Lindsay Lohan to play Liz Taylor

New York - Lindsay Lohan will portray Elizabeth Taylor in a Lifetime film about her love affair with actor Richard Burton.

Lifetime on Monday made official a casting decision rumoured for months. The network says Lohan will star in Liz & Dick, with production set to begin in early June.

There was no mention of who will play Burton or when the film will air.

Taylor and Burton met as co-stars of the 1963 epic Cleopatra. They fell in love as the world looked on, left their respective spouses and got married. Then they divorced, only to remarry and divorce again.

In recent years the 25-year-old Lohan has gained her own measure of notoriety. Liz & Dick represents a step in her attempted career comeback.