Elizabeth Taylor was an actress.
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor , DBE ( February 27 , 1932 -- March 23 , 2011 ) was a British American actress , businesswoman , and humanitarian . She began as a child actress in the early 1940s , and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s . She was next paid a record-breaking $ 1 million to play the title role in the historical epic Cleopatra ( 1963 ) , the most expensive film made up to that point . Taylor 's acting career began to decline in the late 1960s , although she continued starring in films until the mid-1970s , after which she focused on supporting the career of her sixth husband , Senator John Warner .