Sam Taylor-Johnson
Taylor-Johnson with husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson at the Los Angeles premiere of “Godzilla” held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on May 8, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Starfrenzy/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Samantha Louise Taylor
Place of Birth: Croydon, Surrey, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 4 March, 1967
Ethnicity: English, Welsh
Sam Taylor-Johnson is an English director, and artist. She has directed the films Nowhere Boy, Fifty Shades of Grey, A Million Little Pieces, which she co-wrote; and Back to Black. She has also directed episodes of the shows Gypsy (2017) and Solos. She was part of a group informally named the Young British Artists, who began exhibiting in the late 1980s.
Sam is the daughter of Geraldine, a yoga teacher and astrologist, and David Taylor, described as “a biker.” She was raised near Streatham Common, south London, then Jarvis Brook, East Sussex. She was previously known as Sam Taylor-Wood, with Wood being her stepfather’s name.
Sam is married to actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The couple hyphenated their surnames together. She has two children with her former husband, Eton-educated art dealer and gallerist Jay Jopling (Jeremy Michael Jopling), whose own father is politician Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling; and two children with Aaron.
Sam’s maternal grandfather’s surname was Johns.
Taylor-Johnson with husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson in 2012, photo via Prphotos
Where did the “Wood” come from?
Stepfather.