Rod Taylor (1930 –2015) was an Australian actor. His career spanned over 6 decades with the 1960s being the peak of his career. He is best known for his roles in The Birds, The Time Machine and for providing his voice in the Disney animated classic, 101 Dalmatians. His IMDb page shows 93 acting credits from 1951 to 2009. This page will rank 36 Rod Taylor movies from Best to Worst in five different sortable columns of information. The following table only includes his movies that we were able to find a box office number on…we will continue to search for more Taylor movies. This page comes from repeated requests by longtime UMR contributors Steveleneson and Florarson.
Rod Taylor Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Rod Taylor Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Rod Taylor movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort Rod Taylor movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Rod Taylor movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Rod Taylor movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Rod Taylor movie received.
- Sort Rod Taylor movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Rod Taylor
1. Rodney Sturt Taylor was born in Lidcombe, a suburb of Sydney, Austraila in 1930.
2. Rod Taylor studied painting at the East Sydney Technical and Fine Arts College. Painting was his first career choice….until…..
3. Rod Taylor decided to become an actor after seeing Laurence Olivier in an Old Vic touring production of Richard III.
4. Rod Taylor played Tarzan in an Australian children’s radio serial in the early 1950s.
5. Rod Taylor acquired extensive radio and stage experience in Australia. Taylor was awarded the 1954 Rola Show Australian Radio Actor of the Year Award, which included a ticket to London via Los Angeles, but Taylor did not continue on to London…instead he stayed in Los Angeles and started his American movie career.
6. Rod Taylor is one of two actors to appear in movies, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino. Bruce Dern is the other.
7. Rod Taylor refused a screen test for James Bond, considering it beneath him. “Every time a new Bond picture became a smash hit,” he later admitted, “I tore out my hair.”.
8. Rod Taylor was considered for the role of Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968) before Charlton Heston was cast.
9. Rod Taylor was married three times. He is the father of CNN financial reporter Felicia Taylor.
10. Rod Taylor had completely retired from acting when Quentin Tarantino offered him the role of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Inglourious Basterds (2009). At first Taylor declined the part, suggesting that Tarantino should cast Albert Finney (who had played Churchill to great acclaim in The Gathering Storm (2002)), but eventually the director talked him into it.
Check out Rod Taylor‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
It goes without saying that Rod never became a legend but he had a highly prolific movie career which probably started to fade in the 1970s. I personally thought that the high point of that career was maybe the two films that he made with my Doris Day in the mid-sixties – Do Not Disturb and The Glass Bottom Boat.
However despite Doris being in them I did not like those films and my own favourite Taylor film has always been the 1967 Hotel though I see from the table above that it was not particularly popular with the wider public nor is its Cogerson critical rating very good.
thanks for sharing. I almost always read your comments(and steves and floras and a few others as time allows) and enjoy them. that last poem honouring Flora was fabulous. very insightful about taylor. I agree,as you and I almost always do, about his leading roles. hotel( a solid 8) is the one I like the most even over the birds(9) and the time machine(8) and the doris day movies. I like steves idea of the smiley face to let each other know we are listening, I hesitate because it would buff my comment total. I would soon , unfairly, be in the thousands. I wonder if we could get UMR to allow a read button for each comment sort of a “like” button but not judgemental.
HI FELLOW BOB !
Thanks for your kind comments.
It was actually Flora who started the poetry habit on this site. She wrote a witty poem about the spammers and it so impressed me that I often take to being poetic myself. However I mostly give just quotes from other people’s work whereas Flora can be quite inventive at times,
Good idea about the “like” button so let’s hope the Work Horse will consider it..
I’ve written poetry all my life. I happy to know that my poetry inspires you to write poetry or share others’ poetry.
I’m not sure how a ‘read’ button would work. People have in the past answered with just a smiley face, I know Bruce has done that. The like button might work. Glad to know you enjoy reading my comments. I enjoy reading yours.
It’s interesting to see this page because I recently saw an excellent Twilight Zone episode from around 1959 with Rod Taylor as the main guest star. I have seen 16 of the movies listed. My favorites, counting only the ones Taylor starred in are: The Time Machine, The Birds, Sunday in New York, 36 Hours, Young Cassidy, and Dark of the Sun.
Before Mel Gibson and Russel Crowe, Rod Taylor was the Australian actor who made it big in Hollywood, and while he never quite became a top star, I find he was a very personable and talented actor, able to handle every-thing from drama, to light comedy, action and adventure. After coming to Hollywood in the mid-50s, Taylor landed supporting roles in several quality productions, including The Catered Affairs, Giant, Raintree Country and Separate Tables. But it was as the young scientists in the sci-fi classic, The Time Machine, that he would start raising serious notice. Then came the short-lived TV series Hong Kong and his star-making role in The Birds. While his popularity would decline in the 1970s, Taylor made a memorable comeback shortly before passing away as Winston Churchill in Inglorious Basterds.
Glad to see Rod Taylor making it to UMR!
Good to see a Rod Taylor page finally at UMR, better late than never eh? 🙂
I’ve seen 138 of the 36 films on [Stop it Steve!] Actually a less than spectacular 12 out of 36, and I thought I was a fan! Favorites include – The Birds, The Time Machine, Giant, 101 Dalmations, The Liquidator, Train Robbers and Dark of the Sun.
Nice to see a Hitchcock classic top the critics chart, The Birds has always been a favorite of mine. I think I wrote a page on it at Hubpages along with plenty of screenshots from the film.
Giant was a huge box office hit and 101 Dalmations was even bigger, whoa!
Rod Taylor turned down a Bond screen test, interesting, and another Australian took the role, George Lazenby.
So Taylor might have played Taylor in Planet of the Apes… I like Rod but no one tops Chuck ‘It’s a mad house!’ Heston!
Excellent work Bruce, and thanks for the video share! Vote Up!
Hey Steve…..as long as the wait was worth then this Rod Taylor page should be a welcome addition to the UMR library. If Joel Hirschhorn had included him in his book….then this page would have come years ago…lol.
Only 12…..wow….stunned that my 10 is so close to your tally count. The Liquidator and Dark of the Sun are your two favorites that I have not seen. I figured the Time Machine and The Birds would be among your favorites.
Think of the Taylor legacy if he had gotten that Bond role…..and even more interesting…what would Sean Connery’s career looked like? Thanks for the feedback.
When I worked at BMI (Broadcast Music Licensing) we had to make claims to foreign societies regarding missing or unpaid royalties for the soundtrack of The Birds. You say The Birds has no music and you would be right. The royalties were for the sound effects used in the background! This brought in a couple of hundred thousand in unpaid royalties.
Rod Taylor is no longer on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. However on the original list in 2000 he ranked # 409. These are the actors on the 2016 list he appeared with;
4 SAMUEL L. JACKSON Inglourious Basterds (2009)
5 HARVEY KEITEL Inglourious Basterds (2009)
26 CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Nobody Runs Forever (1968)
27 DENNIS HOPPER Giant (1956)
35 CHRISTOPHER LEE Mask of Murder (1985)
54 HARRISON FORD Zabriskie Point (1970)
79 BRAD PITT Inglourious Basterds (2009)
112 ROD STEIGER The Heroes (1973)
142 ERNEST BORGNINE Chuka (1967)
142 ERNEST BORGNINE The Catered Affair (1956)
247 CHARLTON HESTON THE FANTASY FILM WORLDS OF GEORGE PAL (1985)
353 CLORIS LEACHMAN The Rack (1956)
364 ROBERT VAUGHN The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
455 SHIRLEY MACLAINE Ask Any Girl (1959)
548 HENRY SILVA A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
571 WILLIAM SMITH 36 Hours (1965)
571 WILLIAM SMITH Ask Any Girl (1959)
571 WILLIAM SMITH Darker Than Amber (1970)
571 WILLIAM SMITH The Deadly Trackers (1973)
580 SAUL RUBINEK Open Season (1995)
609 LOUISE FLETCHER A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
622 RALPH MORATZ GIANT (1956)
622 RALPH MORATZ RAINTREE COUNTY (1957)
644 PEDRO ARMENDARIZ JR. The Deadly Trackers (1973)
660 ANN-MARGRET The Train Robbers (1973)
706 SALLY KELLERMAN Point of Betrayal (1995)
722 SID HAIG THE HELL WITH HEROES (1968)
767 ROBERT RIETTY GULLIVER’S TRAVELS (1977)
805 JANE FONDA Sunday in New York (1963)
823 STEPHEN MCHATTIE KAW (2007)
857 BO SVENSON Inglourious Basterds (2009)
897 TONY CURTIS THE FANTASY FILM WORLDS OF GEORGE PAL (1985)
909 JULIE CHRISTIE Young Cassidy (1965)
912 ARTHUR TOVEY Do Not Disturb (1965)
914 CLIFF ROBERTSON Sunday in New York (1963)
987 IAN ABERCROMBIE OPEN SEASON (1995)
The following actors originally on the 2000 list who have since fallen off also appeared in a film with Rod.
9 ORSON WELLES The V.I.P.s (1963)
45 BURT LANCASTER Separate Tables (1958)
54 STUART WHITMAN The Treasure Seekers (1979)
61 TREVOR HOWARD The Liquidator (1965)
67 PAUL NEWMAN The Rack (1956)
101 RICHARD HARRIS Gulliver’s Travels (1977)
101 RICHARD HARRIS The Deadly Trackers (1973)
102 DAVID NIVEN Ask Any Girl (1959)
102 DAVID NIVEN Separate Tables (1958)
122 JOHN MILLS Chuka (1967)
132 GLENN FORD Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
137 CARROLL BAKER Giant (1956)
153 JAMES GARNER 36 Hours (1965)
169 JOHN DEHNER Top Gun (1955)
175 MICHAEL HORDERN The V.I.P.s (1963)
179 JOHN WAYNE The Train Robbers (1973)
185 KEVIN MCCARTHY A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
185 KEVIN MCCARTHY Hotel (1967)
185 KEVIN MCCARTHY The Hell with Heroes (1968)
209 DOM DELUISE The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
213 BEN JOHNSON The Train Robbers (1973)
220 RAF VALLONE A Time to Die (1982)
227 RICHARD BURTON The V.I.P.s (1963)
232 ROY JENSON 36 Hours (1965)
234 AKIM TAMIROFF The Liquidator (1965)
235 CLAUDIA CARDINALE The Hell with Heroes (1968)
236 LEE MARVIN Raintree County (1957)
236 LEE MARVIN The Rack (1956)
281 ELIZABETH TAYLOR Giant (1956)
281 ELIZABETH TAYLOR Raintree County (1957)
281 ELIZABETH TAYLOR The V.I.P.s (1963)
302 RICHARD ANDERSON A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
327 RAQUEL WELCH Do Not Disturb (1965)
359 KARL MALDEN Hotel (1967)
361 JAMES WHITMORE Chuka (1967)
362 BARRY SULLIVAN A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
379 ANN DORAN Step Down to Terror (1958)
380 STERLING HAYDEN Top Gun (1955)
389 LEON ASKIN Do Not Disturb (1965)
395 WALTER PIDGEON The Rack (1956)
399 NEHEMIAH PERSOFF Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
400 VALERIE PERRINE Mask of Murder (1985)
406 EDMOND O’BRIEN The Rack (1956)
463 EDWARD G. ROBINSON Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)
472 TERRY-THOMAS The Heroes (1973)
477 BRITT EKLAND Do Not Disturb (1965)
477 BRITT EKLAND Marbella, un golpe de cinco estrellas (1985)
481 LILLI PALMER Nobody Runs Forever (1968)
499 JESSICA TANDY The Birds (1963)
503 RICHARD CONTE Hotel (1967)
508 ROBERT BLAKE The Rack (1956)
515 BESSIE LOVE Gulliver’s Travels (1977)
517 WILFRID HYDE-WHITE The Liquidator (1965)
524 RICHARD WATTIS The Liquidator (1965)
524 RICHARD WATTIS The V.I.P.s (1963)
527 GAILARD SARTAIN Open Season (1995)
532 JIM BACKUS Ask Any Girl (1959)
532 JIM BACKUS Sunday in New York (1963)
542 PAUL FIX Giant (1956)
542 PAUL FIX Zabriskie Point (1970)
546 REED MORGAN Ask Any Girl (1959)
546 REED MORGAN The Deadly Trackers (1973)
549 STROTHER MARTIN World Without End (1956)
550 ALEXANDRA STEWART The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970)
553 DAN O’HERLIHY The Virgin Queen (1955)
559 THEODORE BIKEL Darker Than Amber (1970)
562 PAUL BRYAR Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)
564 HARRY GUARDINO The Hell with Heroes (1968)
583 PAUL STEWART Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)
589 ROCK HUDSON A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
589 ROCK HUDSON Giant (1956)
592 WHIT BISSELL The Time Machine (1960)
594 G.D. SPRADLIN Zabriskie Point (1970)
602 MAGGIE SMITH The V.I.P.s (1963)
602 MAGGIE SMITH Young Cassidy (1965)
613 JOHN LE MESURIER The Liquidator (1965)
617 PAUL FREES A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
617 PAUL FREES One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
617 PAUL FREES The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985)
617 PAUL FREES The Time Machine (1960)
623 RUSS TAMBLYN THE FANTASY FILM WORLDS OF GEORGE PAL (1985)
626 BILLY BECK Do Not Disturb (1965)
634 JOAN COLLINS The Virgin Queen (1955)
651 MELVYN DOUGLAS Hotel (1967)
657 DEBBIE REYNOLDS The Catered Affair (1956)
670 EDWARD ALBERT A Time to Die (1982)
678 PAUL WINFIELD On the Run (1983)
679 FRANCISCO RABAL Marbella, un golpe de cinco estrellas (1985)
688 GRAHAM STARK Gulliver’s Travels (1977)
714 ERIK HOLLAND Trader Horn (1973)
742 RICARDO MONTALBAN The Train Robbers (1973)
746 HERB VIGRAN Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)
746 HERB VIGRAN World Without End (1956)
765 LOUIS JOURDAN The V.I.P.s (1963)
775 DINA MERRILL Open Season (1995)
775 DINA MERRILL Point of Betrayal (1995)
808 LUANA ANDERS Point of Betrayal (1995)
811 ROBERT NICHOLS Giant (1956)
836 CURT LOWENS Trader Horn (1973)
872 ROBERT CULP Sunday in New York (1963)
874 DEAN JONES The Rack (1956)
878 DENVER PYLE Top Gun (1955)
888 TERENCE HILL Seven Seas to Calais (1962)
890 JAMES BOOTH Darker Than Amber (1970)
890 JAMES BOOTH The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970)
895 TONY RANDALL THE FANTASY FILM WORLDS OF GEORGE PAL (1985)
917 ROBERT J. WILKE Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
918 BETTE DAVIS The Catered Affair (1956)
918 BETTE DAVIS The Virgin Queen (1955)
930 BING RUSSELL A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
965 MARY WICKES Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
994 ELLEN CORBY The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
999 JULIAN GLOVER Gulliver’s Travels (1977)
Rod appeared with 31 Oscar winners;
BARRY FITZGERALD The Catered Affair (1956)
BEN JOHNSON The Train Robbers (1973)
BETTE DAVIS The Catered Affair (1956)
BETTE DAVIS The Virgin Queen (1955)
BURT LANCASTER Separate Tables (1958)
CHARLTON HESTON THE FANTASY FILM WORLDS OF GEORGE PAL (1985)
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Nobody Runs Forever (1968)
CLIFF ROBERTSON Sunday in New York (1963)
CLORIS LEACHMAN The Rack (1956)
DAVID NIVEN Ask Any Girl (1959)
DAVID NIVEN Separate Tables (1958)
DOROTHY MALONE Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
EDMOND O’BRIEN The Rack (1956)
ELIZABETH TAYLOR Giant (1956)
ELIZABETH TAYLOR Raintree County (1957)
ELIZABETH TAYLOR The V.I.P.s (1963)
ERNEST BORGNINE Chuka (1967)
ERNEST BORGNINE The Catered Affair (1956)
EVA MARIE SAINT 36 Hours (1965)
EVA MARIE SAINT Raintree County (1957)
GIG YOUNG Ask Any Girl (1959)
JANE FONDA Sunday in New York (1963)
JESSICA TANDY The Birds (1963)
JOHN MILLS Chuka (1967)
JOHN WAYNE The Train Robbers (1973)
JULIE CHRISTIE Young Cassidy (1965)
KARL MALDEN Hotel (1967)
LEE MARVIN Raintree County (1957)
LEE MARVIN The Rack (1956)
LOUISE FLETCHER A Gathering of Eagles (1963)
MAGGIE SMITH The V.I.P.s (1963)
MAGGIE SMITH Young Cassidy (1965)
MARGARET RUTHERFORD The V.I.P.s (1963)
MELVYN DOUGLAS Hotel (1967)
PAUL NEWMAN The Rack (1956)
REX HARRISON A Time to Die (1982)
ROD STEIGER The Heroes (1973)
SHIRLEY MACLAINE Ask Any Girl (1959)
WENDY HILLER Separate Tables (1958)
Hey Dan
1. Fascinating behind the Broadcast Music Licensing scenes information.
2. Good to know that Rod had a place in the Top 1000….409th is pretty impressive….especially since his peak years were about 35 years before the first list of 2000
3. I imagine….Brad Pitt and Samuel L. Jackson will keep Taylor attached to the list for awhile….thought SLJ is a sneaky almost 70 years old.
4. No Bess Flowers movies? Then I guess his career was not a complete one….lol.
5. Looks like Paul Frees is the winner of the Bess Flowers Most Frequent Co-Star award.
6. Taylor breaking into the 30s when looking at Oscar winners…..pretty impressive…as was his career and your lists….thanks for taking the time to share them.
Thanks for doing my requested page on Rod Taylor.
I have seen 17 Rod Taylor movies.
The highest rated film I have seen is Giant.
The highest rated film I have NOT seen is Inglorious Bastards.
The lowest rated film I have seen is The Man Who Had Power Over Women.
I have seen 8 of the top 10.
No matter what the film and whether he has a lead or a supporting role, I have always enjoyed Taylor’s performance.
My Favourite Rod Taylor Films Are:
The Birds
The Time Machine
Sunday in New York
The VIPs
Hotel
36 Hours
Separate Tables
The Liquidator
Giant
The Glass Bottom Boat
These films represent favourite films regardless of the size of Taylor’s role.
Top of my to-see list are Ask Any Girl, the other top 10 I have not seen and Fate Is the Hunter with Glenn Ford.
Oh, my! I forgot that I have seen Young Cassidy. I saw it for the first time this past St. Patrick’s Day. Therefore, I have seen 18 Rod Taylor movies.
Ok……now you are even closer to doubling my total of 10. Thanks for the adjusted tally.
Hey Flora….yep….I figured it was about time to do the Rod page…..better late than never?….lol. I have seen 10 of his movies….but they are 9 of the Top 10 UMR movies. I have not seen Ask Any Girl. So your 17 almost doubles my total.
“No matter what the film and whether he has a lead or a supporting role, I have always enjoyed Taylor’s performance.” I agree with this 100%. I have seen 6 of your favorite Taylor movies….with The Time Machine, The Birds and 36 Hours being my favorites too.
Ask Any Girl is not a well known movie…even with a cast of MacLaine, Taylor and David Niven…..I wonder why? Actually shocked you have not seen Fate Is The Hunter…..the trailer is attached to the page….it looks like a High and Mighty reboot.
Good feedback as always.