Introduction:
On August 6, 1957, a baby girl was born prematurely in New York under circumstances few children could ever imagine. Her mother was Elizabeth Taylor, one of the most famous actresses in the world. Her father, Mike Todd, was a celebrated Broadway producer and Oscar winner whose larger-than-life personality seemed almost as extraordinary as his wife’s. The little girl was named Elizabeth Frances Todd, but the family called her Liza.
She was only seven months old when tragedy changed everything.
On March 22, 1958, Mike Todd’s private plane, the Lucky Liz, crashed in New Mexico during an ice storm. All four men aboard were killed. Liza was far too young to understand that her father was gone, and she would grow up knowing him only through photographs and family stories.
Her mother soon married Mike’s close friend, singer Eddie Fisher, creating one of Hollywood’s most notorious scandals. Later came actor Richard Burton, whose turbulent relationship with Elizabeth became international news. For Liza, childhood unfolded amid marriages, divorces, yachts, expensive homes, Hollywood premieres, and relentless publicity.
Yet Burton’s diaries later revealed a deeply personal side of their relationship. In 1968, when Liza was only 11, he wrote that his love for her had become almost overwhelming. Despite having no biological connection, Burton had developed a powerful attachment to the child he eventually adopted.
Liza, however, never seemed interested in inheriting her mother’s career. When asked whether she wanted to become an actress, her response was famously blunt: “An actress? Ugh.”
Instead, she followed her passion for animals, particularly horses.
As an adult, Liza became a talented bronze sculptor, creating detailed works inspired by racehorses. Her reputation gradually grew on its own merits. She sculpted celebrated horses including Nashua, Seattle Slew, and Northern Dancer, earning recognition in the world of equestrian art. She did not need Hollywood premieres or magazine covers. Her work spoke for itself.
Her personal life also moved far away from the spotlight. She married artist and teacher Happ Tivy, and they raised two sons, Quinn and Rhys, in upstate New York. Their world was centered on horses, art, family, and a quieter rhythm of life.
Then, in 2011, Liza faced the loss that brought her story full circle.
Elizabeth Taylor died on March 23 at the age of 79. At her funeral the following day, Liza stood before family and friends and read a tribute to her mother. Then her younger son, Rhys Tivey, stepped forward with a trumpet and played Amazing Grace over his grandmother’s coffin.
It was a remarkably fitting ending. The daughter who had spent her life avoiding the spotlight was now standing at the center of a deeply personal farewell to one of the most photographed women of the twentieth century.
Liza Todd was born into extraordinary fame, but she refused to let fame determine who she would become. She lost her father before she could remember him, endured the complicated relationships surrounding her mother, and grew up surrounded by stories that belonged to Hollywood rather than to herself.
In the end, she chose something quieter: bronze, horses, family, and independence.
The world may have called her Elizabeth Taylor’s forgotten daughter. But perhaps Liza’s greatest achievement was proving that she never needed to be famous in her own right. She simply needed to become herself.