ACTOR
Rod Taylor
27 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (27)
- #001
In the early 1970s, Rod Taylor saved the Australian Opera (now Opera Australia) with a donation of $250,000.
- #002
By the time Quentin Tarantino offered him the role of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Inglourious Basterds (2009), Taylor had fully retired from acting. Taylor initially turned the role down and suggested that Tarantino should cast Albert Finney (who had won great acclaim as Churchill in The Gathering Storm (2002)), but the director eventually persuaded him.
- #003
Rod Taylor became a US citizen in 1982.
- #004
About two weeks before his death, Rod Taylor fell and was hospitalized. He returned home and then suffered a heart attack, dying in his bed at his home in Beverly Hills, CA, surrounded by family and friends.
- #005
Before turning to acting, Rod Taylor briefly pursued a career as a painter.
- #006
Although his heavy drinking in the late 1960s caused his career to decline, Rod Taylor was widely regarded as one of the handsomest leading men of his generation.
- #007
20th Century-Fox considered Rod Taylor for the astronaut role in Planet of the Apes (1968) but gave the part to Charlton Heston, perhaps in order to achieve greater box-office revenue.
- #008
Rod Taylor ran his own TV production company, Rodlor Inc.
- #009
In the early 1950s, Rod Taylor played Tarzan in an Australian children's radio series.
- #010
Rod Taylor was once engaged to Anita Ekberg, who died four days after him.
- #011
Rod Taylor was initially considered for the role of Roper in Enter the Dragon (1973), but he was deemed too tall compared with Bruce Lee, with whom he would have shared many action scenes (the role was later played by John Saxon).
- #012
Before Charlton Heston was cast, Rod Taylor was considered for the role of Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968).
- #013
Rod Taylor's father was a steel construction contractor and painter, and his mother was a children's book author.
- #014
Rod Taylor initially planned to become an artist and studied at the East Sydney Technical and Fine Arts College in his youth. He became interested in acting after seeing Laurence Olivier in "Richard III" on the Old Vic tour, which inspired him to become an actor.
- #015
Rod Taylor is one of two actors to have appeared in films directed by both Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino; the other is Bruce Dern.
- #016
Rod Taylor and Anita Ekberg broke off their engagement a year after becoming engaged.
- #017
Rod Taylor was considered to star opposite John Wayne in Rio Bravo (1959), Circus World (1964) and The War Wagon (1967), and he eventually worked with Wayne on The Train Robbers (1973).
- #018
Rod Taylor's second wife, Mary Beth Hilem, died on March 7, 2009.
- #019
Rod Taylor was the father of Felicia Taylor and the husband of his second wife, Mary.
- #020
Rod Taylor later said that focusing so much on action films in the late 1960s had been a mistake.
- #021
Rod Taylor met his wife Carol Kikumura in 1960 while they were both working as extras on the series Hong Kong (1960). They dated briefly, but split when Carol moved to Las Vegas. The couple rekindled their romance in 1971 and dated steadily for another nine years before finally marrying in 1980.
- #022
Rod Taylor appeared in three films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Giant (1956), Separate Tables (1958) and Inglourious Basterds (2009).
- #023
Rod Taylor's father was William Sturt Taylor and his mother was Mona Stewart.
- #024
Rod Taylor studied at East Sydney Art College.
- #025
Rod Taylor gave his height as 5'10".
- #026
Rod Taylor's films after the 1960s were generally seen by very few viewers.
- #027
Rod Taylor was paid $50,000 for his role in "The Birds" and worked on the film for sixteen weeks, four weeks longer than expected. Alfred Hitchcock also preferred to engage him for as many as three more films in the future, but as it turned out, this was the only film they worked on together.
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