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Revision as of 13:35, 1 June 2009
| Holland Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1969—present |
Holland Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress known for her film, television and theatre work. Her television roles include Ruth Dunbar in Bosom Buddies, Judge Roberta Kittleson in The Practice and Evelyn Harper in Two and a Half Men.
Early life
Taylor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1943, the daughter of Virginia, a painter, and C. Tracy Taylor, an attorney. She is the youngest of three girls in the family and her sisters are Patricia and Pamela. Taylor attended high school at Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school then majored in drama at Bennington College in 1964, before moving to New York City to become an actress.
Career
Holland Taylor's long career began in the theater. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s she appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including starring roles in Butley and A.R. Gurney's "The Cocktail Hour." Taylor also has the dubious distinction of having starred in Broadway's most infamous flop, Moose Murders where she filled in, with less than a week's rehearsal, for veteran character actress Eve Arden who had jumped from the sinking ship.
In 1983 Taylor had one of her greatest theatrical moments in "Breakfast with Les and Bess," which prompted legendary New York Magazine theater critic John Simon to sing, "...Miss Taylor is one of the few utterly graceful, attractive, elegant and technically accomplished actresses in our theater...seeing her may turn you, like me, into a Taylor freak..."
On television, from 1978 to 1979 Taylor was cast as the purely evil Denise Cavanaugh on the long running soap opera, The Edge of Night. Encouraged by her acting coach, Stella Adler, Taylor took two roles that would make her well known: alongside Tom Hanks in the 1980s sitcom Bosom Buddies, and a supporting role in the 1984 film Romancing the Stone. After several years of traveling between California and New York, she finally decided to move permanently to California. The actress' rising fame, built slowly over many years, led her to roles that made her a well known name in the industry. She proved herself to be equally adept both at comedy and at drama.
She also starred from 1992 to 1993 in Norman Lear's The Powers That Be with John Forsythe and David Hyde Pierce, from 1995 to 1998 on The Naked Truth. She played the recurring role of Judge Roberta Kittleson on The Practice from 1998 to 2003, for which she was nominated for two Emmys, winning one for best supporting actress. In her Emmy speech, she brought the house down when she lifted the Emmy over her head and said, "Overnight!" Taylor thanked David E. Kelley, The Practice's producer/writer and creator, for, "giving me a chariot to ride up here on: A woman who puts a flag on the moon for women over 40. Who can think, who can work, who are successes, who can cook, and who can COOK!" She has had an Emmy-nominated supporting role on the TV series Two and a Half Men since its inception in 2003, playing Evelyn Harper, the snobbish, overbearing mother of the two main characters Charlie and Alan.
Taylor again played a legal professional in the 2001 movie Legally Blonde, a comedy in which she played a tough Harvard law professor. From 1999 to 2001, she played the Hedda Hopper-esque Letitia Devine on The Lot for which she was also nominated for an Emmy. Other guest roles include appearances on ER, Veronica's Closet, and recurring roles on Monk and as billionaire Peggy Peabody on The L Word.
Prudence, the castle's majordomo and love interest of the Grand Duke, in Disney's Cinderella II and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time is her only animated role.
Taylor's first love remains the theater and when not at work on Two and a Half Men she spends her time finishing the extensive research and writing of a one-woman play about the late Texas Governor Ann Richards, which will have its first production in 2009.
Emmy Award nominations
- 2000 - Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series - The Practice
- 2000 - Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series - The Lot
- 2005 - Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series - Two and a Half Men
- 2007 - Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series - Two and a Half Men
- 2008 - Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series - Two and a Half Men
Filmography
Film
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Television
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References
- Holland Taylor Biography (1843-)
- http://hollandtaylor.net/hollandtaylor.htm
- http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9400E3DF133BF930A15751C0A965948260
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/arts/television/05rhod.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/arts/television/05rhod.html
External links
- Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Unofficial Holland Taylor Site
- Holland Taylor Bio at CBS - Two and a Half Men
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