Elizabeth Taylor : a great actress

This post is dedicated to Elizabeth Taylor who died today (March 23, 2011) surrounded by her four children at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at the age of 79. She was a great actress and she will be deeply missed. We will always remember her performances and her stunning violet eyes. Here is a small biography of that great woman:

Biography: Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in London, England, on February 27, 1932. Elizabeth lived in London until the age of seven, when the family left for the US in 1939.

In Los Angeles, a family friend noticed the strikingly beautiful little Elizabeth and suggested that she be taken for a screen test. Her test impressed executives at Universal Pictures enough to sign her to a contract. Her first foray onto the screen was in There's One Born Every Minute (1942), released when she was ten. The first production she made with MGM was Lassie Come Home (1943), and on the strength of that one film, MGM signed her for a full year. Then came the picture that made Elizabeth a star: MGM's National Velvet (1944). She returned in 1946 in Courage of Lassie (1946). In 1947, when she was 15, she starred in Life with Father (1947). Throughout the rest of the 1940s and into the early 1950s Elizabeth appeared in film after film with mostly good results. Her busiest year was 1954, with roles in Rhapsody (1954), Beau Brummell (1954), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) and Elephant Walk (1954). She was 22 now, and even at that young age was considered one of the world's great beauties. In 1955 she appeared in the hit Giant (1956) with James Dean. The next year saw Elizabeth star in Raintree County (1957) Elizabeth was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Southern belle Susanna Drake. In 1958 Elizabeth starred as Maggie Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). The film received rave reviews from the critics and Elizabeth was nominated again for an Academy Award for best actress (1958). In 1959 she appeared in another mega-hit and received yet another Oscar nomination for Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). Her Oscar drought ended in 1960 when she brought home the coveted statue for her flawless performance in BUtterfield 8 (1960) as Gloria Wandrous. In 1963 she starred in Kleopatra (1963). Her performance as the loudmouthed, shrewish, unkempt Martha was easily her finest to date in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). read more