Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) colorized from a 1953 photo

Taylor transitioned from child star to adult roles when she turned 18 in 1950, ushering a decade when she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world and a celebrated dramatic actress. Colorized her photo at a time when she made MGM's 1953 film, The Girl Who Had Everything, a remake of the 1931 film A Free Soul. She had recently married British actor Michael Wilding, and was pregnant with her first child and was receiving one of the highest salaries in the industry with a weekly $4,700.

Elizabeth Taylor at 15 in a promotional photo of MGM, 1947

When Taylor turned 15 in 1947, MGM began to cultivate a more mature public image for her by organizing photo shoots and interviews that portrayed her as a "normal" teenager attending parties and going on dates. Film magazines and gossip columnists also began comparing her to older actresses such as Ava Gardner and Lana Turner. Life called her "Hollywood's most accomplished junior actress" for her two film roles that year. In the critically panned Cynthia (1947), she portrayed a frail girl who defies her over-protective parents to go to the prom, and the love interest of a stockbroker's son in the period film Life with Father (1947), opposite William Powell and Irene Dunne.

They were followed by supporting roles as a teenaged "man-stealer" who seduces her peer's date to a high school dance in the musical A Date with Judy (1948), and as a bride in the romantic comedy Julia Misbehaves (1948), which became a commercial success by grossing over $4 million in the box office. Taylor's last adolescent role was as Amy March in Mervyn LeRoy's Little Women (1949). While it did not match the popularity of the previous 1933 film adaptation of Louisa M. Alcott's novel, it was a box-office success. The same year, Time featured Taylor on its cover, and called her the leader among Hollywood's next generation of stars, "a jewel of great price, a true sapphire".

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011)

Colorized promo still for the young ElizzabethTaylor for her 1953 movie The Girl Who Had Everything. Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (Feb 27, 1932 – Mar 23, 2011) was a British-American actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s, classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She continued her career successfully into the 1960s, and remained a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute named her the seventh-greatest female screen legend.

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) ca 1955, colorized & stylized by Alex Y. Lim

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) colorized from a1953 MGM publicity Photo by Alex Y. Lim

One of the less known early non-glamour shots of Elizabeth Taylor without her fabulous jewels, make-up, and stylish wardrobe. Taken after her first adult roles in Father of the Bride (1950) and her critically acclaimed performance in A Place in the Sun.(1951).

Elizabeth Taylor, colorized from a photo by Yousuf Karsh, ca 1945/46

Colorized a Yousuf Karsh photo of the young Elizabeth Taylor in several renders, including a couple of stylized versions.

Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - 2011) colorized in a 1958 photo

Extensive compositing was done on the background using another Taylor portrait taken during the same year.  That portrait was also colorized in another post