Bio: 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 Bosom Buddies (1980) with Tom Hanks. It was Holland's "breakout" role and it led to many other TV and film offers including the movie Romancing the Stone (1984) as Kathleen Turner'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 Greenwich 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).
Tivia: Wrote and starred in her own one-woman show about the late Texas Governor Ann Richards, "Ann" and performed it on Broadway in 2013.Is in a relationship with Sarah Paulson since early 2015.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.Loves France and has taken French classes to learn the language. She has also taken lessons in classical French cooking.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.August 2005 - Received her Master degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.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.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.Alumna of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.Despite playing her mother in One Fine Day (1996), Taylor is just 15 years older than Michelle Pfeiffer.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 T��a Leoni.She is of English, and some German, Dutch, Welsh, and French, ancestry.Aunt of Brad Anderson, who is the son of her sister Pamela.Born 20 days before fellow Philadelphia native Blythe Danner, who was originally cast in the Evelyn Harper role on "Two and a Half Men" (2003-2015).Often mistaken for Susan Sullivan.Appearing with Buck Henry in off-Broadway play, "Mother". (July 2009)In addition to playing the mother of multiple stars as noted by a previous poster, though having no children in real life, she also portrayed the wealthy mother of Traylor Howard in the TV series "Monk" in Season 4, Episode 7: "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding.".