Elizabeth Taylor is many things to many different people: some regard her as an enigmatic personality onscreen that lacked depth in personal life; others found her to be the most riveting actress that ever graced the silver screen; still others are awed at the depth with which she portrays her roles; and last but not least are those that simply dismiss her impressive artistic career and instead point to her eight failed marriages and bouts with drug addiction. No matter what your personal opinion of classic film star Elizabeth Taylor may be, two things are without doubt the truth: she is the first million dollar actress and you know who she is. 

The names of her husbands read like a venerable who’s who: first came hotel heir Conrad Hilton, Jr., then actor Michael Wilding, producer Mike Todd, actor Eddie Fisher, actor Richard Burton (twice), politician John Warner, construction worker Larry Fortensky to name but a few. Her movie career had a large number of notable ups and downs, and she is known for her box office hits as much as she is for her box office flops.

Ms. Taylor’s long silver screen career began at the tender age of nine when she starred in “There’s One born Every Minute.” Her first leading role came during the movie adaptation of the much beloved book “National Velvet” by Enid Bagnold in which she plays the role of Velvet Brown who trains a horse which goes on to win the Grand National Championship. Practically overnight, this success propelled her into the league of noted child actors and she received a lucrative long-term contract from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

What is not possible for many child actors was indeed a snap for Ms. Taylor: she managed to leave the child actress label behind and starred in her first all grown up role in Jack Conway’s comedy “Julia Misbehaves.” This foray into the grown up world of movie making proved to be so successful that she also managed to once again transition into the role of the love interest in the 1949 movie “Conspirator.”

Sadly, many of her performances in the 1950s went largely unnoticed until 1957, when she starred in Edward Dmytryk’s masterpiece “Raintree County.” This performance finally netted her the national attention she deserved and it she received an Oscar nomination for best actress. It was also right around this time that she became serious tabloid fodder because of her many romances, some of them ruthlessly breaking up marriages. The Oscar for best actress would be hers after starring in Daniel Mann’s 1960s drama “Butterfield 8.”

Partially because of the negative tabloid publicity that went hand in hand with the scandals surrounding her personal love life, she became a hot property in studio circles, and it was in the wake of the 1960 success that she was given the part of Cleopatra and paid with an unprecedented one million dollars. Even though the movie was a surprising flop, she would have one more memorable role in the 1966 starring along then husband Richard Burton in Mike Nichols’ famous drama “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” This role won her another Oscar.

After this monumental role, all her other roles appeared to pale, and she eventually became a bit of a caricature of her own self, starring as voice talent cameo appearances in such series as “The Simpsons.” Even though she took on stage roles and managed to very so often make a startling television appearance, it appeared that her star was sinking.

It was during this time that Elizabeth Taylor threw herself into her philanthropic work which would gain much acclaim worldwide. At this time, the ageing actress is confined to a wheelchair, suffers from congestive heart failure, had numerous fractures to her spine, and is a cancer survivor.

Elizabeth Taylor is without a doubt the most famous actress that has ever moved the audiences during the hay day of the silver screen.  Her performances are legendary, her scandals notorious, and her overall attitude for being all that a classic movie actress should have been was right on target. In spite of her personal tragedies and shortfalls, there is nobody who has not been moved by one of her many notable performances.