Holland Taylor

Holland Taylor
Taylor circa 1994
Born	Holland Virginia Taylor (1943-01-14) January 14, 1943 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–present
Partner(s)	Sarah Paulson (2015-present)

Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American film, stage, and television actress, and playwright. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on the ABC drama The Practice (1998–2003). She is also known for her role as Evelyn Harper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men (2003–2015).

Taylor's other notable television roles include the sitcoms Bosom Buddies (1980–1982) and The Powers That Be (1992–1993). Her film appearances include One Fine Day (1996), George of the Jungle (1997), The Truman Show (1998), and Legally Blonde (2001). She also wrote and starred in the solo play Ann, based on the life and work of Ann Richards, for which she was nominated for the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Early life

Taylor was born in 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,^[1] the daughter of Virginia (née Davis), a painter, and C. Tracy Taylor, an attorney.^[2][3] She is the youngest of three girls in the family; her sisters are Patricia and Pamela, and through Pamela, she is the aunt of director Brad Anderson.^[4] She attended high school at Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school in West Chester, Pennsylvania. She majored in drama at Bennington College^[5] graduating in 1964, before moving to New York City to become an actress.^[6]

Career

Taylor's long career began in the theatre. Throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, she appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including starring roles in Simon Gray's Butley and A. R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour; for the latter, she was nominated for a Drama Desk award. 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.^[7]

In 1983, Taylor had one of her greatest theatrical moments in Breakfast with Les and Bess, which prompted the New York magazine theatre critic John Simon to sing, "...Miss Taylor is one of the few utterly graceful, attractive, elegant and technically accomplished actresses in our theatre...seeing her may turn you, like me, into a Taylor freak..."^[8]

Concentrating on theatre, television took a back seat, but she did take on the role of Denise Cavanaugh on the long-running soap opera, The Edge of Night, who was so evil, she killed herself just to frame her husband. Then encouraged by her acting coach, the legendary Stella Adler, Taylor took a role that would make her well known: Tom Hanks' sexy, demanding boss in the 1980s sitcom Bosom Buddies.^[9]

The actress's 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 at both comedy and drama.^[6] In 1985, she co-starred with Lisa Eilbacher in the ABC detective series Me and Mom. Two years later, she played opposite Alan Arkin in the short-lived ABC sitcom Harry, in which she received "starring" billing. In 1990, Taylor reunited with former Bosom Buddies executive producers Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett for a role on their ABC sitcom Going Places, playing grand dame television producer Dawn St. Claire for the show's first 13 episodes. From 1992-93, she starred in Norman Lear's The Powers That Be with John Forsythe and David Hyde Pierce, playing the wife of Forsythe's character, a U.S. senator.

In early 1994, she joined the cast of Saved by the Bell: The College Years as Dean Susan McMann, just episodes before its cancellation. Following this was her role as high-powered newspaper editor Camilla Dane on the ABC/NBC sitcom The Naked Truth; Taylor was one of the few cast members to last all the way through the show's run, from 1995-98.

She played the part of rapacious Judge Roberta Kittleson on The Practice. Originally intended to be a one-time appearance, the role lasted from 1998 to 2003. She won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in 1999; in her acceptance speech, she is remembered for claiming the statue and exclaiming, "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!"

Taylor was also nominated for an Emmy for her recurring role on AMC's The Lot, and has been nominated four times since 2003, for Best Supporting Actress for her role on the TV series Two and a Half Men, playing Evelyn Harper, the snobbish, overbearing mother of Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer's characters. Taylor's television movie and series guest roles have been extensive and include appearances on ER and Veronica's Closet, and recurring roles on Ally McBeal and Monk, and as billionaire Peggy Peabody on The L Word.

Taylor's movie roles have included Reese Witherspoon's character's tough Harvard law professor in the 2001 comedy Legally Blonde, Tina Fey's character's mother in Baby Mama, The Truman Show, Happy Accidents, Next Stop Wonderland, George of the Jungle, The Wedding Date, How to Make an American Quilt, Romancing the Stone, D.E.B.S., Cop and a Half, and One Fine Day;

Taylor's animated roles include that of Prudence, the castle's majordomo and love interest of the Grand Duke, in Disney's Cinderella II and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time. She also played a role in the animated show American Dad! as Francine's biological mother.

Holland Taylor in 2008.

Taylor's first love remains the theatre and she began researching, writing, and producing a one-woman play about the late Texas Governor Ann Richards in 2009.^[6] The two-act play, originally titled Money, Marbles, and Chalk, starring Taylor as Richards, was first workshopped in May 2010 at The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, Texas.^[10] It was later retitled Ann: An Affectionate Portrait of Ann Richards^[11] and opened in Chicago November 16, 2011, and was billed as a "pre-Broadway" engagement. It played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, from December 17, 2011, through January 15, 2012. The show next opened on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on March 7, 2013. For this role, Taylor was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play.^[12]

Personal life

On November 30, 2015, while answering a question about marriage in a radio interview with WNYC, Taylor revealed that she was in a relationship with a younger woman, and that most of her relationships have been with women.^[13][14] Her partner was later reported to be the actress Sarah Paulson.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Taylor has been a long-time, major supporter of Aid For AIDS in Los Angeles, serving on their Honorary Board and as an ongoing participant in their largest annual fundraiser, Best In Drag Show, among other fundraising efforts.^[19]

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Broadway

• The Devils, 1965/66
• Butley, 1972/73
• We Interrupt This Program..., 1975
• Murder Among Friends, 1975/76
• Something Old, Something New, 1977
• Moose Murders, 1983
• Ann, 2013
• The Front Page, 2016

Off-Broadway

• The Poker Session, 1967
• The David Show, 1968
• Tonight in Living Color, 1969
• Colette, 1970
• Fashion, 1974
• Children, 1976
• Drinks Before Dinner, 1979
• Breakfast with Les and Bess, 1982/83
• The Perfect Party, 1986
• The Cocktail Hour, 1988/89
• Love Letters, 1989
• The Vagina Monologues, 1999
• Ann: An Affectionate Portrait of Ann Richards, 2011
• Ripcord, 2015

Regional

• The Philanthropist, 1971
• Passion Play, 1988
• Kindertransport, 1996
• A Delicate Balance
• Black Comedy
• Ann: An Affectionate Portrait of Ann Richards, 2016^[20][21]

Los Angeles

• The Unexpected Man in The Geffen Playhouse, 2001
• Kindertransport in The Tiffany Theatre
• Narrator – LA Philharmonic "Persephone, Stravinsky, Essa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor"
• Narrator – LA Philharmonic "Ahknaten, Philip Glass, John Adams, Conductor"

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Holland Taylor.

• Holland Taylor at the Internet Movie Database
• Holland Taylor at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Holland Taylor at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Holland Taylor on Twitter
  
• Holland Taylor Bio at CBS - Two and a Half Men