Leigh Taylor-Young
Taylor-Young at the 1994 Emmy Awards
Born
Leigh Taylor

(1945-01-25) January 25, 1945
Other namesLeigh Young
Leigh Taylor Young
OccupationActress
Years active1966–present
Spouses
(m. 1967; div. 1974)
    (m. 1978; div. 1984)
      (m. 2003; div. 2004)
        John Morton
        (m. 2013)
        ChildrenPatrick O'Neal
        Websitewww.lty.com

        Leigh Taylor-Young (born January 25, 1945)[1] is an American actress who has appeared on stage, screen, podcast, radio, and television. Her most well-known films include I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), The Horsemen (1971), The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), Soylent Green (1973), and Jagged Edge (1985). She won an Emmy for her role on the hit television series Picket Fences.

        Early life

        Young was born in Washington, D.C. She added the surname Young, the surname of her stepfather, Donald E. Young, a Detroit executive. Her father was a diplomat, and her younger siblings are actress/sculptor Dey Young and writer/director/producer Lance Young. The siblings were raised in Oakland County, Michigan. Leigh graduated from [[Groves High School (Michigan). Before attending Northwestern University as an economics major, she spent a summer shifting scenery, modeling, acting, and sweeping up at a Detroit little theater.[2] She left Northwestern before graduating to pursue a full-time acting career, making her professional debut on Broadway in 3 Bags Full. About dropping out of college, she said:

        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 and California.[2]

        Career

        1960s

        Ryan O'Neal with Taylor-Young in Peyton Place

        Taylor-Young got her first big break in 1966, when she was cast as Rachel Welles on the primetime soap opera Peyton Place.[3] Her character was written in the show as a replacement for the character of Allison MacKenzie, previously played by Mia Farrow. The series' producer, Everett Chambers, cast her because of her "great warmth and sweet angelic qualities not unlike Mia". When she received the role, Taylor-Young had been in California only a few days.[2] She initially went there in April 1966 to recuperate from an attack of pneumonia.[4] She impressed the head producer of Peyton Place, Paul Monash, with a performance from The Glass Menagerie and was immediately signed to a seven-year television and multiple-movie contract.[4]

        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."[5]

        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:

        "When I got my first check for [3 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 and actress 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."[6]

        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. She subsequently 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 comedy I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968). It was commercially successful, and she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Most Promising Female Newcomer. She then appeared with husband Ryan O'Neal in The Big Bounce (1969).

        1970s

        For the next several years, her pictures tended to be high-budget films, such as The Adventurers (1970), based on the novel by best-seller Harold Robbins; and The Horsemen, (1971) with leading man Omar Sharif. She is perhaps best known for her performance as Shirl, the "furniture" girl, in the science fiction classic Soylent Green (1973). After her appearance in Soylent Green, she made the professional decision to take a hiatus from acting in order to concentrate on raising her only child, son Patrick.

        1980s

        The 1980s saw Taylor-Young return to both film and television, where her looks and voice often led to casting in roles of an aristocratic bent.[3] In 1981 she appeared in the high technology Michael Crichton production Looker. In 1985, she was cast as Virginia Howell in Jagged Edge, and appeared in the romantic comedy Secret Admirer.

        In addition to her film work, she 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 primetime series The Hamptons. From 1987–89, she played Kimberly Cryder, a recurring character on Dallas, her first role in a major prime time soap since Peyton Place.[3]

        Despite being best known for her film and television work, she has stated a preference for live theater, where her career began. Favoring Samuel Beckett, she starred opposite Donald Davis in Beckett's one act play Catastrophe (included in a trilogy of one-act plays billed as The Beckett Plays) at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1984. She also toured Los Angeles, New York City and London with the show.[7]

        1990s and 2000s

        After 1990 Taylor-Young's film credits have included minor roles in Honeymoon Academy (1990), Bliss (1997) and Slackers (2002), as well as direct-to-video films Addams Family Reunion (1998), Klepto (2003), Spiritual Warriors (2007) and The Wayshower (2011).

        Perhaps her best-known television work was on the CBS series Picket Fences, playing mercurial and cougar-ish mayor Rachel Harris from 1993–1995. She won an Emmy Award for the role in 1994, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and received a Golden Globe nomination the following year.[8] From 2004–2007 she played Katherine Barrett Crane on the soap opera Passions.

        Taylor-Young also appeared on TV series such as The Young Riders, Murder, She Wrote, Sunset Beach, Malibu Shores, 7th Heaven, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Life. She had recurring roles on Beverly Hills, 90210, The Pretender, and UPN's The Sentinel. She 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

        Taylor-Young married Ryan O'Neal, her Peyton Place co-star, in 1967. Their wedding was spontaneous: While in Hawaii for a promotion for Peyton Place, an ABC manager offered them the opportunity to marry at his home.[6]

        She married John Morton in January 2013 at PRANA, headquarters of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness in Los Angeles.[9] She is an ordained minister in the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, founded by the late John-Roger Hinkins and now led by her husband.[10]

        Filmography

        Film

        YearTitleRoleNotes
        1968I Love You, Alice B. ToklasNancyNominated—Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress
        1969The Big BounceNancy Barker
        1969Under the Yum Yum TreeJenniferTelevision movie
        1969The AdventurersAmparo Rojo
        1970The GamesCollege Co-edUncredited
        1970The Buttercup ChainManny
        1971The HorsemenZareh
        1971The Gang That Couldn't Shoot StraightAngela
        1973Soylent GreenShirl
        1980MarathonBarrieTelevision movie
        1980Can't Stop the MusicClaudia Walters
        1981LookerJennifer Long
        1985Secret AdmirerElizabeth Fimple
        1985Jagged EdgeVirginia Howell
        1988Who Gets the Friends?Aggie HardenTelevision movie
        1989AccidentsBeryl Chambers
        1990The Ghost WriterElizabeth StrackTelevision movie
        1991SilverfoxNita DavenportTelevision movie
        1993DreamriderDr. Sharon Kawai
        1996An Unfinished AffairCynthia ConnorTelevision movie
        1996Mariette in EcstasyNarrator
        1997Stranger In My HomeMargotTelevision movie
        1997BlissRedhead
        1998Addams Family ReunionPatriceUncredited
        2002SlackersValerie Patton
        2003KleptoTeresa
        2006Coffee DateDiana
        2007Dirty LaundryMrs. James
        2011The WayshowerElva Hinkins

        Television

        YearTitleRoleNotes
        1966–1967Peyton PlaceRachel Welles70 episodes
        1976McCloudBonnie FosterEpisode: "Bonnie and McCloud"
        1978Fantasy IslandLeslie TarletonEpisode: "I Want to Get Married"
        1978The Love BoatAnn SterlingEpisode: "The Captain's Cup"
        1982Hart to HartVictoria WilderEpisode: "Deep in the Hart of Dixieland"
        1982The Devlin ConnectionLauren Dane9 episodes
        1983HotelCarole JamisonEpisode: "Secrets"
        1983The HamptonsLee ChadwayEpisode: "1.1"
        1985HotelStephanie McMullenEpisode: "Identities"
        1986Spenser: For HireAlicia CarlisleEpisode: "Angel of Desolation"
        1986HotelSharon LockwoodEpisode: "Pressure Points"
        1987–1989DallasKimberly Cryder20 episodes
        1988Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985 TV series)Adelaide WalkerEpisode: "Murder Party"
        1990Over My Dead BodyLinda TalmadgeEpisode: "If Looks Could Kill"
        1991Evening ShadeBeck KincaidEpisode: "Wood's Thirtieth Reunion"
        1992The Young RidersPollyEpisode: "Lessons Learned"
        1992–1993Civil WarsUnknown2 episodes
        1993–1995Picket FencesRachel Harris16 episodes
        Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
        Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
        Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
        1995Empty NestGwen LangleyEpisode: "Grandma, What Big Eyes You Have"
        1995JAGMeredithEpisode: "A New Life - Part 1"
        1995Murder, She WroteLainie Sherman BoswellEpisode: "A Quaking in Aspen"
        1996–1999The SentinelNaomi Sandburg3 episodes
        1996Malibu ShoresMrs. GreenEpisode: "The Competitive Edge"
        19977th HeavenNora ChambersEpisode: "Don't Take My Love Away"
        1997RugratsStory ReaderEpisode: "Angelica Nose Best"
        1997Sunset BeachElaine Stevens109 episodes
        1998Beverly Hills, 90210Blythe Hunter3 episodes
        1998–1999The PretenderMichelle Lucca Stamatis3 episodes
        1999Star Trek: Deep Space NineYanasEpisode: "Prodigal Daughter"
        2003Strong MedicineCatherine Beecher-DouglasEpisode: "Maternal Mirrors"
        2004–2007PassionsKatherine Barrett Crane
        2007LifeDoreen TurnerEpisode: "Tear Asunder"

        References

        1. Rose, Mike (January 25, 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 25, 2023 includes celebrity Alicia Keys". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
        2. 1 2 3 "Allison Leaves, Alicia Arrives", The Oakland Tribune, August 11, 1966, p. 66
        3. 1 2 3 Leigh Taylor-Young bio, Yahoo.com; accessed December 1, 2014.
        4. 1 2 "Newcomer For Peyton Place", Independent Star-News, October 23, 1966, p. 148
        5. "Trip for health brings star role", Chronicle Telegram, September 9, 1966, p. 20.
        6. 1 2 "Things Happen Fast to Lovely Actress Leigh", North Adams Transcript, April 8, 1967, p. 17
        7. "The Beckett Plays". studio-jack-garfein.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
        8. Leigh Taylor-Young on AllMovie
        9. MSIA.org
        10. Bennetts, Leslie (Sep 2009). "Beautiful People, Ugly Choices". Vanity Fair. Vol. 51, no. 9. p. 302.
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