Taylor was born in 1932 in Winner, South Dakota, and grew up near the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

[2] Her father, Harry Taylor, was a postmaster,[3] who ran a post office that was frequented by Native Americans.

[1] She met actor Tom Laughlin while a student at the University of South Dakota in 1953, and married him while she was a graphic artist[4] on October 15, 1954.

[6] Together the couple developed the character of "Billy Jack", who first appeared in the 1967 film The Born Losers.

[7] Taylor died on March 23, 2018, of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles, California, aged 85.