ACTOR
Elizabeth Taylor
127 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (127)
- #001
During the filming of BUtterfield 8 (1960), at one point in her life-threatening illness, Elizabeth Taylor was actually declared dead.
- #002
Elizabeth Taylor was the first actress to earn $1,000,000 for a film role, for Cleopatra (1963).
- #003
In 1963, when the highest-paid American executive earned $650,000 and President Lyndon B. Johnson's salary was $150,000, Elizabeth Taylor was earning at least $2.4 million.
- #004
Elizabeth Taylor underwent a tubal ligation at age 25 and a hysterectomy at age 36.
- #005
In a 1999 interview with Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Taylor admitted she was still willing to act but that no film company would insure her because of her health problems. Along with many other medical issues, including a benign brain tumor, she had broken her back four times, which caused severe pain when she walked or stood for long periods.
- #006
Elizabeth Taylor's first husband, Conrad Hilton Jr., was physically abusive, partly because of a drug problem.
- #007
Elizabeth Taylor appeared solo on the cover of PEOPLE magazine 14 times, placing her second only to Princess Diana as of 1996.
- #008
Elizabeth Taylor's third husband, Mike Todd, gave her a 29-carat diamond ring during their marriage, and her fifth husband, Richard Burton, topped that with the 69-carat "Burton-Cartier" diamond (later renamed the "Burton-Taylor"). Her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher, said a $50,000 diamond could keep Taylor happy for about four days.
- #009
Elizabeth Taylor and her husband Mike Todd planned for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) to be her last film because she intended to retire from the screen. Todd had a verbal agreement with MGM on the matter, but after his death MGM forced Taylor to make BUtterfield 8 (1960) to fulfill the terms of her studio contract. As a result, Taylor refused to speak to the director throughout the production and hated the film.
- #010
In the 1950s, Elizabeth Taylor had a wonderful and loyal friendship with actor James Dean, who appeared with her in Giant (1956). Dean died suddenly in a car crash in Cholame, California, in the early fall of 1955, just before the completion of Giant's production. Taylor was reportedly so distressed and devastated by the news of her close friend's tragic death that she had to be hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital for several days.
- #011
Elizabeth Taylor's former husband Larry Fortensky underwent five hours of brain surgery after falling from a balcony on January 28, 1999, and remained in a coma for six weeks. Taylor immediately notified the hospital that she would personally guarantee all of his medical expenses.
- #012
Elizabeth Taylor owned some of the world's most magnificent jewels, including the 33-carat "Krupp Diamond," the Duchess of Windsor's diamond brooch, the Grand Duchess of Russia emeralds, the "La Peregrina Pearl" (a Valentine's Day gift from Richard Burton), and the famous pear-shaped 69-carat "Burton-Cartier Diamond" (later renamed the "Burton-Taylor Diamond") that Burton gave her in 1969.
- #013
Elizabeth Taylor auctioned off the diamond and emerald engagement ring Richard Burton gave her to raise money for an AIDS charity.
- #014
Elizabeth Taylor was the godmother of Prince Jackson, the son of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe.
- #015
In a 2007 interview with Mary Hart of Entertainment Tonight (1981), Elizabeth Taylor revealed that she had recently phoned her former husband Eddie Fisher and spoken to him for the first time in about forty years.
- #016
After Elizabeth Taylor's son Michael renounced his American citizenship over a marijuana possession charge, the U.S. Congress passed a bill preventing his deportation (1988).
- #017
In his biography, Robert Wagner said it was pointless to wait for Elizabeth Taylor to come to breakfast, because by the time she arrived it was time for dinner.
- #018
As part of the 2000 New Year Honours List, Elizabeth Taylor was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on New Year's Eve 1999, alongside Julie Andrews, for services to drama.
- #019
After the death of her husband Mike Todd, Taylor and Todd's son filed a $5,000,000 negligence lawsuit against Ayer Lease Plan, Inc. They were awarded only $40,000, of which $13,000 went to legal fees. The remaining $27,000 went to their daughter Frances.
- #020
Taylor and Shirley Jones are the only actresses to win Oscars for playing prostitutes in the same year: Taylor for BUtterfield 8 (1960) (Best Actress) and Jones for Elmer Gantry (1960) (Best Supporting Actress).
- #021
The premiere of Father of the Bride (1950) took place two days after Taylor's real-life marriage to Conrad Hilton Jr. The publicity surrounding the event is credited with helping the film become so successful. The marriage lasted until a three-month European honeymoon. Irreconcilable differences were cited in divorce court.
- #022
Taylor was unable to attend her friend Sir Elton John's civil partnership ceremony in England because of illness. (December 2005).
- #023
By the time she was only 15, Taylor had appeared on the cover of Life magazine a record 14 times, more than any other film star.
- #024
In February 1972, Raquel Welch upset Taylor when she crashed Taylor's birthday party after Taylor had specifically invited her.
- #025
Taylor's painful hip replacements in the mid-1990s contributed greatly to the end of her last marriage.
- #026
Elizabeth Taylor was unable to testify at Michael Jackson's trial due to illness.
- #027
Sharon Tate was fired as an extra from The Sandpiper (1965) in 1964 because Taylor did not want fans comparing their looks and youth.
- #028
Along with Mark Hamill and Joe Mantegna, Elizabeth Taylor was one of three actors who played both themselves and a fictional character on The Simpsons (1989). She voiced Maggie Simpson in the fourth-season episode "Lisa's First Word" and portrayed herself in the fourth-season episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled."
- #029
In 1951, Elizabeth Taylor received a $500,000 divorce settlement from Conrad Hilton Jr.
- #030
Elizabeth Taylor did not like people addressing her by the nickname "Liz."
- #031
Taylor underwent more than 40 surgeries and was hospitalized at least 100 times during her life. In 2010, she was reported to have told doctors that she no longer wanted life-saving surgery despite her daily suffering.
- #032
Michael Jackson's music video "Leave Me Alone" (from the 1987 album Bad) was created as a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor; several clips from her most famous films were taken and mixed using the CGI technology available at the time.
- #033
In 2006, she donated $500,000 to the New Orleans AIDS Task Force to purchase a mobile medical unit for AIDS patients in New Orleans.
- #034
Although Taylor was raised as a Christian Scientist, she converted to Judaism in 1959 at the age of 27. Saying she had always been interested in Judaism, she denied that her conversion stemmed from her marriages to Mike Todd or Eddie Fisher (both of whom were Jewish). Her conversion took place at Temple Israel of Hollywood, where she studied the Torah and Jewish history and traditions under the supervision of Rabbi Max Nussbaum. It is customary for converts to take the Hebrew equivalent of their name after converting (since those born Jewish would not receive one shortly after birth as they do); Taylor's was Elisheba Rachel, Elisheba being the Hebrew for "Elizabeth" and Rachel the name of Jacob's second wife in the Torah.
- #035
In her late teens she had a nose job, and in her late fifties she had a chin implant.
- #036
Between the ages of 18 and 58, she was a heavy smoker, usually two packs a day. In 1990, after a severe bout of pneumonia, she finally quit on her doctor's advice.
- #037
She had four children. Two sons with Michael Wilding: Michael Howard (born January 6, 1953) and Christopher Edward (born February 27, 1955). Her daughter with Mike Todd, Elizabeth Frances Todd, known as "Liza," was born on August 6, 1957. Her adopted daughter Maria McKeown (adopted in 1962 with Eddie Fisher; re-adopted in 1964 with Richard Burton) was born on January 8, 1961.
- #038
In 1976, she won the title "Most Memorable Eyebrows" in a magazine poll. Lassie came in second.
- #039
Before marrying Conrad Hilton Jr. at 18, Taylor had been engaged twice: at 16 to football player Glenn Davis and at 17 to U.S. Army pilot William Pawley Jr.
- #040
She actively sought the role of Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady (1964), but Audrey Hepburn was cast instead.
- #041
Although she played their mother in Giant (1956), Taylor was only 2 years older than Fran Bennett, 4 years older than Dennis Hopper, and 9 months younger than Carroll Baker.
- #042
Seven months after giving birth to her daughter Liza Todd, she returned to work to begin filming Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958).
- #043
Elizabeth Taylor turned down the lead role in Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), which required shooting in Mexico, because she wanted to film in Spain, where Richard Burton was making his latest film.
- #044
Debbie Reynolds was Taylor's honorary matron of honor at her wedding to Mike Todd.
- #045
Taylor once admitted that she could not live without painkillers.
- #046
Taylor was a bridesmaid at Jane Powell's first wedding, and Powell was a bridesmaid at Taylor's first wedding.
- #047
Taylor underwent successful surgery to remove a benign brain tumor.
- #048
Taylor's daughter Liza Todd, whose father was Mike Todd, is a sculptor; with her husband, the artist Hap Tivey, she has two sons named Quinn and Rhys.
- #049
Liz and Richard Burton appeared together on stage in a 1983 revival of "Private Lives."
- #050
Because many of her husbands came from large families, Taylor had more than 35 brothers-in-law.
- #051
Taylor did not attend the 75th Academy Awards (2003) because of her opposition to the Iraq war.
- #052
Taylor received the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award.
- #053
The AIDS organization amfAR raised 83 million dollars in the twelve years after its founding in 1985.
- #054
Taylor's first Oscar nomination, for Raintree County (1957), was the first of four consecutive nominations, a feat she shares with Jennifer Jones (1943-1946), Thelma Ritter (1950-1953), Marlon Brando (1951-1954) and Al Pacino (1972-1975).
- #055
In July 2008, Taylor was hospitalized with congestive heart failure and pneumonia and was briefly placed on life support.
- #056
Taylor gave birth to all three of her biological children by cesarean section.
- #057
Although Taylor was born in England, her parents were actually American and were working in England. Her ancestry included English (with many colonial American roots going back to the 1600s), Swiss-German (through an immigrant maternal great-great-grandfather), Northern Irish (Scots-Irish), French and, more distantly, Dutch, Welsh and Danish.
- #058
Taylor appeared on more than 1,000 magazine covers worldwide.
- #059
Taylor was the stepmother of the late Michael Todd Jr., who was in fact three years older than she was.
- #060
Taylor played her first on-screen grandmother role at age 23 in Giant (1956); she had been aged for the part.
- #061
Taylor counted Michael Jackson among her closest friends.
- #062
In 2003, Elizabeth Taylor announced her retirement from acting.
- #063
Elizabeth Taylor's ex-husband Larry Fortensky died in July 2016 at the age of 64, having been in a coma since May. News of Larry's death was confirmed by those close to him on Facebook and Twitter, but no official press statement was made until April 2017.
- #064
The Biography (1987) episode about her was the highest-rated episode of the series on Arts & Entertainment (until the end of 1995).
- #065
She was the visual inspiration for the original illustrations of Carol Ferris (created in 1959). Ferris was created as the love interest of Green Lantern/Hal Jordan and eventually became the superhero Star Sapphire. Taylor was 27 years old when the character was created.
- #066
She was the godmother of Paris Jackson, the daughter of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe.
- #067
Twelve perfumes and colognes were released: Passion 1988, Passion for Men 1989, White Diamonds 1991, Diamonds and Emeralds 1993, Diamonds and Rubies 1993, Diamonds and Sapphires 1993, Black Pearls 1996, Sparkling White Diamonds 1999, Brilliant White Diamonds 2001, Forever Elizabeth 2002, Gardenia 2003 and Violet Eyes 2010.
- #068
She was considered for the role of Alexis on Dynasty (1981).
- #069
Her last wedding is estimated to have cost 1.5 million dollars.
- #070
Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 6336 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- #071
There is a street named after her in Iowa City, Iowa.
- #072
MGM's publicity department announced on 18 July 1956 that she had separated from Michael Wilding. (They had been sleeping in separate bedrooms for more than a year.) Taylor and Mike Todd, who had met on 30 June, began dating the next day and made it official on the red carpet in early September.
- #073
Norma Heyman was her matron of honour at her wedding to Larry Fortensky.
- #074
She was engaged to the Mexican lawyer Victor Luna.
- #075
She (along with Marisa Berenson) was a matron of honour at Liza Minnelli and David Gest's wedding.
- #076
She was named the 11th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
- #077
She was engaged 13 times: she married eight of them and called off five.
- #078
Her biological grandchildren are Leila (b. 25 July 1971), Naomi (b. 2 January 1975) and Tarquin (b. 21 July 1989) through her son Michael Wilding Jr.; Andrew (b. 20 October 1984) and Lowell (b. 8 August 1992) through her son Christopher Edward Wilding; and Quinn (b. 30 April 1986) and Rhys (b. early December 1990) through her daughter Liza Todd. Her adopted grandchildren are Eliza (b. 5 November 1982) and Richard (b. 2001) through her adopted daughter Maria McKeown; and Caleb (b. 12 July 1983) through Christopher.
- #079
George Segal, her co-star in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), died on 23 March 2021, exactly 10 years after her.
- #080
On the evening of Monday, 8 November 2010, an Andy Warhol painting from 1962 titled "Men in Her Life", based on an image of Elizabeth Taylor among her husbands, was put up for auction at Phillips de Pury & Company's new salesroom on Park Avenue in New York City. An unidentified bidder bought it for 63.3 million dollars.
- #081
Her daughter Elizabeth "Liza" Frances was born six weeks prematurely in 1957 and weighed 4 lbs 14 oz at birth.
- #082
Her beloved Maltese dog Sugar died in 2005. A few months later she bought Daisy, one of Sugar's grandchildren.
- #083
She became a Fellow of the British Film Institute for her outstanding contribution to film culture.
- #084
In 2002 she underwent radiation therapy for basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer.
- #085
She was only 34 when she made her last successful film. Curiously, the Best Actress Oscar for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) did nothing for Taylor's career, and she appeared in only 12 more feature films; apart from the unreleased Young Toscanini (1988), that number was zero after The Mirror Crack'd (1980).
- #086
She was the mother of Christopher Edward Wilding and Michael Wilding Jr.
- #087
She was a recipient of the 2002 John F. Kennedy Center Honor.
- #088
She was the former stepmother of Carrie Fisher, Todd Fisher, Kate Burton, Jessica Burton, Virginia Warner, John Warner Jr., Mary Warner and Julie Fortensky Henderson.
- #089
She became a great-grandmother in 1998.
- #090
At the age of 3, she was chosen to take part in a performance for the Royal Family because she had earned the highest marks in her class.
- #091
She was the mother-in-law of Brooke Palance and Margaret Carlton.
- #092
The cancellation of her appearance at the Cannes Film Festival renewed fears about her health. The acting legend usually attended the annual charity dinner organized by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), which always coincided with the festival in the south of France. In 2004, however, Taylor withdrew due to health problems and was replaced at the gala by Sharon Stone and Liza Minnelli. (May 2005).
- #093
She was inducted into the California Hall of Fame in Sacramento (December 5, 2007).
- #094
She graduated from University High School in 1950.
- #095
Elizabeth paid for the expensive surgery to correct the deformed hip of her adopted daughter Maria, who was born in Germany and grew up to become a successful model.
- #096
She married all over the world: Beverly Hills, California (1950); London, England (1952); Acapulco, Mexico (1957); Las Vegas, Nevada (1959); Montreal, Canada (1964); Kasane, Botswana (1975); Middleburg, Virginia (1976); Los Olivos, California (1991).
- #097
She was portrayed by Sherilyn Fenn in the film Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story (1995).
- #098
She became the 53rd actor to win an Oscar; on April 17, 1961, at the 33rd Annual Academy Awards (1961), she won the Best Actress Oscar for BUtterfield 8 (1960).
- #099
Elizabeth Taylor had five Barbie dolls made in her likeness.
- #100
Empire magazine named Elizabeth Taylor one of the 100 sexiest stars in film history (#16).
- #101
Elizabeth Taylor underwent heart surgery in October 2009 to repair a leaking valve.
- #102
Elizabeth Taylor often had her hair done by Alexandre, Carrie White, José Eber or Larry Wagoner.
- #103
Mara Taylor (her brother's wife) was the Honorary Chief Nurse at Elizabeth Taylor's wedding to Eddie Fisher.
- #104
In the last decade of her life, none of Elizabeth Taylor's children lived nearby. Her two sons moved to New Mexico in the 1990s, her daughter lived in the northern part of New York, and her adopted daughter lived in Idaho.
- #105
Elizabeth Taylor ranked 7th on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Greatest American Screen Legends, which comprised the top 25 men and top 25 women.
- #106
In the early 1970s, Elizabeth Taylor planned to star in a film version of George Furth's successful 1971 Broadway play "Twigs," in which she would have played four characters (three sisters and their elderly, cantankerous Bronx-Irish mother), but the project never came to fruition.
- #107
Cher took the lead role in Faithful (1996) that had been intended for Elizabeth Taylor.
- #108
In 1961, during a film festival in Acapulco, Mexico, Elizabeth Taylor discovered a handmade chair in a local market. She contributed to the redesign, production and purchase of many new pieces. Today this chair is known as the famous 'Acapulco Chair' and is the best-selling one.
- #109
Elizabeth Taylor had visibly purple eyes. Although real, purple is the rarest naturally occurring eye color, and less than 1% of the world's population has naturally purple eyes. Albinism in the eyes results from a mixture of red and blue colors on the iris.
- #110
Elizabeth Taylor was planned for What a Way to Go! (1964) but dropped out, and the role went to Shirley MacLaine.
- #111
Elizabeth Taylor was the daughter of Sara Taylor.
- #112
Elizabeth Taylor once wanted to be a ballerina, but she said she wasn't made for it.
- #113
Among the pets Elizabeth Taylor and her family had in the 1940s were two cats named Jeepers and Creepers.
- #114
Elizabeth Taylor usually woke up between 9 and 10 in the morning; however, in the early 2000s she was reported to sleep until noon on a typical day.
- #115
Elizabeth Taylor was a great supporter of the state of Israel.
- #116
Elizabeth Taylor is one of 19 actors who received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for a performance in which she gave birth and/or portrayed giving birth; hers was for Raintree County (1957). In chronological order, the others are: Luise Rainer for The Good Earth (1937), Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda (1948), Eleanor Parker for Caged (1950), Leslie Caron for The L-Shaped Room (1962), Shirley MacLaine for Irma la Douce (1963), Vanessa Redgrave for Isadora (1968), Geneviève Bujold for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Marsha Mason for Cinderella Liberty (1973), Ann-Margret for Tommy (1975), Ellen Burstyn for Same Time, Next Year (1978), Jessica Lange for Sweet Dreams (1985), Meryl Streep for A Cry in the Dark (1988), Samantha Morton for In America (2002), Elliot Page for Juno (2007), Gabourey Sidibe for Precious (2009), Ruth Negga for Loving (2016), Yalitza Aparicio for Roma (2018) and Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman (2020).
- #117
After their wedding at Neverland, which was crowded with paparazzi, Liz and Larry held a second reception at her grandmother Mary McGill's house in Stockton, California. Guests at this unannounced, improvised ceremony included Janet Jackson, Mr. T, Bette Midler and Steven Spielberg. The highway patrol closed two intersections in Mary's neighborhood from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; fire engines and police cars parked on both sides of the street as a blockade. They raised a white tarp over the backyard fence so no one could look in.
- #118
Elizabeth Taylor is distantly related by marriage to Dawn Wells, the actress famous for Gilligan's Island (1964). Wells's third cousin William E. Wells was the second husband of Helen Altermott (they were married briefly in the early '50s, and two of Altermott's six children were with him). Altermott's stepsister Dorothy Lacy was Larry Fortensky's mother and Taylor's former mother-in-law.
- #119
Elizabeth Taylor's older brother, Howard Taylor, was born in 1929.
- #120
At one point, Elizabeth Taylor was set to appear alongside Richard Burton in The Public Eye (1972). See the film's trivia page for more information.
- #121
Elizabeth Taylor was engaged to New York businessman Dennis Stein.
- #122
Elizabeth Taylor was replaced by Angie Dickinson for the role of Miss Adrian in the film Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993).
- #123
Elizabeth Taylor was considered to play Mary Magdalene in both The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and Jesus of Nazareth (1977).
- #124
Elizabeth Taylor owned some of the world's largest and most famous jewels, including the 33-carat Krupp Diamond.
- #125
Elizabeth Taylor was a close friend of Carole Bayer Sager.
- #126
Elizabeth Taylor is mentioned in Walter Kirn's novel "Thumbsucker."
- #127
In Italy, Elizabeth Taylor was dubbed by Germana Calderini until the mid-1950s. As she matured, Fiorella Betti became her voice. For two of her most famous roles — Leslie Lynnton Benedict in Giant (1956) and Catherine Holly in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) — Taylor was dubbed by Micaela Giustiniani and Lydia Simoneschi respectively; it was the only time either actress voiced her.
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