Holland Taylor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the third-born (and last) daughter of her mother, Virginia (Davis), a painter, and the only child of her father, C. Tracy Taylor, an attorney. She spent her teen years in nearby Allentown, PA, where Holland got the nickname, "Penny Taylor" because of her coppery hair color. Holland attended Quaker schools, then majored in drama at Bennington College. At the age of 22 Holland moved to New York with the desire to become a "great big Broadway star." After fifteen years of "disappointments and near misses" in New York and California, Holland was cast as Ruth Dunbar in the sitcom 亲密伙伴 (1980) with 汤姆·汉克斯. It was Hollands "breakout" role and it lead to many other TV and film offers including the movie 绿宝石 (1984) as 凯瑟琳·特纳's book publisher and friend. Holland had hesitated to accept the role but her acting coach and mentor Stella Adler encouraged her not to be so "stage minded." In 1992 Holland was still living in Greenwhich Village, New York and traveling back and forth between a rented apartment in Hollywood and New York in order to work on both coasts. Holland has said her first love was the theater but the work for her in TV and films was better. However, by 1992, Holland said she was dealing with traveling back and forth "less and less well". Over the next few years, Holland moved to California full-time. In the last couple of years, she gave up her apartment in West Hollywood for her own home in the Hollywood Hills. Holland won an Emmy in 1999 for her work in The Practice (1997).
Loves France and has taken French classes to learn the language. She has also taken lessons in classical French cooking.
Has studied Jazz and Tap dancing and also ballet at the Joffrey (beginning level as of 1978). She has said she is a "once and always student" of acting coach Stella Adler.
Has never married or had children. Youngest of 3 daughters born to Virginia (Davis) and C. Tracy Taylor. Sisters are Patricia and Pamela. Attended Bennington College in Vermont. She has English, German, and smaller amounts of Welsh, Dutch, and French, ancestry.
Aunt of 布拉德·安德森, who is the son of her sister Pamela.
She has at least five nieces and nephews and a great niece or nephew. Among her friends are playwright A.R. Gurney, and former co-star Téa Leoni.
August 2005 - Received her Master degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.
Wrote and starred in her own one-woman show about the late Texas Governor Ann Richards, "Ann" and performed it on Broadway in 2013.
Appearing with 巴克·亨利 in off-Broadway play, "Mother". [July 2009]
Despite playing her mother in 一日钟情 (1996), Taylor is just 15 years older than 米歇尔·菲佛.
Often mistaken for 苏珊·沙利文.
She is of English, and some German, Dutch, Welsh, and French, ancestry.
Is in a relationship with 莎拉·保罗森 since early 2015.
Despite having had no children of her own in real life, onscreen she has played the mother of Jim Carrey, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tina Fey, Nicole Kidman, Leslie Mann, Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Debra Messing, Kevin Bacon, Carla Gugino and Hope Davis.
She was awarded the 1990 Drama-Logue Award for Performance for "The Cocktail Hour" in the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson at the James A. Doolittle Theatre (University of California) in Los Angeles, California.
Often plays classy or ritzy characters
