Biography for
William Desmond Taylor More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

26 April 1872, Carlow, Ireland

Date of Death

1 February 1922, Los Angeles, California, USA (homicide)

Birth Name

William Cunningham Deane-Tanner

Mini Biography

Born in Carlow, Ireland. Came to USA c. 1890. Worked as stage actor, engineer, antique dealer, gold miner. Entered silent film industry as actor in 1912; most noted film as actor was Captain Alvarez (1914) for Vitagraph. Directed first film for Balboa Films in 1914. Subsequently directed for American Film, Favorite Players, Pallas, Morosco, Fox, Famous Players-Lasky, Select, Realart and Paramount. Served in the British Army 1918-1919 then resumed his Hollywood career. Served as president of the Motion Picture Directors' Association for three terms. Stars he directed included Mary Pickford Dustin Farnum Wallace Reid and Mary Miles Minter . Directed Davy Crockett (1915) , Tom Sawyer (1917) , Anne of Green Gables (1919) and Huckleberry Finn (1920) among others. His unsolved murder in 1922 remains one of Hollywood's greatest mysteries.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Bruce Long

Mini Biography

Born in Carlow, Ireland, William was the third child of British Army Major Deane-Tanner. Soon after, the family moved to Dublin where William was educated. William was in his teens when he failed his examinations to enter the Army. Because of this, William was forced to leave the family home and later turned up in New York. On December 7, 1901, William Cunningham Deane-Tanner married Ethel May Harrison, the daughter of a New York stockbroker. William held the position of vice-president of the highly successful and well-known English Antique Shop in New York allowing the couple to live in Larchmont. Daughter Ethel Daisy was born in 1903. William was well liked and popular with the people who knew him. In 1908, he went to lunch and never returned. The next day he telephoned the shop to ask for $600, which he received by messenger, and he was never seen again. Rumors abounded that he was seen mining or acting in Colorado, Montana and Alaska going by the name William Desmond Taylor. Ethel divorced William, residence unknown, in 1912 to remarry. In December 1912, Taylor showed up at Inceville, the city of motion picture sets Thomas H. Ince built along the ocean front near Santa Monica. He was hired to act in The Counterfeiter (1913/I). Next Taylor showed up at Kay-Bee Studios production of The Iconoclast (1913) . When there was a break in the filming, Taylor would spend his time studying and watching the various phases of the movie business or reading. Small talk with the other actors was not something that he did voluntarily. When The Iconoclast (1913) completed filming, Taylor was first offered another acting job and then offered a chance to direct. In the early days, it was cheaper to hire an actor that could direct the movie than to hire two men to do the same thing. William S. Hart was doing the same thing for Triangle Pictures. Taylor continued acting, directing or both until he was hired as an actor in A Tale of Two Cities (1917). He became invaluable to the director as his knowledge of art and literature became known. Thereafter, he rapidly climbed the latter of success and soon became the leading director of Famous Players-Lasky. Taylor would direct Dustin Farnum, George Beban, Kathlyn Williams, Constance Talmadge and other stars with great success, and would be asked to film versions of both Tom Sawyer (1917) and Huckleberry Finn (1920). He soon found that with sudden riches, adulation, and fame, women became very interested in him, and as a handsome and charming director, he was in a position to help them. Like many directors who turned out a large number of films, some of his films like Ben Blair (1916) were poorly received; some like The Last Chapter (1914) were average at best; and others such as The American Beauty (1916) were very well received. In How Could You, Jean? (1918) Taylor directed Mary Pickford. With World War I still raging in Europe, Taylor enlisted in the Canadian Army in July 1918, at the age of 41. But the war would end before Taylor could be sent to France so he served in the Army until he was discharged in the summer of 1919. He returned to direct the well-received Anne of Green Gables (1919). One of his last projects would be to direct Betty Compson in The Green Temptation (1922).

On February 1, 1922 Taylor was found shot to death in his bungalow. His still-unsolved murder was one of Hollywood's earliest major scandals. From what the police could piece together, at 7:00 pm, Taylor returned a telephone call to actor Antonio Moreno at the L.A. Athletic Club. At 7:05 pm, Mabel Normand arrives at his door. She left at about 7:45 pm, and according to one theory, Taylor was shot in the left side with a single bullet shortly after her departure. Others put the murder sometime between 1-2 am based on lack of rigor mortis when his servant arrived at approximately 7:45 the next morning to discover the body.

The list of suspects was the A list in Hollywood and rumors of payoffs were alleged. Reports of finding some of Mary Miles Minter's belongings in his bungalow and being suspected of the murder effectually ended her career in pictures. Mabel Normand's career would be tarnished by her association and questionable motivation with the death of Taylor. Taylor's funeral was one of the most impressive held in Los Angeles up to that date. Virtually anyone of prominence in the picture industry was in attendance.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana < tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

Spouse

Ethel May Hamilton

(7 December 1901 - 1911) 1 child

Trivia

Reportedly, Patricia Palmer confessed to Taylor's murder on her deathbed. She was one of dozens of actresses to make similar deathbed confessions.

Had an eight-year-long relationship with George Hopkins, which only ended with Taylor's death.

Personal Quotes

"The only things we really keep are the things we give away."

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