Elizabeth Taylor’s 4 Children: Meet Michael, Christopher, Liza and Maria
Elizabeth Taylor had a great love for her children.
Elizabeth Taylor (who passed away on March 23, 2011, at 79) was not only a Hollywood legend but the loving parent of Michael Wilding Jr., Christopher Wilding, Elizabeth “Liza” Todd and Maria Burton, whom she once described as her “best friends.”
When Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Wilding were married, their first baby, Michael Jr., came into the world in January of 1953. Then the two had a boy born named Christopher in the subsequent February of 1955. August 1957 was the occasion of the birth of Liza, a daughter, with husband Mike Todd.
Elizabeth Taylor wed Richard Burton, her co-star in Cleopatra, in 1964, and this was also the time when she was adopting her youngest child, Maria.
Elizabeth Taylor had 4 kids: her greatest legacy
“I know I have lived a really unusual life, ” Elizabeth Taylor said to Barbara Walters once. “In fact, I understood life is like a soap opera. It’s not just a regular life at all.”
Though her career was remarkable and she stayed in limelight for decades, Taylor considered her children to be her most worthy accomplishment. “They are the ones that constantly make me proud of everything I have done, ” she said.
As adults having children and even grandchildren of their own, the four children of Taylor have kept reflecting back to her legacy. Many of her grandchildren have been involved in philanthropy, especially supporting Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) alongside other charitable works.
In a statement to PEOPLE in July 2024, Taylor’s lawyer and co-trustee Barbara Berkowitz said the actress loved her family very much. “In over 20 years that I’ve been working with her, she always had her family there for Christmas. It was very important for her to be the one holding everything together so that all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were united, ” said Berkowitz.
Marking 15 years since her death, this is what you need to know about the greatest legacy of Elizabeth Taylor: her children.
Michael Wilding Jr.: Elizabeth Taylor’s Eldest Son
Michael Wilding Jr. came into this world on Jan. 6, 1953, in Santa Monica, California, as the elder son of Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Wilding.
Decades later, he himself became a father, in the 1970s he had daughters Laela and Naomi. Besides, as an actor, during the 1980s, Michael got a lot of exposure, on one hand playing recurring characters in television shows such as Guiding Light and Dallas, and on the other hand starring in the 1987 movie Deadly Illusion. In 1982, he got married to actress Brooke Palance; their son Tarquin Wilding was born in 1989.
When they were kids, Michael’s children were often with their well-known grandmother. “She thought that she had the obligation to raise the younger generations of the family, ” Naomi shared with Today in March 2021, talking about how much it meant to Taylor to impart her beliefs.
Though living in different parts of the world, Laela has said that the family remains very close in spirit.
Michael Wilding Jr.: Carrying On Elizabeth Taylor’s Legacy
“For her, family came first, ” Laela Wilding informed PEOPLE in February 2016. “Our family was one where love was the bond between all of us, her children and grandchildren, and it stems from her wish to unite us all.”
Elizabeth Taylor herself often spoke about the happiness her children and grandchildren gave her. “The times I’ve felt most alive have been when watching my children enjoy themselves, ” she once remarked, as per her website.
Michael Wilding Jr. is a sculptor now living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, together with his wife, Brooke Palance. As per his gallery bio, his artwork draws from nature. “The forms that come up when earth, wind and water play with the environment really touch me. For me, sculpting is not only a way of making art but also a kind of conversation, an improvisational journey, a dialogue with the stone, ” he said.
Michael’s all three children serving as ambassadors of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation are keeping the humanitarian work that deeply influenced Taylor’s life going.
“Sometimes I reflect on how fortunate I am to have been born into such a group of wacky, loving, sensitive people, ” Tarquin Wilding stated to Town & Country in May 2017. “We love my grandmother for her never-ending generosity.”
Michael also honored his mother in a post on Instagram in January 2024, saying
Christopher Wilding: Elizabeth Taylor’s Second Child
Born on Feb 27, 1955, Christopher Wilding was Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Wilding’s second child.
In spite of the incessant focus of the media on Taylor, she was determined to keep her kids away from the limelight as much as possible. “Christopher Wilding once said to me, ‘My mother shielded us from the circus, ‘” author William J. Mann related to ABC, hinting that though paparazzi were sometimes a fact of life for the family, Taylor was still very protective of them.
Christopher was married to the oil heiress Aileen Getty for most of the 1980s, and the couple had two sons: Caleb, born in 1983, and Andrew, born in 1985. After their divorce, Christopher subsequently married Margaret Carlton, and they had a son, Lowell, in 1991.
Christopher Wilding: A Private Life and Lasting Tribute to His Mother
Christopher Wilding in the past was a photographer and a sound editor. Sound editing credits include a film called Tombstone that came out in 1993. Presently, he is a man of leisure.
Interestingly, The Hollywood Reporter recently (2016) found out that Christopher together with his wife reside in Calabasas in California.
Looking back at his mother’s legacy, Christopher highlighted her courage and autonomy. “She never got scared of the establishment each time it criticized or condemned her lifestyle, which happened quite often, ” he revealed to PEOPLE in October 2025. “In fact, she was guided by a very strong sense of right and wrong, and she lived her life according to that, even when it was clear to her that the people around her might not agree.”
Moreover, he said, “She has had a full life and her days in the limelight are behind her, but I would be really happy if the person my mother was and the bold life that she led would continue to be a source of motivation for people.”
Elizabeth “Liza” Todd: Elizabeth Taylor’s Only Daughter with Mike Todd
Elizabeth “Liza” Todd, who is Elizabeth Taylor’s only daughter with husband Mike Todd, was born on Aug. 6, 1957.
Liza was still a baby when her father tragically died in a plane crash. That left her mother, Taylor, a single parent to three small kids. Later, Taylor wed Richard Burton who then adopted Liza.
Once a kid, Liza went to boarding school in Switzerland, and when not studying, she would visit her mom at the movie sets. Eventually, she decided to become an artist and enrolled at the Hornsey College of Art in London and the Otis Institute of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
Currently, Liza is a living upstate New York and a very successful sculptor. She is especially recognized for her works that are inspired by horses.
Elizabeth “Liza” Todd: Family and Carrying on Elizabeth Taylor’s Legacy
Elizabeth “Liza” Todd and artist Hap Tivey tied the knot in 1984. The two sons of the couple include Quinn Tivey in 1986 and Rhys Tivey in 1991. They got divorced in 2003.
Quinn has played a major part in keeping his grandmother’s legacy alive, apart from running her estate called the House of Taylor, he is also a trustee of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
Besides that, he has also taken up the baton of his grandmother’s activism. He wrote in an article for PEOPLE in June 2021, “HIV/AIDS fight was such a crucial part of her legacy. Even though the fight is nowhere near over, I am proud to see ETAF carry on her work, educating lawmakers, getting the public aware, dispelling myths and reducing fear and stigma. I believe grandma would also be proud of this.”
Maria Burton: Elizabeth Taylor’s Youngest Daughter
On the verge of marrying Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor was already in the midst of adopting her youngest, Maria, born on Jan. 8, 1961. Later on, Burton legally adopted Maria too.
Though Maria showed a brief interest in modeling, she has mainly stayed out of the spotlight. She was initially married to Steve Carson, and their union produced a daughter, Elizabeth “Eliza” Carson, in 1982. After their split, Maria married Thomas McKeown, with whom she has a son named Richard McKeown. That marriage also ended eventually.
Besides staying true to the family’s tradition, Maria’s daughter Eliza is acting as a representative of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, following the path of her grandmother’s noble deeds.
