Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor (Photo/Wikipedia)

Big girls need big diamonds." Elizabeth Taylor

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, also known as Liz Taylor, (but she prefers "Elizabeth"), is an English-born American actress. Known for her acting skills and beauty, as well as her Hollywood lifestyle, including many marriages, Taylor is considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood's golden years, as well as a larger-than-life celebrity.

Elizabeth Taylor began training early for her future film career. At the age of three, Taylor began taking ballet lessons. Shortly after the beginning of World War II, her parents decided to return to the United States to avoid hostilities. Her mother took the children first, while her father remained in London to wrap up matters in the art business. They settled in Los Angeles, California.

I haven't read any of the autobiographies about me." - Elizabeth Taylor

The Taylors climbed the social ladder with far greater ease in Hollywood than they had in London. Among some of Francis Taylor's earliest clientele (he was an art dealer) in his Beverly Hills Hotel art gallery were some of Hollywood's leading stars, among them Howard Duff, Vincent Price, James Mason, Alan Ladd and Greta Garbo.

Another high visibility client was Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. In her column she not only plugged the gallery as a new must-see in the Los Angeles art world she also drew attention to Sara Taylor's (Liz's mother) ill-fated stage career as well as to her beautiful eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. The columnist noted that producer David O. Selznick had not yet cast all the minor roles in his new picture Gone With The Wind, the most talked about motion picture epic in pre-production at that time.

I really don't remember much about Cleopatra. There were a lot of other things going on." - Elizabeth Taylor

According to Hopper, although Taylor had never acted professionally, she seemed an excellent choice to play Bonnie Blue, the daughter of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. The idea was straight away squelched by Francis Taylor who had no interest in letting his seven-year-old daughter pursue an acting career.

But pursue an acting career she still did, as Taylor appeared in her first motion picture at the age of nine in There's One Born Every Minute, her first and only film for Universal Pictures. And, in 1943, it was Taylor's persistence in campaigning for the role of Velvet Brown in MGM's National Velvet that skyrocketed Taylor to stardom at the tender age of 12. Also, many of her back problems have been traced to when she hurt her back falling off a horse during the filming of National Velvet.

Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses." - Elizabeth Taylor

Taylor's portrayal as Amy, in the American classic Little Women (1949) would prove to be her last adolescent role. In October 1948, she sailed aboard the RMS Queen Mary travelling to England where she would begin filming on Conspirator, where she would play her first adult role.

Following many substantial roles in film with more to follow, Taylor played opposite Rock Hudson and James Dean in George Stevens' epic Giant (1956), Taylor was nominated for Academy Awards for her starring roles in the following films: Raintree County (1957) opposite Montgomery Clift, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) opposite Paul Newman, and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).

Everything makes me nervous - except making films." - Elizabeth Taylor

In 1963, Taylor became the highest paid movie star up until she accepted the role as Cleopatra for 20th Century Fox. It was during the filming of that movie that she worked for the first time with future husband Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony.

Burton and Taylor would star together in several films during the decade, including The VIPs (1963), The Sandpiper (1965), and in The Taming of the Shrew (1967).

If someone's dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I'm certainly not dumb enough to turn it down." - Elizabeth Taylor

After her Hollywood heyday, Taylor appeared in occasional film roles. She has also appeared a number of times on television, including the 1973 made-for-TV movie with then husband Richard Burton, titled Divorce His, Divorce Hers. In 1985, she played movie gossip columnist Louella Parsons in the TV film Malice in Wonderland and appeared in the miniseries North and South.

In 2001, she played an agent in the TV film These Old Broads. She has also appeared on a number television series, including the soap operas General Hospital and All My Children, as well as the animated series The Simpsons—once as herself, and once as the voice of Maggie Simpson. Taylor has also acted on the stage, making her Broadway and West End debuts in 1982 with a revival of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes.

The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time.

In 2005, Taylor was a vocal supporter of her friend Michael Jackson in his trial in California on charges of sexually In 2005, Taylor was a vocal supporter of her friend Michael Jackson in his trial in California on charges of sexually exually abusing a child. He was acquitted. She has continued to be a close friend of Jackson's and has been in deep grief since his passsing. She has made a comment about his death.