Elizabeth Taylor: A Life in Pictures

Today would have been Elizabeth Taylor's 94th birthday. With a career that spanned over six decades, she is one of the most iconic stars in cinema history. Born in London, England, on February 27, 1932, she made her screen debut at the age of 10, in Universal's There's One Born Every Minute (1942), and quickly achieve stardom in MGM's hugely successful sports drama National Velvet (1944). Transitioning to adult roles when she turned 18, she became one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1950s, gaining critical acclaimed for her roles in A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956) and Cat in a Hot Tin Roof (1958). By the 1960s, she had become the highest-paid movie star in the world, winning Academy Awards for her outstanding performances in BUtterfield 8 (1960) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

 

Apart from a stellar film career, she was also a dedicated philanthropist. In the mid-1980s, she was one of the first celebrities to lend her voice to HIV/AIDS activism, helping raise millions of dollars to the cause. Additionally, she founded several organizations — including the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation — to not only support research, but also to raise awareness and provide free testing and medical care to those suffering from the disease. In between, she married eight times (twice to the same man), had four children, converted to Judaism, and endured several serious illnesses. 

 

While the turmoil of her personal life often overshadowed her accomplishments, the legacy she left on film, fashion and philanthropy is enduring and undeniable. To celebrate the star, the icon, the woman that was Elizabeth Taylor, here is her life in pictures.

 

 As a child in 1934.

 

With her brother, Howard, and their dog circa 1937. 

 

In a promotional photo for There's One Born Every Minute.

 

With her pet dogs (left to right) Monty, Twinkle and Spot, in 1945.

 

In an MGM studio portrait from 1945.

 

In a promotional photo for Cynthia (1947). 

 

Photographed by Luis Lemus for Vogue magazine in April 1948. 

 

Photographed by Chris Ware in Trafalgar Square in London, in November 1948. 

 

 With her first husband, Conrad «Nicky» Hilton Jr., after their wedding ceremony on May 6, 1950.

 

In a portrait from circa 1950.

 

With her second husband, Michael Wilding, after their wedding ceremony at Caxton Hall in London, on February 21, 1952. (Photo by Ron Burton.) 

 

 

At the atelier of the dressmakers Fontana Sisters in Rome, Italy, in September 1953.

 

 Photographed by Sanford Roth at her home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, in 1954.

 

Promotional portrait for Elephant Walk (1954). 

 

With her sons, Michael (left) and Christopher Wilding, circa 1955.

 

With Rock Hudson in Giant.

 

With James Dean on the set of Giant in Marfa, Texas, in July 1955. (Photo by Richard C. Miller.)

 

With her third husband, Mike Todd, and their month-old daughter, Liza, leaving the Harkness Pavillion medical facility in New York City for home on September 3, 1957. Liza had been born prematurely on August 6.

  

With Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

 

With her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher, after their wedding at Temple Beth Shalom in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 12, 1959. 

 

On location in Spain during the making of Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).

 

Holding her first Oscar backstage at the 33rd Academy Awards ceremony on April 17, 1961, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California. 

 

 In Cleopatra (1963).

 

Photographed by Douglas Kirkland during the filming of The V.I.P.s (1963). 

 

With Richard Burton during the filming of Becket (1964), in which he played the title role. She was still legally married to Eddie Fisher at that time. (Photo by Graham Stark.)

 

With Richard Burton after their first wedding, at the Ritz-Carlton Montréal in Canada, on March 15, 1964. (Photo by William Lovelace for the Evening Standard).

 

With Richard Burton in a promotional photo for The Sandpiper (1965).

 

On the set of The Sandpiper (1965).

 

Holding her Oscar for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Grosvenor Hotel, London, on April 26, 1967. She did not attend the ceremony in Los Angeles on April 10, and was informed of her having won the award in London. Apparently, she was so frustrated by Richard Burton's loss of the Best Actor award that she refused to hold a press conference for two weeks.

 

At a social function in September 1967.

 

On the set of Boom! (1968).

 

 

Photographed by Tim Boxer at the New York Film Critics Awards dinner at Sardi's restaurant, in January 1977.

 

Backstage at the 59th Academy Awards on March 30, 1987. (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr.)

 

At the 64th Annual Academy Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, on March 30, 1992. (Photo by Jim Smeal.) 

 

Photographed by Vinnie Zuffante in the 65th Academy Awards press room at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, on March 29, 1993. She is holding her Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.