Holland Taylor, 78, is an Emmy-winning actress and playwright who appeared in “Legally Blonde” and “Bombshell,” in Broadway’s “Ann” and in Netflix ’s “Hollywood.” She stars in Netflix’s miniseries “The Chair.” She spoke with Marc Myers.
I was a playpen baby. Whenever my mother worked on her creative projects, she’d park me in the pen. From an early age, I developed a natural taste for short-time isolation, which became a condition of life.
Pamela and Patricia, my half sisters, are five and six years older than me. They went away to boarding school at age 12, so they were around only for my first five years.
My imagination had room to wander. I loved my Aunt Louise, who lived a mile away. I was often dumped there when I was little. Her house had nooks and crannies and enormous trees and rock gardens and a horse farm next door.
My family first lived in St. Davids, Pa., on Philadelphia’s Main Line. Our 1914, two-story stucco house sat on a half-acre and had a walled-in garden and a small greenhouse.
