The Story Behind an Iconic and Sultry Portrait of Elizabeth Taylor

On what would have been Elizabeth Taylor's 85th birthday — the actor, born Feb. 27, 1932, died in 2011 — TIME looks back on one of the most iconic portraits ever captured of her.
Philippe Halsman, the prolific 20th-century portrait photographer, was assigned by LIFE Magazine to photograph Taylor for a profile story. Halsman was no stranger to LIFE: he had been a regular contributor since 1941 who captured the world’s leading figures, from Marilyn Monroe to Alfred Hitchcock to Winston Churchill, for the publication.
In October 1948, Taylor — who was only 16 at the time — arrived in a low-cut dress at Halsman’s New York City portrait studio, which still exists today and is now home to the Halsman Archive. “In my studio Elizabeth was quiet and shy. She struck me as an average teen-ager, except that she was incredibly beautiful,” Halsman reflected in his book Halsman: Sight and Insight.
Halsman had his one-of-a-kind hand-built 4x5 view camera ready to go with both black-and-white and color film.
“On a purely technical level, he pointed out that two sides of my face photographed differently," Taylor would later recall. "One side looked younger; the other more mature. In posing for Halsman, I became instantly aware of my body.”
She also recalled Halsman shouting one particularly memorable instruction for her: “You have bosoms, so stick them out!”

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