Sara Sothern was born in 1895 as Sara Viola Warmbrodt in Arkansas City, Kansas. She was an American stage actress and the mother of actress Elizabeth Taylor.
Sara Sothern with her daughter Elizabeth Taylor
Sothern’s film debut was on One of the Flames (1914) which was filmed at the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch. She was a seasoned actress by the time she made her Broadway debut in The Dagger (1925), followed by Arabesque and Fool’s Bells that same year. She next appeared in Mama Loves Papa (1926). During this time, she acted in plays across the U.S., including the theatre venues of downtown Los Angeles.
Sothern married art dealer Francis Lenn Taylor in 1926 in New York City. They were the parents of Howard Taylor (1929–2020), and the movie star Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011). After marrying, she retired from the stage and never acted again.
After living in England several years, where her children were born, they returned to the United States. Living in Los Angeles, California, she devoted herself to her family and the movie career of her daughter. Sothern died at age 99 in Palm Springs, California.
Take a look at these vintage photos to see beautiful moments of Sara Sothern with her daughter Elizabeth Taylor.
2-year-old Elizabeth Taylor smiles with her mother, actress Sara Sothern, and her brother, Howard, 1934
Sara Sothern with her daughter Elizabeth Taylor, and son Howard, 1937
Once the tensions of World War II began, Sara Sothern and her husband Francis Lenn Taylor moved the family to California to a house in Beverly Hills, which is where she’s seen sitting here with her daughter Elizabeth, 1947
The family’s Beverly Hills home was built in 1929 and had five bedrooms. Here, Elizabeth makes hamburgers in the home’s kitchen with her mother, a stage mom who was very involved in her daughter’s career, 1947
Elizabeth makes hamburgers in the home’s kitchen with her mother, 1947
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