Sam Taylor-Johnson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sam Taylor-Johnson OBE
Taylor-Johnson in September 2010
Born	Samantha Louise Taylor-Wood (1967-03-04) March 4, 1967 (age 58) Croydon, London, England
Alma mater	Beacon Community College Goldsmiths, University of London
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	1993–present
Spouse(s)	Jay Jopling ​ ​ (m. 1997; div. 2008)​ Aaron Taylor-Johnson ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	4

Samantha Louise Taylor-Johnson is a British filmmaker. She is also known as one of the 'Young British Artists,' a group of important artists from Britain.

Her first movie as a director was called Nowhere Boy in 2009. This film was about the childhood of John Lennon, who was a singer and songwriter for The Beatles.

Early Life

Samantha Taylor-Wood was born in Croydon, London, England. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old. Her mother is a yoga teacher and studies stars. Sam has a younger sister named Ashley. She also has a half-brother named Kristian.

Taylor-Wood grew up in south London. After her parents divorced, her family moved to Jarvis Brook in East Sussex. Samantha went to Beacon Community College. Later, she studied at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Career Highlights

Art and Photography

Sam Taylor-Johnson started showing her art photos in the early 1990s. She created a video art piece called Killing Time in 1994. In this video, four people pretended to sing to opera music. After this, multi-screen video art became a big part of her work.

In 1998, she was nominated for the Turner Prize. This is a very important award for artists in Britain. She also won the Illy Café Prize in 1997.

In 2000, she made a huge photo mural for the Selfridges department store in London. It showed 21 famous people, like Elton John. These people were posing in ways that looked like famous artworks or movie scenes.

In 2002, the National Portrait Gallery asked her to create a video. It was a portrait of the famous soccer player David Beckham sleeping. She is also well-known for her 'Crying Men' series. This series features many famous Hollywood actors crying.

In 2014, Sam Taylor-Johnson had a new photo exhibition. It showed pictures of Coco Chanel's private apartment in Paris. The exhibition was called 'Second Floor.'

Directing Movies

Nowhere Boy

In 2008, Sam Taylor-Johnson was chosen to direct Nowhere Boy. This movie tells the story of John Lennon's childhood. The film was shown at the London Film Festival in October 2009. It was released in the UK in December 2009 and received good reviews. She was nominated for a BAFTA award for her work on the film in 2010.

Other Film and TV Work

In 2004, she created a film art piece called "Strings." It showed a ballet dancer hanging above musicians. In 2006, she made a short film called Death Valley. She also became a Governor of the British Film Institute in July 2006.

In 2008, she directed a short film called Love You More. It was written by Patrick Marber. The film featured two songs by the band Buzzcocks.

In 2011, she directed a music video for the band R.E.M. The video was for their song "Überlin". Her husband, Aaron Johnson, starred in the video.

Sam Taylor-Johnson directed the movie Fifty Shades of Grey in 2015. This film was based on a popular novel. She decided not to direct the sequel.

In July 2022, it was announced that she would direct Back to Black. This movie is a biopic about the life of British singer Amy Winehouse. Filming for this project started in January 2023 in London.

Personal Life

Sam Taylor-Johnson has faced cancer twice. She was treated for colon cancer in 1997 when she was 30. In 2000, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She practices yoga and Transcendental Meditation. She has said that meditation helps her cope with life's challenges.

In 2011, she received an award called Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This award was given for her contributions to the arts.

Family Life

She married art dealer Jay Jopling in 1997. They had two daughters together, born in 1997 and 2005. They separated in 2008 after 11 years of marriage.

She started a relationship with actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson after they worked together on the movie Nowhere Boy. They met when Aaron auditioned for the role of John Lennon in late 2008.

They announced their engagement in October 2009. They got married on June 21, 2012. Both of them took the last name Taylor-Johnson. They have two daughters together, born in 2010 and 2012. They live in Los Angeles, California, and also have a farm in England.

Discography

Sam Taylor-Johnson has released three songs with the Pet Shop Boys:

• 1999: "Je t'aime... moi non plus"
• 2003: "Love to Love You Baby" (under the name Kiki Kokova)
• 2008: "I'm in Love with a German Film Star"

Filmography

Short film

Feature film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Sam Taylor-Wood para niños