Holland Taylor

Holland Taylor (b. January 14 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an Emmy Award winning American actress, best known for her film and television work. She is currently a main cast member of the series Two and a Half Men and has been nominated for an Emmy twice in that role.

Taylor attended high school at Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school. A drama major at college, she moved to New York City in the 1960s to become an actress on Broadway. Legendary Broadway critic John Simon once said of Taylor, "She is one of the few utterly graceful, attractive, elegant and technically accomplished actresses in our theater."

After appearing in Broadway and off-Broadway productions for 15 years, Taylor moved to the world of television. Propelled 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 more years travelling between California and New York, Taylor officially moved to California in the early 1990s but not before more stage success in "Breakfast with Less and Bess" and A.R. Gurney's "The Cocktail Hour". Taylor played the lead in the infamous 1983 Broadway comedy flop, Moose Murders, a play which opened and closed in one performance, and which New York Times theater critic Frank Rich called "a show so preposterous that it made minor celebrities out of everyone who witnessed it, whether from on stage or in the audience." Taylor replaced actress Eve Arden, who quit the production after the first preview performance.

This move, along with her rising fame, saw her accept a slew of roles which made her a well known name in the industry. Equally adept at comedy and drama, her film roles since have included To Die For (1995), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), One Fine Day (1996), George of the Jungle (1997), The Wedding Date (1998), The Truman Show (1998), Keeping the Faith (2000), The Day Reagan Was Shot (2001), Legally Blonde (2001), "D.E.B.S." (2004), as well as, (1998's) "Next Stop Wonderland" and (2000's) "Happy Accidents" both directed by her nephew, Brad Anderson.

On television, Taylor starred from 1992-1993 in Norman Lear's "The Powers That Be" with John Forsythe and David Hyde Pierce, from 1995 to 1998 on The Naked Truth and played the recurring role of Judge Roberta Kittleson on The Practice (and once on Ally McBeal) from 1998 to 2003. From 1999 to 2001, she played Hedda Hopper-esque Letitia Devine on The Lot. Other guest roles include appearances on ER, Veronica's Closet, Monk and a recurring role as billionaire Peggy Peabody on The L Word.

She has never married nor had children.

Emmy Awards

Taylor has been nominated for four Emmy Awards, one of which she won:

• 1999 - Winner, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, The Practice
• 2000 - Nominee, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, The Practice
• 2000 - Nominee, Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, The Lot
• 2005 - Nominee, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, Two and a Half Men

External links

• Unofficial Holland Taylor Site
• Holland Taylor Bio at CBS - Two and a Half Men
• The Powers That Be: An Unofficial Tribute Page

• Holland Taylor at the Internet Broadway Database
• Holland Taylor at IMDb