Elizabeth Taylor was only 8 years old when she was first signed with a Hollywood studio. The studio in question, Universal, agreed to pay her $100 a week for six months. (Another studio, MGM, had already auditioned her, but passed her up when they discovered that she could not sing.)
Her first film, made when Taylor was 9, was “There’s One Born Every Minute”. A dissatisfied Universal did not renew her contract, but the following year, MGM reconsidered, and contracted her for three months. She appeared in “Lassie Come Home” alongside fellow child star Roddy McDowall, and the film did sufficiently well that she was signed for a seven year contract by MGM thereafter.
She would go on to become one of the most famous and respected actresses in cinema history, winning three Oscars and three Golden Globes.
