Leigh Taylor-Young

After moving to New York, she studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Her big break came with a role as the mysterious Rachael Welles on the prime-time soap "Peyton Place," a character introduced to solve the disappearance of Allison MacKenzie. Like Mia Farrow, who had left the series, Leigh walked off after only one season, generating some negative publicity. She married her co-star Ryan O'Neal in February 1967, following his divorce from Joanna Moore, and they had a son, Patrick, who later became an actor and sportscaster. The couple separated in 1971 and divorced in 1974. In 1978, she married agent/director Guy McElwaine, but that marriage also ended in divorce.

Leigh began her film career as a "flower child" of the late 1960s. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Newcomer for "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!" (1968), opposite Peter Sellers. She then appeared in several films, including "The Big Bounce" (1969), "The Adventurers" (1970), "The Buttercup Chain" (1970), "The Horsemen" (1971), and "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" (1971). She played opposite Charlton Heston in the controversial "Soylent Green" (1973). During the 1980s, she appeared in films like "Looker" (1981) and "Jagged Edge" (1985). In 1994, she won an Emmy for her portrayal of Rachel Harris on "Picket Fences." She also performed in plays, including "The Beckett Plays," "Knives," and "Sleeping Dogs." She appeared in her brother Lance Young's film "Bliss" (1997) and played Katherine Crane on the soap "Passions" (1999). More recently, she had roles in "Slackers" (2002), "Ritual" (2002), "Klepto" (2003), "A-List" (2006), "Spiritual Warriors" (2007), and "The Wayshower" (2011).

Off camera, she became an ordained minister in the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness and has recorded audio meditations for "A Search of Serenity" from The Course in Miracles trainings. She is a grandmother of two granddaughters. Her height and red hair set her apart, and she identifies as American and Caucasian. Now retired from acting, she remains active as a former activist. With a career spanning six decades, she has left a mark on both television and film, earning recognition from a Golden Globe nomination to an Emmy win.