Leigh Taylor-Young

Young was born in Washington, D.C. She added the surname Young, the surname of her stepfather, Donald E. Young, a Detroit executive. Her father was a diplomat, and her younger siblings are actress/sculptor Dey Young and writer/director/producer Lance Young. The siblings were raised in Oakland County, Michigan. Leigh graduated from Groves High School, Beverly Hills, Michigan in 1962. Before attending Northwestern University as an economics major, she spent a summer shifting scenery, modeling, acting, and sweeping up at a Detroit little theater. She left Northwestern before graduating to pursue a full-time acting career, making her professional debut on Broadway in 3 Bags Full. About dropping out of college, she said:
Taylor-Young got her first big break in 1966, when she was cast as Rachel Welles on the primetime soap opera Peyton Place. Her character was written in the show as a replacem…