maggie Smith (1969)
Katharine Ross (1970)
Glenda Jackson (1971)
Liza Minnelli (1972)
Stéphane Audran (1973)
Joanne Woodward (1974)
Ellen Burstyn (1975)
Louise Fletcher (1976)
Diane Keaton (1977)
Jane Fonda (1978)
Jane Fonda (1979)
Judy Davis (1980)
Meryl Streep (1981)
Katharine Hepburn (1982)
Julie Walters (1983)
Maggie Smith (1984)
Peggy Ashcroft (1985)
Maggie Smith (1986)
Anne Bancroft (1987)
Maggie Smith (1988)
Pauline Collins (1989)
Jessica Tandy (1990)
Jodie Foster (1991)
Emma Thompson (1992)
Holly Hunter (1993)
Susan Sarandon (1994)
Emma Thompson (1995)
Brenda Blethyn (1996)
Judi Dench (1997)
Cate Blanchett (1998)
Annette Bening (1999)
Julia Roberts (2000)
Judi Dench (2001)
Nicole Kidman (2002)
Scarlett Johansson (2003)
Imelda Staunton (2004)
Reese Witherspoon (2005)
Helen Mirren (2006)
Marion Cotillard (2007)
Kate Winslet (2008)
Carey Mulligan (2009)
Natalie Portman (2010)
Meryl Streep (2011)
Emmanuelle Riva (2012)
Cate Blanchett (2013)
Julianne Moore (2014)
Brie Larson (2015)
Emma Stone (2016)
Frances McDormand (2017)
Olivia Colman (2018)
Renée Zellweger (2019)
Frances McDormand (2020)
Joanna Scanlan (2021)
Cate Blanchett (2022)
Emma Stone (2023)
Mikey Madison (2024)

BAFTA Fellowship

1971–2000

Alfred Hitchcock (1971)
Freddie Young (1972)
Grace Wyndham Goldie (1973)
David Lean (1974)
Jacques Cousteau (1975)
Charlie Chaplin (1976)
Laurence Olivier (1976)
Denis Forman (1977)
Fred Zinnemann (1978)
Lew Grade (1979)
Huw Wheldon (1979)
David Attenborough (1980)
John Huston (1980)
Abel Gance (1981)
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger (1981)
Andrzej Wajda (1982)
Richard Attenborough (1983)
Hugh Greene (1984)
Sam Spiegel (1984)
Jeremy Isaacs (1985)
Steven Spielberg (1986)
Federico Fellini (1987)
Ingmar Bergman (1988)
Alec Guinness (1989)
Paul Fox (1990)
Louis Malle (1991)
John Gielgud (1992)
David Plowright (1992)
Sydney Samuelson (1993)
Colin Young (1993)
Michael Grade (1994)
Billy Wilder (1995)
Jeanne Moreau (1996)
Ronald Neame (1996)
John Schlesinger (1996)
Maggie Smith (1996)
Woody Allen (1997)
Steven Bochco (1997)
Julie Christie (1997)
Oswald Morris (1997)
Harold Pinter (1997)
David Rose (1997)
Sean Connery (1998)
Bill Cotton (1998)
Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise (1999)
Elizabeth Taylor (1999)
Michael Caine (2000)
Stanley Kubrick (2000)
Peter Bazalgette (2000)

2001–present

Albert Finney (2001)
John Thaw (2001)
Judi Dench (2001)
Warren Beatty (2002)
Merchant Ivory Productions (2002)
Andrew Davies (2002)
John Mills (2002)
Saul Zaentz (2003)
David Jason (2003)
John Boorman (2004)
Roger Graef (2004)
John Barry (2005)
David Frost (2005)
David Puttnam (2006)
Ken Loach (2006)
Anne V. Coates (2007)
Richard Curtis (2007)
Will Wright (2007)
Anthony Hopkins (2008)
Bruce Forsyth (2008)
Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders (2009)
Terry Gilliam (2009)
Nolan Bushnell (2009)
Vanessa Redgrave (2010)
Shigeru Miyamoto (2010)
Melvyn Bragg (2010)
Christopher Lee (2011)
Peter Molyneux (2011)
Trevor McDonald (2011)
Martin Scorsese (2012)
~~Rolf Harris~~ (2012)
Alan Parker (2013)
Gabe Newell (2013)
Michael Palin (2013)
Helen Mirren (2014)
Rockstar Games (2014)
Julie Walters (2014)
Mike Leigh (2015)
David Braben (2015)
Jon Snow (2015)
Sidney Poitier (2016)
John Carmack (2016)
Ray Galton & Alan Simpson (2016)
Mel Brooks (2017)
Joanna Lumley (2017)
Ridley Scott (2018)
Tim Schafer (2018)
Kate Adie (2018)
Thelma Schoonmaker (2019)
Joan Bakewell (2019)
Kathleen Kennedy (2020)
Hideo Kojima (2020)
Ang Lee (2021)
Siobhan Reddy (2021)
Billy Connolly (2022)
Sandy Powell (2023)
Shuhei Yoshida (2023)
Meera Syal (2023)
Samantha Morton (2024)
Floella Benjamin (2024)
Warwick Davis (2025)
Yoko Shimomura (2025)
Kirsty Wark (2025)

BFI Fellowship recipients

Marcel Carné / David Lean / Michael Powell / Emeric Pressburger / Satyajit Ray / Orson Welles (1983)
Sidney Bernstein (1984)
John Brabourne / Laurence Olivier (1985)
Jeremy Isaacs / Deborah Kerr / Akira Kurosawa / Dilys Powell (1986)
Dirk Bogarde / Bette Davis / Elem Klimov (1987)
Graham Greene / Vanessa Redgrave / Anthony Smith (1988)
Peggy Ashcroft / Gérard Depardieu / David Francis (1989)
Derek Jarman / Krzysztof Kieślowski / Jeanne Moreau / Fred Zinnemann (1990)
Alec Guinness / Leslie Hardcastle (1991)
Richard Attenborough / Maggie Smith (1992)
Clint Eastwood / Denis Forman / Maureen O'Hara (1993)
Nicolas Roeg / Jean Simmons (1994)
Michelangelo Antonioni / John Mills / Martin Scorsese / Robert Wise (1995)
Michael Caine / Ken Loach (1996)
Michael Parkinson / Lynda La Plante / Verity Lambert / David Puttnam / Sydney Samuelson / Thelma Schoonmaker / Alan Yentob (1997)
Bernardo Bertolucci / Jeremy Thomas (1998)
John Paul Getty Jr. (1999)
Elizabeth Taylor (2000)
Robert Altman / Lewis Gilbert (2001)
Jack Cardiff / Bob Weinstein (2002)
Abbas Kiarostami / Mike Leigh / Ousmane Sembène (2005)
Terence Davies (2007)
Souleymane Cissé / John Hurt / Ridley Scott (2009)
Danny Boyle / David Rose (2010)
Isabelle Huppert / Judi Dench / Ralph Fiennes / David Cronenberg (2011)
Bryan Forbes / Helena Bonham Carter / Tim Burton / Richard Lester (2012)
Philip French / Christopher Lee / John Boorman (2013)
Al Pacino / Stephen Frears (2014)
Mel Brooks / Cate Blanchett (2015)
Hugh Grant / Greg Dyke / Steve McQueen (2016)
Peter Morgan / Paul Greengrass (2017)
Olivia Colman (2019)
Amanda Nevill / Tilda Swinton (2020)
Michael G. Wilson / Barbara Broccoli (2022)
Spike Lee (2023)

v t e Britannia Awards
Excellence in Film	Albert R. Broccoli (1989) Michael Caine (1990) Peter Ustinov (1992) Martin Scorsese (1993) Anthony Hopkins (1995) Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein (1996) Dustin Hoffman (1997) John Travolta (1998) Stanley Kubrick (1999) Steven Spielberg (2000) George Lucas (2002) Hugh Grant (2003) Tom Hanks (2004) Tom Cruise (2005) Clint Eastwood (2006) Denzel Washington (2007) Sean Penn (2008) Robert De Niro (2009) Jeff Bridges (2010) Warren Beatty (2011) Daniel Day-Lewis (2012) George Clooney (2013) Robert Downey Jr. (2014) Meryl Streep (2015) Jodie Foster (2016) Matt Damon (2017) Cate Blanchett (2018) Jane Fonda (2019)
Excellence in Directing	Peter Weir (2003) Jim Sheridan (2004) Mike Newell (2005) Anthony Minghella (2006) Martin Campbell (2007) Stephen Frears (2008) Danny Boyle (2009) Christopher Nolan (2010) David Yates (2011) Quentin Tarantino (2012) Kathryn Bigelow (2013) Mike Leigh (2014) Sam Mendes (2015) Ang Lee (2016) Ava DuVernay (2017) Steve McQueen (2018) Jordan Peele (2019)
Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment	Howard Stringer (2003) Kirk Douglas (2009) Ridley Scott & Tony Scott (2010) John Lasseter (2011) Will Wright (2012) Ben Kingsley (2013) Judi Dench (2014) Harrison Ford (2015) Samuel L. Jackson (2016) Kenneth Branagh (2017) Kevin Feige (2018) Jackie Chan (2019)
British Artist of the Year	Rachel Weisz (2006) Kate Winslet (2007) Tilda Swinton (2008) Emily Blunt (2009) Michael Sheen (2010) Helena Bonham Carter (2011) Daniel Craig (2012) Benedict Cumberbatch (2013) Emma Watson (2014) James Corden (2015) Felicity Jones (2016) Claire Foy (2017) Emilia Clarke (2018) Phoebe Waller-Bridge (2019)
Excellence in Comedy	Betty White (2010) Ben Stiller (2011) Trey Parker and Matt Stone (2012) Sacha Baron Cohen (2013) Julia Louis-Dreyfus (2014) Amy Schumer (2015) Ricky Gervais (2016) Aziz Ansari (2017) Jim Carrey (2018) Steve Coogan (2019)
Excellence in Television	Aaron Spelling (1999) HBO Original Programming (2002) Dick Van Dyke (2017) Damian Lewis (2018) Norman Lear (2019)
Humanitarian Award	Richard Curtis (2007) Don Cheadle (2008) Colin Firth (2009) Idris Elba (2013) Mark Ruffalo (2014) Orlando Bloom (2015) Ewan McGregor (2016)
Retired Awards	BBC (1999) Tarsem Singh (1999) Angela Lansbury (2003) Helen Mirren (2004) Elizabeth Taylor (2005) Ronald Neame (2005) Sidney Poitier (2006) Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne (2007)

Cecil B. DeMille Award

Cecil B. DeMille (1951)
Walt Disney (1952)
Darryl F. Zanuck (1953)
Jean Hersholt (1954)
Jack L. Warner (1955)
Mervyn LeRoy (1956)
Buddy Adler (1957)
Maurice Chevalier (1958)
Bing Crosby (1959)
Fred Astaire (1960)
Judy Garland (1961)
Bob Hope (1962)
Joseph E. Levine (1963)
James Stewart (1964)
John Wayne (1965)
Charlton Heston (1966)
Kirk Douglas (1967)
Gregory Peck (1968)
Joan Crawford (1969)
Frank Sinatra (1970)
Alfred Hitchcock (1971)
Samuel Goldwyn (1972)
Bette Davis (1973)
Hal B. Wallis (1974)
No Award (1975)
Walter Mirisch (1976)
Red Skelton (1977)
Lucille Ball (1978)
Henry Fonda (1979)
Gene Kelly (1980)
Sidney Poitier (1981)
Laurence Olivier (1982)
Paul Newman (1983)
Elizabeth Taylor (1984)
Barbara Stanwyck (1985)
Anthony Quinn (1986)
Clint Eastwood (1987)
Doris Day (1988)
Audrey Hepburn (1989)
Jack Lemmon (1990)
Robert Mitchum (1991)
Lauren Bacall (1992)
Robert Redford (1993)
Sophia Loren (1994)
Sean Connery (1995)
Dustin Hoffman (1996)
Shirley MacLaine (1997)
Jack Nicholson (1998)
Barbra Streisand (1999)
Al Pacino (2000)
Harrison Ford (2001)
Gene Hackman (2002)
Michael Douglas (2003)
Robin Williams (2004)
Anthony Hopkins (2005)
Warren Beatty (2006)
No Award (2007)
Steven Spielberg (2008)
Martin Scorsese (2009)
Robert De Niro (2010)
Morgan Freeman (2011)
Jodie Foster (2012)
Woody Allen (2013)
George Clooney (2014)
Denzel Washington (2015)
Meryl Streep (2016)
Oprah Winfrey (2017)
Jeff Bridges (2018)
Tom Hanks (2019)
Jane Fonda (2020)
No Award (2021)
Eddie Murphy (2022)
No Award (2023)
Viola Davis (2024)

David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Actress

Ingrid Bergman (1957)
Deborah Kerr (1959)
Audrey Hepburn (1960)
Brigitte Bardot (1961)
Audrey Hepburn (1962)
Geraldine Page (1963)
Shirley MacLaine (1964)
Audrey Hepburn (1965)
Julie Andrews (1966)
Julie Christie / Elizabeth Taylor (1967)
Faye Dunaway / Katharine Hepburn (1968)
Mia Farrow / Barbra Streisand (1969)
Liza Minnelli (1970)
Ali MacGraw (1971)
Elizabeth Taylor (1972)
Liza Minnelli (1973)
Barbra Streisand / Tatum O'Neal (1974)
Liv Ullmann (1975)
Isabelle Adjani / Glenda Jackson (1976)
Faye Dunaway / Annie Girardot (1977)
Jane Fonda / Simone Signoret (1978)
Ingrid Bergman / Liv Ullmann (1979)
Isabelle Huppert (1980)
Catherine Deneuve (1981)
Diane Keaton (1982)
Julie Andrews (1983)
Shirley MacLaine (1984)
Meryl Streep (1985)
Meryl Streep (1986)
Norma Aleandro (1987)
Cher (1988)
Jodie Foster (1989)
Jessica Tandy (1990)
Anne Parillaud (1991)
Geena Davis / Susan Sarandon (1992)
Emmanuelle Béart / Tilda Swinton / Emma Thompson (1993)
Emma Thompson (1994)
Jodie Foster (1995)
Susan Sarandon (1996)

Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala Tribute Honorees

Charlie Chaplin (1972)
Fred Astaire (1973)
Alfred Hitchcock (1974)
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman (1975)
George Cukor (1978)
Bob Hope (1979)
John Huston (1980)
Barbara Stanwyck (1981)
Billy Wilder (1982)
Laurence Olivier (1983)
Claudette Colbert (1984)
Federico Fellini (1985)
Elizabeth Taylor (1986)
Alec Guinness (1987)
Yves Montand (1988)
Bette Davis (1989)
James Stewart (1990)
Audrey Hepburn (1991)
Gregory Peck (1992)
Jack Lemmon (1993)
Robert Altman (1994)
Shirley MacLaine (1995)
Clint Eastwood (1996)
Sean Connery (1997)
Martin Scorsese (1998)
Mike Nichols (1999)
Al Pacino (2000)
Jane Fonda (2001)
Francis Ford Coppola (2002)
Susan Sarandon (2003)
Michael Caine (2004)
Dustin Hoffman (2005)
Jessica Lange (2006)
Diane Keaton (2007)
Meryl Streep (2008)
Tom Hanks (2009)
Michael Douglas (2010)
Sidney Poitier (2011)
Catherine Deneuve (2012)
Barbra Streisand (2013)
Rob Reiner (2014)
Robert Redford (2015)
Morgan Freeman (2016)
Robert De Niro (2017)
Helen Mirren (2018)
Spike Lee (2020)
Cate Blanchett (2022)
Viola Davis (2023)
Jeff Bridges (2024)
Pedro Almodóvar (2025)

GLAAD Vanguard Award

v t e Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
1943–1975	Jennifer Jones (1943) Ingrid Bergman (1944) Ingrid Bergman (1945) Rosalind Russell (1946) Rosalind Russell (1947) Jane Wyman (1948) Olivia de Havilland (1949) Gloria Swanson (1950) Jane Wyman (1951) Shirley Booth (1952) Audrey Hepburn (1953) Grace Kelly (1954) Anna Magnani (1955) Ingrid Bergman (1956) Joanne Woodward (1957) Susan Hayward (1958) Elizabeth Taylor (1959) Greer Garson (1960) Geraldine Page (1961) Geraldine Page (1962) Leslie Caron (1963) Anne Bancroft (1964) Samantha Eggar (1965) Anouk Aimée (1966) Edith Evans (1967) Joanne Woodward (1968) Geneviève Bujold (1969) Ali MacGraw (1970) Jane Fonda (1971) Liv Ullmann (1972) Marsha Mason (1973) Gena Rowlands (1974) Louise Fletcher (1975)
1976–2000	Faye Dunaway (1976) Jane Fonda (1977) Jane Fonda (1978) Sally Field (1979) Mary Tyler Moore (1980) Meryl Streep (1981) Meryl Streep (1982) Shirley MacLaine (1983) Sally Field (1984) Whoopi Goldberg (1985) Marlee Matlin (1986) Sally Kirkland (1987) Jodie Foster / Shirley MacLaine / Sigourney Weaver (1988) Michelle Pfeiffer (1989) Kathy Bates (1990) Jodie Foster (1991) Emma Thompson (1992) Holly Hunter (1993) Jessica Lange (1994) Sharon Stone (1995) Brenda Blethyn (1996) Judi Dench (1997) Cate Blanchett (1998) Hilary Swank (1999) Julia Roberts (2000)
2001–present	Sissy Spacek (2001) Nicole Kidman (2002) Charlize Theron (2003) Hilary Swank (2004) Felicity Huffman (2005) Helen Mirren (2006) Julie Christie (2007) Kate Winslet (2008) Sandra Bullock (2009) Natalie Portman (2010) Meryl Streep (2011) Jessica Chastain (2012) Cate Blanchett (2013) Julianne Moore (2014) Brie Larson (2015) Isabelle Huppert (2016) Frances McDormand (2017) Glenn Close (2018) Renée Zellweger (2019) Andra Day (2020) Nicole Kidman (2021) Cate Blanchett (2022) Lily Gladstone (2023) Fernanda Torres (2024)

v t e Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
1951–1975	Gertrude Lawrence (1951) Barbara Bel Geddes (1952) Mamie Eisenhower (1953) Shirley Booth (1954) Debbie Reynolds (1955) Peggy Ann Garner (1956) Carroll Baker (1957) Katharine Hepburn (1958) Joanne Woodward (1959) Carol Lawrence (1960) Jane Fonda (1961) Piper Laurie (1962) Shirley MacLaine (1963) Rosalind Russell (1964) Lee Remick (1965) Ethel Merman (1966) Lauren Bacall (1967) Angela Lansbury (1968) Carol Burnett (1969) Dionne Warwick (1970) Carol Channing (1971) Ruby Keeler (1972) Liza Minnelli (1973) Faye Dunaway (1974) Valerie Harper (1975)
1976–2000	Bette Midler (1976) Elizabeth Taylor (1977) Beverly Sills (1978) Candice Bergen (1979) Meryl Streep (1980) Mary Tyler Moore (1981) Ella Fitzgerald (1982) Julie Andrews (1983) Joan Rivers (1984) Cher (1985) Sally Field (1986) Bernadette Peters (1987) Lucille Ball (1988) Kathleen Turner (1989) Glenn Close (1990) Diane Keaton (1991) Jodie Foster (1992) Whoopi Goldberg (1993) Meg Ryan (1994) Michelle Pfeiffer (1995) Susan Sarandon (1996) Julia Roberts (1997) Sigourney Weaver (1998) Goldie Hawn (1999) Jamie Lee Curtis (2000)
2001–present	Drew Barrymore (2001) Sarah Jessica Parker (2002) Anjelica Huston (2003) Sandra Bullock (2004) Catherine Zeta-Jones (2005) Halle Berry (2006) Scarlett Johansson (2007) Charlize Theron (2008) Renée Zellweger (2009) Anne Hathaway (2010) Julianne Moore (2011) Claire Danes (2012) Marion Cotillard (2013) Helen Mirren (2014) Amy Poehler (2015) Kerry Washington (2016) Octavia Spencer (2017) Mila Kunis (2018) Bryce Dallas Howard (2019) Elizabeth Banks (2020) Viola Davis (2021) Jennifer Garner (2022) Jennifer Coolidge (2023) Annette Bening (2024) Cynthia Erivo (2025)

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

1956–2009

Y. Frank Freeman (1956)
Samuel Goldwyn (1957)
Bob Hope (1959)
Sol Lesser (1960)
George Seaton (1961)
Steve Broidy (1962)
Edmond L. DePatie (1965)
George Bagnall (1966)
Gregory Peck (1967)
Martha Raye (1968)
George Jessel (1969)
Frank Sinatra (1970)
Rosalind Russell (1972)
Lew Wasserman (1973)
Arthur B. Krim (1974)
Jules C. Stein (1975)
Charlton Heston (1977)
Leo Jaffe (1978)
Robert Benjamin (1979)
Danny Kaye (1981)
Walter Mirisch (1982)
M. J. Frankovich (1983)
David L. Wolper (1984)
Charles "Buddy" Rogers (1985)
Howard W. Koch (1989)
Audrey Hepburn / Elizabeth Taylor (1992)
Paul Newman (1993)
Quincy Jones (1994)
Arthur Hiller (2001)
Roger Mayer (2005)
Sherry Lansing (2007)
Jerry Lewis (2009)

2011–present

Oprah Winfrey (2011)
Jeffrey Katzenberg (2012)
Angelina Jolie (2013)
Harry Belafonte (2014)
Debbie Reynolds (2015)
Geena Davis (2019)
Tyler Perry / Motion Picture & Television Fund (2020)
Danny Glover (2021)
Michael J. Fox (2022)
Michelle Satter (2023)
Richard Curtis (2024)

v t e Kennedy Center Honorees (2000s)
2000	Mikhail Baryshnikov Chuck Berry Plácido Domingo Clint Eastwood Angela Lansbury
2001	Julie Andrews Van Cliburn Quincy Jones Jack Nicholson Luciano Pavarotti
2002	James Earl Jones James Levine Chita Rivera Paul Simon Elizabeth Taylor
2003	James Brown Carol Burnett Loretta Lynn Mike Nichols Itzhak Perlman
2004	Warren Beatty Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee Elton John Joan Sutherland John Williams
2005	Tony Bennett Suzanne Farrell Julie Harris Robert Redford Tina Turner
2006	Zubin Mehta Dolly Parton Smokey Robinson Steven Spielberg Andrew Lloyd Webber
2007	Leon Fleisher Steve Martin Diana Ross Martin Scorsese Brian Wilson
2008	Morgan Freeman George Jones Barbra Streisand Twyla Tharp Pete Townshend & Roger Daltrey
2009	Mel Brooks Dave Brubeck Grace Bumbry Robert De Niro Bruce Springsteen
Complete list 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

v t e National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
1945–1975	Joan Crawford (1945) Anna Magnani (1946) Celia Johnson (1947) Olivia de Havilland (1948) Gloria Swanson (1950) Jan Sterling (1951) Shirley Booth (1952) Jean Simmons (1953) Grace Kelly (1954) Anna Magnani (1955) Dorothy McGuire (1956) Joanne Woodward (1957) Ingrid Bergman (1958) Simone Signoret (1959) Greer Garson (1960) Geraldine Page (1961) Anne Bancroft (1962) Patricia Neal (1963) Kim Stanley (1964) Julie Christie (1965) Elizabeth Taylor (1966) Edith Evans (1967) Liv Ullmann (1968) Geraldine Page (1969) Glenda Jackson (1970) Irene Papas (1971) Cicely Tyson (1972) Liv Ullmann (1973) Gena Rowlands (1974) Isabelle Adjani (1975)
1976–2000	Liv Ullmann (1976) Anne Bancroft (1977) Ingrid Bergman (1978) Sally Field (1979) Sissy Spacek (1980) Glenda Jackson (1981) Meryl Streep (1982) Shirley MacLaine (1983) Peggy Ashcroft (1984) Whoopi Goldberg (1985) Kathleen Turner (1986) Lillian Gish / Holly Hunter (1987) Jodie Foster (1988) Michelle Pfeiffer (1989) Mia Farrow (1990) Geena Davis / Susan Sarandon (1991) Emma Thompson (1992) Holly Hunter (1993) Miranda Richardson (1994) Emma Thompson (1995) Frances McDormand (1996) Helena Bonham Carter (1997) Fernanda Montenegro (1998) Janet McTeer (1999) Julia Roberts (2000)
2001–present	Halle Berry (2001) Julianne Moore (2002) Diane Keaton (2003) Annette Bening (2004) Felicity Huffman (2005) Helen Mirren (2006) Julie Christie (2007) Anne Hathaway (2008) Carey Mulligan (2009) Lesley Manville (2010) Tilda Swinton (2011) Jessica Chastain (2012) Emma Thompson (2013) Julianne Moore (2014) Brie Larson (2015) Amy Adams (2016) Meryl Streep (2017) Lady Gaga (2018) Renée Zellweger (2019) Carey Mulligan (2020) Rachel Zegler (2021) Michelle Yeoh (2022) Lily Gladstone (2023) Nicole Kidman (2024)

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress

Greta Garbo (1935)
Luise Rainer (1936)
Greta Garbo (1937)
Margaret Sullavan (1938)
Vivien Leigh (1939)
Katharine Hepburn (1940)
Joan Fontaine (1941)
Agnes Moorehead (1942)
Ida Lupino (1943)
Tallulah Bankhead (1944)
Ingrid Bergman (1945)
Celia Johnson (1946)
Deborah Kerr (1947)
Olivia de Havilland (1948)
Olivia de Havilland (1949)
Bette Davis (1950)
Vivien Leigh (1951)
Shirley Booth (1952)
Audrey Hepburn (1953)
Grace Kelly (1954)
Anna Magnani (1955)
Ingrid Bergman (1956)
Deborah Kerr (1957)
Susan Hayward (1958)
Audrey Hepburn (1959)
Deborah Kerr (1960)
Sophia Loren (1961)
No Award (1962)
Patricia Neal (1963)
Kim Stanley (1964)
Julie Christie (1965)
Lynn Redgrave / Elizabeth Taylor (1966)
Edith Evans (1967)
Joanne Woodward (1968)
Jane Fonda (1969)
Glenda Jackson (1970)
Jane Fonda (1971)
Liv Ullmann (1972)
Joanne Woodward (1973)
Liv Ullmann (1974)
Isabelle Adjani (1975)
Liv Ullmann (1976)
Diane Keaton (1977)
Ingrid Bergman (1978)
Sally Field (1979)
Sissy Spacek (1980)
Glenda Jackson (1981)
Meryl Streep (1982)
Shirley MacLaine (1983)
Peggy Ashcroft (1984)
Norma Aleandro (1985)
Sissy Spacek (1986)
Holly Hunter (1987)
Meryl Streep (1988)
Michelle Pfeiffer (1989)
Joanne Woodward (1990)
Jodie Foster (1991)
Emma Thompson (1992)
Holly Hunter (1993)
Linda Fiorentino (1994)
Jennifer Jason Leigh (1995)
Emily Watson (1996)
Julie Christie (1997)
Cameron Diaz (1998)
Hilary Swank (1999)
Laura Linney (2000)
Sissy Spacek (2001)
Diane Lane (2002)
Hope Davis (2003)
Imelda Staunton (2004)
Reese Witherspoon (2005)
Helen Mirren (2006)
Julie Christie (2007)
Sally Hawkins (2008)
Meryl Streep (2009)
Annette Bening (2010)
Meryl Streep (2011)
Rachel Weisz (2012)
Cate Blanchett (2013)
Marion Cotillard (2014)
Saoirse Ronan (2015)
Isabelle Huppert (2016)
Saoirse Ronan (2017)
Regina Hall (2018)
Lupita Nyong'o (2019)
Sidney Flanigan (2020)
Lady Gaga (2021)
Cate Blanchett (2022)
Lily Gladstone (2023)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste (2024)

Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award

Eddie Cantor (1962)
Stan Laurel (1963)
No Award (1964)
Bob Hope (1965)
Barbara Stanwyck (1966)
William Gargan (1967)
James Stewart (1968)
Edward G. Robinson (1969)
Gregory Peck (1970)
Charlton Heston (1971)
Frank Sinatra (1972)
Martha Raye (1973)
Walter Pidgeon (1974)
Rosalind Russell (1975)
Pearl Bailey (1976)
James Cagney (1977)
Edgar Bergen (1978)
Katharine Hepburn (1979)
Leon Ames (1980)
No Award (1981)
Danny Kaye (1982)
Ralph Bellamy (1983)
Iggie Wolfington (1984)
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward (1985)
Nanette Fabray (1986)
Red Skelton (1987)
Gene Kelly (1988)
Jack Lemmon (1989)
Brock Peters (1990)
Burt Lancaster (1991)
Audrey Hepburn (1992)
Ricardo Montalban (1993)
George Burns (1994)
Robert Redford (1995)
Angela Lansbury (1996)
Elizabeth Taylor (1997)
Kirk Douglas (1998)
Sidney Poitier (1999)
Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee (2000)
Ed Asner (2001)
Clint Eastwood (2002)
Karl Malden (2003)
James Garner (2004)
Shirley Temple (2005)
Julie Andrews (2006)
Charles Durning (2007)
James Earl Jones (2008)
Betty White (2009)
Ernest Borgnine (2010)
Mary Tyler Moore (2011)
Dick Van Dyke (2012)
Rita Moreno (2013)
Debbie Reynolds (2014)
Carol Burnett (2015)
Lily Tomlin (2016)
Morgan Freeman (2017)
Alan Alda (2018)
Robert De Niro (2019)
No Award (2020)
Helen Mirren (2021)
Sally Field (2022)
Barbra Streisand (2023)
Jane Fonda (2024)

v t e Silver Bear for Best Actress
1956–1975	Elsa Martinelli (1956) Yvonne Mitchell (1957) Anna Magnani (1958) Shirley MacLaine (1959) Juliette Mayniel (1960) Anna Karina (1961) Rita Gam / Viveca Lindfors (1962) Bibi Andersson (1963) Sachiko Hidari (1964) Madhur Jaffrey (1965) Lola Albright (1966) Edith Evans (1967) Stéphane Audran (1968) Shirley MacLaine / Simone Signoret (1971) Elizabeth Taylor (1972) Kinuyo Tanaka (1975)
1976–2000	Jadwiga Barańska (1976) Lily Tomlin (1977) Gena Rowlands (1978) Hanna Schygulla (1979) Renate Krößner (1980) Barbara Grabowska (1981) Katrin Sass (1982) Yevgeniya Glushenko (1983) Inna Churikova (1984) Jo Kennedy (1985) Marcélia Cartaxo / Charlotte Valandrey (1986) Ana Beatriz Nogueira (1987) Holly Hunter (1988) Isabelle Adjani (1989) Victoria Abril (1991) Maggie Cheung (1992) Michelle Pfeiffer (1993) Crissy Rock (1994) Josephine Siao (1995) Anouk Grinberg (1996) Juliette Binoche (1997) Fernanda Montenegro (1998) Juliane Köhler / Maria Schrader (1999) Bibiana Beglau / Nadja Uhl (2000)
2001–2020	Kerry Fox (2001) Halle Berry (2002) Nicole Kidman / Julianne Moore / Meryl Streep (2003) Catalina Sandino Moreno / Charlize Theron (2004) Julia Jentsch (2005) Sandra Hüller (2006) Nina Hoss (2007) Sally Hawkins (2008) Birgit Minichmayr (2009) Shinobu Terajima (2010) Sareh Bayat / Sarina Farhadi / Leila Hatami / Kimia Hosseini (2011) Rachel Mwanza (2012) Paulina García (2013) Haru Kuroki (2014) Charlotte Rampling (2015) Trine Dyrholm (2016) Kim Min-hee (2017) Ana Brun (2018) Yong Mei (2019) Paula Beer (2020)

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	Germany United States France BnF data Japan Italy Australia Czech Republic Spain 2 Netherlands Norway Latvia Chile Greece Argentina Korea Sweden Poland Israel Catalonia
Academics	CiNii
Artists	MusicBrainz Emmy Awards FID
People	Trove Deutsche Biographie Deutsche Synchronkartei DDB
Other	IdRef NARA SNAC