A British-American actress who, from her early years as a child star with MGM, became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. As one of the world's most famous film stars, she was recognised for her acting ability and for her glamorous lifestyle, beauty and distinctive violet eyes.

Her first success was National Velvet (1944), followed by Father of the Bride (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Butterfield 8 (1960), played the title role in Cleopatra (1963), and married her co-star Richard Burton. They appeared together in 11 films, including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), for which Taylor won a second Academy Award.

From the mid-1970s, she appeared less frequently in film, and made occasional appearances in television and theatre.