Leigh Taylor-Young
Encyclopedia
Leigh Taylor-Young is an American
actress
who has appeared on stage, screen, and television.
Her last name is an amalgamation of the last names of her father, a diplomat, and her stepfather, a successful Detroit executive. Her younger siblings are actress and sculptor Dey Young
and writer/director Lance Young. Taylor-Young was raised in Oakland County, Michigan
, and graduated from Seaholm High School
in Birmingham, Mi. Before attending Northwestern University
as an economics major, she spent a summer shifting scenery and sweeping up at a Detroit little theater. However, she left before graduating to pursue a full-time acting career, making her professional debut on Broadway
in Three Bags Full
. About dropping out of college, the actress explained:
in the prime time soap opera Peyton Place
. Her character was written in the show as a replacement for the character of Allison MacKenzie
, previously played by Mia Farrow
. The show's producer, Everett Chambers, cast her because of her "great warmth and sweet angelic qualities not
unlike Mia". By the time she received the role, Taylor-Young had been in California for only a few days. She initially went there in April 1966 to recuperate from an attack of pneumonia
. She impressed the head producer of Peyton Place, Paul Monash
, with a performance from The Glass Menagerie
and was immediately signed a seven-year television and multiple motion picture contract. Shortly after, she told the press: "I'd have preferred to stay in New York to establish myself as an actress before coming to Hollywood."
It was on this series that she met Ryan O'Neal
, whom she later married. Taylor-Young had difficulty working on the show, explaining in an April 1967 interview:
Despite the huge amount of publicity she received while working on Peyton Place, Taylor-Young left the soap opera in 1967 due to her pregnancy. Following this, she pursued a career in films, landing a lucrative seven-year contract with a major studio. Her first film role came opposite Peter Sellers
in the 1968 comedy, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas
. The film was commercially successful, and she received a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Female Newcomer. This was followed by her appearance with husband Ryan O'Neal in The Big Bounce
in 1969.
. She is perhaps best known for her performance as Shirl, the "furniture" girl, in the 1973 science fiction
classic Soylent Green
. For almost ten years after her appearance in Soylent Green, however, her career went into an extended hiatus as she concentrated on raising her son Patrick O'Neal
.
production Looker
. In 1985, she was cast as Virginia Howell in Jagged Edge
, and appeared in the romantic comedy film
Secret Admirer
.
In addition to her film work, Taylor-Young guest-starred on such television series as McCloud, Fantasy Island
, The Love Boat
, Hart to Hart
, Hotel
, and Spenser: For Hire
. She returned to her soap opera roots in 1983, appearing in the short-lived daytime series The Hamptons
. From 1987 to 1989, she played Kimberly Cryder, a recurring character on Dallas
, her first role in a major prime time soap since Peyton Place.
Despite being best known for her film and television work, she has stated a preference for live theatre' where her career began. She was a favorite of playwright Samuel Beckett
, and toured Los Angeles
, New York City
, London
, and Edinburgh
in one of his last works, The Beckett Plays. In 1984, she starred oppposite Donald Davis in Beckett's one act play Catastrophe
at the Edinburgh International Festival
.
(1990), Bliss (1997), and Slackers (2002), as well as direct-to-video
films Addams Family Reunion
(1998) and Klepto
(2003).
Perhaps her best-known television work was on the CBS
series Picket Fences
, in which she played mercurial mayor Rachel Harris from 1993 through 1995. She won an Emmy Award
for the role in 1994, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, as well as a Golden Globe nomination the following year. From 2004 through 2007, she played Katherine Barrett Crane on the soap opera Passions
.
In addition to her roles on Picket Fences and Passions, Taylor-Young has also appeared on shows such as The Young Riders
, Murder, She Wrote
, Sunset Beach
, Malibu Shores
, 7th Heaven
, and Life. She also had recurring roles on Beverly Hills, 90210
, The Pretender
, and UPN's
The Sentinel
.
Taylor-Young has also appeared in a handful of television films, including Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit (1987), Who Gets the Friends?, and Stranger in My Home (1997).
, her Peyton Place co-star, in 1967. Their wedding was a spontaneous one: While in Hawaii for a promotion for Peyton Place, an ABC
manager offered the couple to marry at his home. The marriage produced a son, Patrick O'Neal
, but Leigh and O'Neal divorced in 1973.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who has appeared on stage, screen, and television.
Early life
Leigh Taylor-Young was born on January 25, 1945 in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Her last name is an amalgamation of the last names of her father, a diplomat, and her stepfather, a successful Detroit executive. Her younger siblings are actress and sculptor Dey Young
Dey Young
Dey Young is an American actress and sculptor.Young was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the daughter of Pauline, a sociologist, and Donald E. Young. Her older sister is actress Leigh Taylor-Young; her brother Lance is a writer/director. She attended Kingswood School...
and writer/director Lance Young. Taylor-Young was raised in Oakland County, Michigan
Oakland County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census, there were 1,202,362 people, 471,115 households, and 315,175 families residing in the county. The population density as of the 2000 census was 1,369 people per square mile . There were 492,006 housing units at an average density of 564 per square mile...
, and graduated from Seaholm High School
Seaholm High School
Ernest W. Seaholm High School is a public school located within the Birmingham City School District in Birmingham, Michigan, serving grades 9-12. It is located at 2436 West Lincoln Road, Birmingham, Michigan 48009. Seaholm opened its doors for the first time in 1951 under the name Birmingham High....
in Birmingham, Mi. Before attending Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
as an economics major, she spent a summer shifting scenery and sweeping up at a Detroit little theater. However, she left before graduating to pursue a full-time acting career, making her professional debut on Broadway
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
in Three Bags Full
Three Bags Full
Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story is a work of detective fiction which features a flock of anthropomorphic Irish sheep out to solve the murder of their shepherd...
. About dropping out of college, the actress explained:
- "I left there because I lost the most wonderful teacher. I didn't want to go back when she left. My parents naturally were upset, and I spent four months at home thinking what to do, then went to New York."
1960s
Taylor-Young got her first big break in 1966, when she was cast as Rachel WellesRachel Welles
Rachel Welles is a fictional character on the television drama Peyton Place. She was portrayed by actress Leigh Taylor-Young, between 1966 and 1967.-Character history:...
in the prime time soap opera Peyton Place
Peyton Place (TV series)
Peyton Place is an American prime-time soap opera which aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969.Based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious, the series was preceded by a 1957 film adaptation. A total of 514 episodes were broadcast, in...
. Her character was written in the show as a replacement for the character of Allison MacKenzie
Allison MacKenzie
Allison MacKenzie is a fictional character and one of the protagonists in the novel Peyton Place, its sequel Return to Peyton Place, the subsequent film adaptations of both, and the primetime television series and daytime soap opera they inspired....
, previously played by Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
. The show's producer, Everett Chambers, cast her because of her "great warmth and sweet angelic qualities not
unlike Mia". By the time she received the role, Taylor-Young had been in California for only a few days. She initially went there in April 1966 to recuperate from an attack of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. She impressed the head producer of Peyton Place, Paul Monash
Paul Monash
-Life and career:Paul Monash was born in Harlem, New York, in 1917, and grew up in The Bronx. His mother, Rhoda Melrose, acted in silent films. Monash earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a master's degree in education from Columbia University...
, with a performance from The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
and was immediately signed a seven-year television and multiple motion picture contract. Shortly after, she told the press: "I'd have preferred to stay in New York to establish myself as an actress before coming to Hollywood."
It was on this series that she met Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
, whom she later married. Taylor-Young had difficulty working on the show, explaining in an April 1967 interview:
- "When I got my first check for [Three Bags Full], I thought to myself, 'isn't this wonderful — being paid to have fun.' But after working in 70 chapters of Peyton Place out here in Hollywood, I'm glad to get my paycheck. I can now understand why good actors complain about going stale in television. It's difficult to give a character depth when there's a man with a stop watch standing beside you complaining that the company is spending $3,000 a minute. Yes, I've learned that when you act in a TV series it becomes your whole life."
Despite the huge amount of publicity she received while working on Peyton Place, Taylor-Young left the soap opera in 1967 due to her pregnancy. Following this, she pursued a career in films, landing a lucrative seven-year contract with a major studio. Her first film role came opposite Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
in the 1968 comedy, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas is a 1968 comedy film starring Peter Sellers, directed by Hy Averback and featuring music by Harpers Bizarre. The film is set in the counterculture of the 1960s. The addition cast includes David Arkin, Jo Van Fleet, Leigh Taylor-Young, in her film debut, and a cameo by...
. The film was commercially successful, and she received a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Female Newcomer. This was followed by her appearance with husband Ryan O'Neal in The Big Bounce
The Big Bounce (1969 film)
The Big Bounce is a 1969 film directed by Alex March, based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. Taylor-Young was nominated for a Laurel Award for her performance in the film...
in 1969.
1970s
For the next several years, her pictures tended to be high budget films, such as The Adventurers and The HorsemenThe Horsemen (1971 film)
The Horsemen is a 1971 film starring Omar Sharif, directed by John Frankenheimer; screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. Based on a novel by French writer Joseph Kessel, Les Cavaliers shows Afghanistan and its people the way they were before the wars that wracked the country, particularly their love for...
. She is perhaps best known for her performance as Shirl, the "furniture" girl, in the 1973 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
classic Soylent Green
Soylent Green
Soylent Green is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer. Starring Charlton Heston, the film overlays the police procedural and science fiction genres as it depicts the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution,...
. For almost ten years after her appearance in Soylent Green, however, her career went into an extended hiatus as she concentrated on raising her son Patrick O'Neal
Patrick O'Neal (sportscaster)
Patrick O'Neal is a studio host and reporter for Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket in Los Angeles. Most of his appearances come during pregame and postgame shows of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Kings, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers.In 2005, he was a sideline reporter on several telecasts...
.
1980s
The 1980s saw Leigh Taylor-Young return to both film and television, where her looks and voice often led to casting in roles of an aristocratic bent. In 1981, she appeared in the high tech Michael CrichtonMichael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
production Looker
Looker
Looker is a 1981 science fiction film written and directed by Michael Crichton. It starred Albert Finney, Susan Dey, and James Coburn. Former NFL linebacker Tim Rossovich was featured as the villain's main henchman....
. In 1985, she was cast as Virginia Howell in Jagged Edge
Jagged Edge (film)
Jagged Edge is a film starring Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, and Peter Coyote. Robert Loggia received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in this film. It is a courtroom thriller, written by Joe Eszterhas, and directed by Richard Marquand...
, and appeared in the romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
Secret Admirer
Secret Admirer
Secret Admirer is a 1985 romantic comedy film directed by David Greenwalt starring C. Thomas Howell, Lori Loughlin, Kelly Preston and Fred Ward. The screenplay was written by Greenwalt and Jim Kouf...
.
In addition to her film work, Taylor-Young guest-starred on such television series as McCloud, Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
, The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
, Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart
Hart to Hart is an American television series, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a wealthy couple who also moonlighted as amateur detectives. The series was created by writer Sidney Sheldon and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg...
, Hotel
Hotel (TV series)
Hotel is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty....
, and Spenser: For Hire
Spenser: For Hire
Spenser: For Hire is a mystery television series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. The series, developed for TV by John Wilder, differs from the novels, mostly in its lesser degree of detail....
. She returned to her soap opera roots in 1983, appearing in the short-lived daytime series The Hamptons
The hamptons (tv series)
The Hamptons was a limited run prime-time soap opera which aired during the summer of 1983 for 5 episodes on ABC. It was produced by Gloria Monty, the producer credited with turning "General Hospital" from a low-rated daytime serial to a soap phenomenon...
. From 1987 to 1989, she played Kimberly Cryder, a recurring character on Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
, her first role in a major prime time soap since Peyton Place.
Despite being best known for her film and television work, she has stated a preference for live theatre' where her career began. She was a favorite of playwright Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, and toured Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in one of his last works, The Beckett Plays. In 1984, she starred oppposite Donald Davis in Beckett's one act play Catastrophe
Catastrophe (play)
Catastrophe is a short play by Samuel Beckett, written in French in 1982 at the invitation of A.I.D.A. and “[f]irst produced in the Avignon Festival … Beckett considered it ‘massacred.’” It is one of his few plays to deal with a political theme and, arguably, holds the title of Beckett's most...
at the Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
.
1990s and 2000s
Taylor-Young's recent film credits have included minor roles in Honeymoon AcademyHoneymoon Academy
Honeymoon Academy is a 1990 comedy-drama film starring Robert Hays and Kim Cattrall. It was directed by Gene Quintano and was filmed in Spain.-Plot summary:...
(1990), Bliss (1997), and Slackers (2002), as well as direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
films Addams Family Reunion
Addams Family Reunion
Addams Family Reunion is a film released straight-to-video in 1998. It was also distributed to television by Fox Family. It is unrelated to the two Paramount films from 1991 and 1993. So far, the film is only available on VHS and has not had a DVD release. It was shot in Los Angeles, California...
(1998) and Klepto
Klepto
Klepto is a 2006 straight-to-DVD independent thriller starring Meredith Bishop and Jsu Garcia. It is the debut film of director Thomas Trail and was screened at the 2003 CineVegas Film Festival.-Plot:...
(2003).
Perhaps her best-known television work was on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
series Picket Fences
Picket Fences
Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States...
, in which she played mercurial mayor Rachel Harris from 1993 through 1995. She won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for the role in 1994, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, as well as a Golden Globe nomination the following year. From 2004 through 2007, she played Katherine Barrett Crane on the soap opera Passions
Passions
Passions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008....
.
In addition to her roles on Picket Fences and Passions, Taylor-Young has also appeared on shows such as The Young Riders
The Young Riders
The Young Riders is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, Sunset Beach
Sunset Beach (TV series)
Sunset Beach was an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on January 6, 1997, and last airing on December 31, 1999. The show followed the loves and lives of the people living in a fictional coastal city named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California...
, Malibu Shores
Malibu Shores
Malibu Shores is an American primetime teen drama/soap opera that aired from March to June 1996 for ten episodes on NBC. Created by Aaron Spelling and starring Keri Russell and Tony Lucca, the program followed the exploits of Southern California teens....
, 7th Heaven
7th Heaven
7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007...
, and Life. She also had recurring roles on Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
, The Pretender
The Pretender (TV series)
The Pretender is an American television series that aired on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The series starred Michael T. Weiss as Jarod, a genius and former child prodigy with "the ability to become anyone he wants to be," i.e., to flawlessly impersonate anyone in virtually any line of work...
, and UPN's
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
The Sentinel
The Sentinel (TV series)
The Sentinel is a Canadian-produced television series that aired on UPN in the United States from 1996 to 1999. It premiered on March 20, 1996, and ran for 65 episodes . The series later reaired on Syfy.-Plot and characters:...
.
Taylor-Young has also appeared in a handful of television films, including Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit (1987), Who Gets the Friends?, and Stranger in My Home (1997).
Personal life
Leigh Taylor-Young married Ryan O'NealRyan O'Neal
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
, her Peyton Place co-star, in 1967. Their wedding was a spontaneous one: While in Hawaii for a promotion for Peyton Place, an ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
manager offered the couple to marry at his home. The marriage produced a son, Patrick O'Neal
Patrick O'Neal (sportscaster)
Patrick O'Neal is a studio host and reporter for Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket in Los Angeles. Most of his appearances come during pregame and postgame shows of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Kings, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers.In 2005, he was a sideline reporter on several telecasts...
, but Leigh and O'Neal divorced in 1973.