William Desmond Taylor

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William Desmond Taylor

William Desmond Taylor ( William Cunningham Deane-Tanner ; born April 26, 1872 in Carlow , Ireland , † murdered February 1, 1922 in Los Angeles ) was an American film director and actor.

life and work

The family moved to Dublin shortly after Williams was born . As a teenager, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, an officer in the British Army. However, when William failed the entrance test, he was forced to leave the family and moved to New York . On December 7, 1901, he married Ethel May Harrison, the daughter of a wealthy New York stockbroker. Their daughter, Ethel Daisy, was born in 1903. At the time, William Deane-Tanner was working in an antique shop. On October 23, 1908, Tanner suddenly disappeared without a trace. The next day he called the antique shop and asked for $ 600, which was delivered to him by courier. Then his track was lost. However, there were eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen him in Colorado , Montana, and Alaska . He made his way as a miner, now under the name William Desmond Taylor. During this time he also gained his first acting experience as an amateur actor. In 1912, Ethel divorced her missing husband, William.

In December of the same year Taylor received his first film role in Thomas Harper Ince's film The Counterfeiter , the following year he was seen in The Iconoclast . Soon after, he also worked as a director. From 1917 Taylor concentrated exclusively on directing and quickly made a name for himself in Hollywood . He has made films with actors such as Dustin Farnum , George Beban , Kathlyn Williams and Constance Talmadge .

On February 1, 1922, William Desmond Taylor was found dead in his bungalow in Los Angeles. The police assumed a natural death. It was quickly assumed that Taylor had died of a gastric haemorrhage. It was only when the body was about to be removed that a pool of blood was discovered under the dead body and finally a bullet hole in the back. The murder of William Desmond Taylor remains unsolved to this day.

Filmography (selection)

as a director

  • 1913: Mrs. Carter's Campaign
  • 1916: The American Beauty
  • 1917: Tom Sawyer
  • 1918: How Could You, Jean?
  • 1919: Anne of Green Gables
  • 1920: Jenny Be Good
  • 1921: Morals
  • 1922: The Top of New York
  • 1922: The Green Temptation

as an actor

  • 1913: The Battle of Gettysburg (The Battle of Gettysburg)
  • 1913: The Iconoclast
  • 1913: The Sins of the Father
  • 1913: The Counterfeiter
  • 1914: Master of the Mine
  • 1915: An Eye for an Eye

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Desmond Taylor - The Unsolved Murder
personal data
SURNAME Taylor, William Desmond
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Deane-Tanner, William Cunningham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director and actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Carlow
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 1922
Place of death los Angeles