Elizabeth Taylor: The Girl With the Beautiful 'Violet Eyes' Turns 79 Today
Posted: Sunday, February 27, 2011
by Linda LaVoire
Today is Liz Taylors' birthday. She was born on February 27, 1932 in Hampstead (North West London) to an American couple living in England. She was the second child of Francis Lenn Taylor and Sara Viola Warmbrodt. The family decided to return to the United States at the beginning of World War II and settled in Los Angeles, CA.
Over the course of some 60+ years, Liz made over 75 films, tv appearances and animated voice overs. Among just a few of my favorites are: National Velvet (1944) in which she played Velvet Brown, Father of the Bride (1950) starring as Kay Banks, A Place in the Sun (1951) portraying the role of Angela Vickers.
The film, National Velvet, is the one that shot Liz to stardom at the age of 12. Liz's striking beauty and her uncanny ability to film a scene in one take, earned her respect and solidified her place with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Elizabeth won two Academy Awards for her roles in Butterfield 8 (1960) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), both for best actress. She was nominated 3 other times for best actress by the Academy for Raintree County (1957), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and Suddenly Last Summer (1959). She was also awarded the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Academy Award (1992) for her tireless work fighting Aids.
Ms. Taylor is also renowned as a jewelry designer/collector and for her fragrances. White Diamonds perfume has been on the top 10 list of fragrances for almost 2 decades.
Through the course of the years, Liz has had many love affairs and was married 8 times to 7 different men. Below is a list of her marriages:
Conrad Hilton (1950 - 1951)
Michael Wilding (1952 - 1957)
Michael Todd (1957 - 1958)
Eddie Fisher (1959 - 1964)
Richard Burton (1964 - 1974) and again from (1975 - 1976)
John Warner (1976 - 1982)
Larry Fortensky (1991 - 1996)
Ms. Taylor had four children with 3 of her husbands.
With Michael Wilding: Michael Howard Wilding (1953), Christopher Edward Wilding (1955)
With Michael Todd: Elizabeth Frances Todd (1957)
With Richard Burton: Maria Burton (1961; adopted 1964)
Ms. Taylor became a grandmother for the first time in 1971 and to date has 39 grandchildren.
Liz has had many illnesses and injuries over the years, including pneumonia (twice), a broken back (five times), had both hips replaced, a benign brain tumor (removed), skin cancer and (in 2004) was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Ms. Taylor was hospitalized earlier this month due to complications of her congestive heart failure.
Happy Birthday Liz! You've lived an amazing life!
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)I really liked her movie "The Taming of the Shrew". Thank you for reminding us of someone very rare who possessed both beauty and talent. We don't get to see such personalities these days.Thanks, DM, for reading my article and for commenting. I agree, we don't see the same caliber of actress any more.
She's really one of a kind, isn't she? I love her in her early movies. Later her ego got in the way, for me, but I still respect her for being such a diva and an icon.Thanks, Jen, for reading and commenting. I think you're right about her ego... but I still liked most of her movies. My favorites are her earliest ones... I especially loved "National Velvet".
A wonderful woman, and as beautiful today as the day she was born, 79 years ago.Thanks for reading my article, David. I don't think there were many as stunningly beautiful as she was when she was younger. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Linda, a good and thorough article. As is obvious, she was just the right age for ME! I used to wonder how in the world I could somehow get acquainted with her. I'd probably still be trying to find that out except your mother came along and put a stop to it. She was once chosen (by whom or what, I've forgotten) as the most beautiful woman in the world. I almost agree. But she is a close second.Hi Daddy! Thanks for the nice comments. I think when she was younger (just my opinion) that she WAS the most beautiful woman in the world. Did you know she was born with a mutation? She was born with double rows of eyelashes!! That could only have been a blessing. She never needed to wear false ones. ;-) Personally, daddy, I think you did MUCH better with mama. hehehe
How about it! As often as she divorced men, there is no telling what I might have done. At least Mama has hung in there with me.
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