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Wm. Desmond Taylor
actor-director [1872-1922]

short profile movies of Wm. Desmond Taylor works about Wm. Desmond Taylor works about the murder suspects gallery image gallery friends & family links

Actor-director-producer Wm. Desmond Taylor made almost 100 silent movies
before he was shot to death at age 49 in a still-unsolved murder . . .

Bruce Long's 'Taylorology' fansite
Wm. Desmond Taylor entry at Wikipedia
Wm. Desmond Taylor credits [1913-1922] at Internet Movie Database
search for books about Wm. Desmond Taylor at Amazon

Movies  of  Wm. Desmond  Taylor
Wm. Desmond Taylor credits [1913-1922] at Internet Movie Database
IMDb shows 27 credits as actor (1913-15), 60 credits as director (1914-22), 11 other credits

"The Directors: Rare Films of William Desmond Taylor" on DVD [2010] Classic Video Streams b&w DVD [12/2010] for $16.99 contains 2 silent feature films: "Tom Sawyer" [1917] starring Jack Pickford and "Nurse Marjorie" [April 1920] starring Mary Miles Minter

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"The Sins of The Father" short [1913] actor
"The Iconoclast" short [1913] actor
"Retrogression" short [1913] actor
"Bread Cast Upon The Waters" short [1913] actor
"The Battle of Gettysburg" [1913] actor
"A True Believer" short [1913] actor

"The Quakeress" short [1913] actor - film still survives /tt0003307/
watch W.D.T. death scene clip [12/2014 upload; 0:35] online at YouTube

"Exoneration" short [1913] actor
"Her Husband's Friend" short [1913] actor

"Grand-Dad" [Mutual July 1913 short]
Produced & directed by Thomas Ince; starring William Desmond Taylor • full credits at IMDb
available on the "Civil War Silents" DVD: Image Ent. b&w DVD [12/2000] for $22.99

"Millions For Defence" short [1914] actor
"The Night Riders of Petersham" [1914] actor
"The Kiss" short [1914] actor
"A Little Madonna" short [1914] actor
"Captain Alvarez" [1914] actor
"Secret of The Bulb" short [1914] actor
"The Brute" short [1914] actor
"Anne of The Golden Heart" short [1914] actor
"The Love of Tokiwa" short [1914] actor
"How God Came To Sonny Boy" short [1914] actor
"Tainted Money" short [1914] actor
"Master of The Mine" short [1914] actor
"The Smouldering Spark" short [1914]
"A Soul Astray" short [1914]
"The Song of The Sea Shell" short [1914]
"The Criminal Code" [1914] dir + actor
"The Awakening" short [1914]
"The Judge's Wife" [1914]
"When The Road Parts" short [1914]
"A Slice of Life" short [1914]
"The Beggar Child" short [1914]
"Brass Buttons" short [1914]
"The Last Chapter" [1914] dir + actor

"The Informer" [Mutual Jan 1914 short]
Directed by Raymond B. West; starring Herschel Mayall & Wm. Desmond Taylor • full credits at IMDb

"The Counterfeiter" short [Victor Film/Universal Aug 1914]
starring Florence Lawrence & William Desmond Taylor • full credits at IMDb

"An Eye For An Eye" [1915] dir + actor
"The High Hand" [1915]
"The Diamond From The Sky" [1915]
"Eyes That Cannot See" short [1915]
"Tricks of Fate" [1915]
"The Lonesome Heart" [1915]
"The Soul of The Vase" short [1915]
"Peggy Lynn, Burglar" short [1915]
"A Woman Scorned" short [1915] wr + dir
"The Mission of Morrison" short [1915] actor

"He Fell In Love With His Wife" [1916]
"Ben Blair" [1916]
"The Heart of Paula" [1916]
"Pasquale" [1916]
"The American Beauty" [1916]
"Davy Crockett" [1916] (scenario - as Frank Marlo) Writer + dir
"The Parson of Panamint" [1916]
"The House of Lies" [1916]
"Her Father's Son" [1916]
"Redeeming Love" [1916]

"Happiness of Three Women" [1917] (producer + dir)
"Out of The Wreck" [1917]
"The World Apart" [1917]
"Big Timber" [1917]
"The Varmint" [1917]
"North of Fifty-Three" [1917]
"Jack and Jill" [1917]

"A Tale of Two Cities" [Killiam/Fox March 1917] /tt0008652/
long considered a lost film until a copy was discovered in Warsaw, Poland; written & directed by Frank Lloyd, adapted from the novel
by Charles Dickens; actor Wm. Desmond Taylor not credited at IMDb

"Tom Sawyer" silent feature [Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount Dec 1917] /tt0008687/
filmed in Hannibal, Missouri; directed by William Desmond Taylor; starring Jack Pickford & Robert Gordon

"The Spirit of '17" [1918]
"His Majesty, Bunker Bean" [1918]
"Up The Road With Sallie" [1918]
"Mile-a-Minute Kendall" [1918]

"How Could You, Jean?" [Artcraft June 1918]
directed by William Desmond Taylor { considered to be a lost film }

"Johanna Enlists" [Artcraft Sept 1918] directed by William Desmond Taylor

"Huck and Tom: or, The Further Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
silent feature [Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount March 1918]

Specifics of the plot are unknown (IMDB Plot Keywords provide no help); print status unknown. Filmed in Hannibal, Missouri; produced by Jesse L. Lasky; directed by William Desmond Taylor; scenario by Julia Crawford Ivers; starring Jack Pickford, Robert Gordon, George Hackathorne, Alice Marvin, Edythe Chapman, Frank Lanning, Clara Horton, Tom Bates, Helen Gilmore, Antrim Short, Jane Keckley & John Burton VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Captain Kidd, Jr." [Artcraft April 1919]
directed by William Desmond Taylor { 2 of 5 reels survive }

"Anne of The Green Gables" silent feature [Realart Pictures Nov 1919]

Filmed in Dedham, Massachusetts; an orphan taken into the lives of a generous farmer and his sister grows from an adventuresome young lass into a charming and much sought-after young lady; only a few still photos from the movie exist; author Montgomery was outraged by the many major changes made to the story • Directed by Wm. Desmond Taylor; adapted by Frances Marion from the 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery; starring Mary Miles Minter, Paul Kelly, Marcia Harris, Frederick Burton, F.T. Chailee, Leila Romer, Lincoln Stedman, Hazel Sexton, Russell Hewitt, Albert Hackett, Laurie Lovelle, Carolyn Lee, Jack B. Hollis, George Stewart {this film is considered lost} • credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Huckleberry Finn" color-tinted silent feature
[Paramount Pictures Feb 1920]

Much of the book is omitted (in five reels) but the important story elements remain: Huck escapes from his brutal father, travels with Tom Sawyer and down the river with the escaped slave Jim, chafes at living with the Widow Douglas, and meets the two rascals Duke & King color-tinted silent feature produced & directed by William Desmond Taylor; scenario by Julia Crawford Ivers; starring Lewis Sargent, Gordon Griffith, Thelma Salter, George Reed, Katherine Griffith, Martha Mattox, Frank Lanning, Orral Humphrey, Tom Bates, Edythe Chapman, L.M. Wells, Harry L. Rattenberry & Esther Ralston VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

"Judy of Rogue's Harbor" [1920]
"Nurse Marjorie" [April 1920] /tt0011522/ starring Mary Miles Minter
"Jenny Be Good" [1920]
"The Soul of Youth" [1920] (producer) + dir
"The Furnace" [1920]
"The Witching Hour" [1921]
"Sacred and Profane Love" [1921]
"Wealth" [1921]
"Beyond" [1921]
"Morals" [1921]
"The Green Temptation" [1922]
"The Top of New York" [1922]

Works  About  Wm. Desmond  Taylor

nice article on W.D.T. at Networth blogsite
nice article about events at the Alvarado Court Apartments

"The Man Who Died Twice: A Novel About Hollywood's Most Baffling Murder" [1976] by Samuel A. Peeples A 1970's Los Angeles Police detective time-travels back to 1922 Los Angeles, and inhabits the body of William Desmond Taylor, a Hollywood director who was murdered in real-life Hollywood in February 1922. The L.A.P.D. detective has the advantage of knowing lots of details about the case, from having read the police files, and just living in the Hollywood/L.A. area all his life. With Taylor's personality serving as a kind of alter ego, he tries to prevent Taylor (and himself!) from being murdered; other characters include director D.W. Griffith, media magnate Wm. Randolph Hearst, actor John Barrymore, actress Mabel Normand, and actor Rudolph Valentino Academy Chicago Publng 7¾x5¼ pb [10/84] for $16.00 Putnam 8¼x5¾ hardcover [1976] for $10.47

"William Desmond Taylor: A Dossier" [1991] by Bruce Long reprints over 400 items from contemporary newspapers, magazines, and trade journals to reveal Taylor's life in Hollywood from his arrival as a minor actor in 1912 until his death in 1922 Kindle Edition from Scarecrow Press [1991 edition] for $75.00 {sic} PUB pb [8/00] for $0.00 Scarecrow Press Filmmakers Series 9x6 hardcover [11/91] out of print/used ISBN 0810841711 Amazon page/links are screwed up (4/2020), will re-check later

"The Age of Dreaming: A Novel" [2008] by Nina Revoyr Jun Nakayama was a star in the Silent Era who quit his career abruptly and became a recluse; when a journalist tracks him down forty years later, the interviews trigger memories of the joy of acting, the parties and excitement, the mysterious death of his favorite director ('Ashley Bennett Tyler'), subtle and not-so-subtle racism, and secrets that he has kept for decades; while the tale appears to be a roman á clef, reviews suggest a work of deep insight into the human character Kindle Edition from Akashic Books [6/2012] for $4.39 Akashic Books 7¾x5 pb [4/2008] for $15.95

"Forever" video release [Triax Ent. Dec 1993] A director of rock videos moves into the house where famous Silent Era director William Desmond Taylor was murdered; he finds some old reels of film, and as he plays the film on a projector, he is visited by the ghosts of the actors and actresses in the film • Produced & co-written by Jacqueline Giroux; co-written & directed by Thomas Palmer Jr.; starring Brian Beirne, Steve Railsback {as William Desmond Taylor}, Sean Young {as Mary Miles Minter}, Terence Knox {as Wallace Reid}, Diane Ladd {as Mabel Normand}, Captain Haggerty {as Fatty Arbuckle}, Ashley Hester {as Mary Pickford}, Nicholas Guest {as Billy Baldwin}, Renée Taylor, Sally Kirkland, Gregory Scott Cummins, Tom Palmer, Keith Coogan, Iain Sanderson, Anthony Fick, Shelley Michelle, Barry James Hickey, Lalesha Railsback & The RH Factor band • full credits at IMDb DVD/Blu-ray not available • Amazon Instant Video [2018] HD rental $1.99, HD purchase $4.99

"Old Hollywood: Silent Stars, Deadly Secrets" [Biography Jan 2007] Season 12, Episode 10 of the "City Confidential" documentary TV series [A&E Network 1998-2007] 2-hour TV documentary with dramatic re-enactments and interviews of several historians, biographers, and a few survivors Co-produced & co-written by Geoffrey Proud & Zak Weisfeld; re-creations directed by Scott Colthorp; featuring author Sidney Kirkpatrick, Jennifer Niven, Brandon K. Hogan, actress Gloria Stuart, Duncan St. James, historian Marc Wanamaker, author Charles Higham, Betty Lasky, Johnny Grant, Laurie Jacobson, author Bruce Long, Raul Moreno, Ellen Strain; with archive footage of William Desmond Taylor, Mabel Normand, Mary Miles Minter, Olive Thomas, Mary Pickford, Will Hays, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Nicolas Cage, Charlie Chaplin, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Ellen DeGeneres, Robert Downey, Jr., Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, John Gilbert, Cary Grant, Anne Heche, Katharine Hepburn, Al Jolson, Steve Martin, Gwyneth Paltrow, O.J. Simpson, Gloria Swanson {as Norma Desmond}, Spencer Tracy VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • series entry at Wikipedia

"Return To Babylon" b&w feature film [2013] tagline: 'The sexy new comedy . . .'; a black-and-white silent film about the silent movie era • co-produced by Maria Conchita Alonso; co-produced & co-written by Stanley Sheff; co-written & directed by Alex Monty Canawati; co-written by Bruce Pitzer; starring Brett Ashy as Fatty Arbuckle, Rolonda Watts as Josephine Baker, Sylvia B. Suarez as Theda Bara, Jennifer Tilly as Clara Bow, Shiva Rose as Louise Brooks, Audrey Ruttan as Charlie Chaplin, Shane Markland as Gary Cooper, Stanley Sheff (as Maxwell DeMille) as Douglas Fairbanks, Adnan Taletovich as John Gilbert, Wendy Caron as Barbara La Marr, Cynthia Brannon as Faith MacLean, Devora Lillian as Mary Miles Minter, Sarah Streeter as Nita Naldi, Laura Harring as Alla Nazimova, Jennifer Seifert as Pola Negri, Morganne Picard as Mabel Normand, Phillip Bloch as Ramon Novarro, Tippi Hedren as Mrs. Peabody, Alaric James as Henry Peavey, Ione Skye as Virginia Rappe, Marina Bakica as Alma Rubens, James Tuttle as Edward Sands, Paul Kent as Mack Sennett, Alexis Del Lago as Charlotte Shelby, Robert Sherman as Erich von Stroheim, Debi Mazar as Gloria Swanson, Jack Atlantis as William Desmond Taylor, Alex Monty Canawati as Rudolph Valentino, María Conchita Alonso as Lupe Vélez, Kevin Dailey as Johnny Weissmuller, Michael Goldman as Adolph Zukor VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

Works  About  The  Murder

article "Who Killed Wm. Desmond Taylor?" by Morris Markey in the November 1950 Esquire Magazine
interesting July 2017 blogpost by Laura Smith {photos require change of browser}

After some investigation, the time of Taylor's death was set at 7:50 p.m. on the evening of February 1, 1922. In the following weeks, many odd facts about Taylor’s life began to unravel before the press and increasingly astonished readers. Taylor was revealed to have been born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner on April 26, 1872, in Carlow, Ireland. He had changed his name by December 1912, and worked successfully as an actor before making his first film as a director, The Awakening (1914).

Seven individuals were eventually named as suspects by both the press and the police, including Edward Sands, valet Henry Peavey, movie star Mabel Normand, Faith Cole MacLean, Charles Eyton, actress Mary Miles Minter, and Charlotte Shelby. No conclusive evidence ever pinned any of them as Taylor’s murderer. Years later, Margaret Gibson, a film actress who worked with Taylor when he first came to Hollywood, suffered a heart attack, but before dying, she was said to have confessed that she had shot and killed Taylor.

...evidence against Mary, including strands of her hair that were found on the dead Taylor’s lapel. Mary had owned a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver, whose bullets matched the one said to have been shot through Taylor’s back and ribs. Mary had the opportunity to have killed Taylor; her fake alibi failed to explain her absence from her house at the exact time Taylor had been killed. Higham claimed that the actual time had been altered by the District Attorney’s office despite the coroner’s report. When one of Mary’s housekeepers threatened to reveal her absence, the woman was declared insane by two doctors engaged by Mary’s mother, and she was committed to a mental institution for the rest of her life.

news clipping for Cinestat Productions July 1937 plan to produce a film about William Desmond Taylor's murder; a feature film entitled "The William Desmond Taylor Murder Case" was produced in 1937 and completed, but the film was rejected by the Hays Office R.W. Briggs of Consolidated laboratories / republic pictures : no other info found

"Hollywood Story" [Universal Pictures May 1951]

Universal attempted to take advantage of the success of "Sunset Boulevard" by making this film, clearly based directly on the Taylor murder; while the film follows the circumstances of the real-life event closely it reaches a fictional conclusion • Produced by Leonard Goldstein; directed by William Castle; screenplay by Frederick Kohner & Frederick Brady; starring Richard Conte, Julie Adams {dual role}, Richard Egan, Henry Hull, Fred Clark, Jim Backus, Houseley Stevenson, Paul Cavanagh, Katherine Meskill, Louis Lettieri; with actors Francis X. Bushman, Betty Blythe, William Farnum, Helen Gibson, Joel McCrea, Elmo Lincoln & Richard Neill as themselves; and archive footage of Lon Chaney & Mary Philbin from "Phantom of The Opera" [1925] Universal/T.C.M. b&w DVD [3/2015] for $19.51 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia watch full b&w movie [4/2020 upload; 1:16:42] online at YouTube

"Ralph Story's Los Angeles" [broadcast 20 October 1964]
no info found on IMDb (2020); local TV series episode about the W.D.T. murder case; the show was broadcast the day before Margaret Gibson died
read TV script online (courtesy of William J. Mann) at the Taylorology website

"Death Scenes" documentary film [1989] /tt0140945/
includes archive footage of Taylor

"Death In Hollywood" documentary film [1990] /tt0356514/
includes archive footage of Taylor

"William Desmond Taylor" [June 1998] /tt0567712/ Season 1, Episode 14 of "Mysteries and Scandals" [E! Ent. 1998-2002]
Produced by Joel K. Rodgers; hosted by A.J. Benza; featuring Sidney Kirkpatrick, Paramount producer A.C. Lyles,
author Bruce Long, author Betty Fussell, Tom McDonald (L.A. DA's office), historian Laurie Jacobson
watch full episode [8/2017 upload; 21:30] online at YouTube

"Perfect Crimes?" TV mini-series [History Channel 1999] /tt0316390/
written & directed by Yann Debonne & Mike Stutz; hosted by Roger Mudd; includes archive footage of Taylor, Leopold & Loeb, 'Black Dahlia' Elizabeth Short, others

"William Desmond Taylor Murder" [March 2000] episode of the 8-episode History Channel series "Perfect Crimes"
no info found on IMDb or Wikipedia or Amazon (2020)
watch full episode [4/2017 upload; 24:18] online at YouTube

"William Desmond Taylor and Mary Miles Minter" TV documentary short [Europe Images Intl. 2001]
written & directed by Laurent Preyale • no info found on Wikipedia or Amazon (2020) • bare IMDb listing

"The Scandalous Murder of William Desmond Taylor" [YouTube March 2018] Season 3, Episode 6 of the "BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crimes" web series [since 2016] Two lame semi-funny hosts tell each other the story of the 1922 murder of Hollywood silent director William Desmond Taylor; format includes solid facts, old photographs, re-enactment clips, and text of some dialogues Co-produced & directed by Ryan Bergara; hosted by Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej bare credits at IMDb • series entry at Wikipedia watch full episode [3/2018 upload; 29:46] online at YouTube

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True Detective Mysteries Magazine [July 1926] issue ran the article "The Truth About the Great Hollywood Murder" by {pseudonym} Hampton Rice which was a 4-page fictionalization of the Taylor case, with all names changed available as free online etext [6/2014 upload] at Internet Archive

True Detective Mysteries Magazine [1930] ran the 2-part article "I Know Who Killed Desmond Taylor" by Lt. Ed C. King in the issues for September & October 1930 available as free online etexts [2013 upload] at Internet Archive: Sept 1930 issue + Oct 1930 issue

	"About The Murder of A Man Afraid of Women: A Thatcher Colt Detective Mystery" [1937] by Fulton Oursler [1893-1952], writing as Anthony Abbot the central murder is clearly inspired by the Taylor case: all names and some details are changed, yet many other details remain generally the same Farrar & Rinehart hardcover [1937] out of print/scarce Grosset & Dunlap hardcover [1937] out of print/scarce
	"Killers Unknown: True Crime Stories" [1960] by John Godwin 13 Real-Life Murder Cases That Shocked The World, Baffled The Police – and Remain Unsolved To This Day Panther UK mass pb [1963] for $4.95 Herbert Jenkins, Ltd. hardcover [1960] out of print/used
	"For Men Only" men's magazine [May 1962] printed the chapter on the Taylor case from John Godwin's 1960 book "Killers Unknown" the recap itself was fairly typical for its time with many of the usual errors, but the magazine tried to sex-up the article by giving it the title "The Shocking Scandal of Hollywood's Sexiest Three" and having artist Charles Copeland draw a large lurid illustration of an opium den to accompany the article original magazine [5/62] for $48.75 {sic}
	"A Cast of Killers" [1986] by Sidney D. Kirkpatrick In 1967, director King Vidor [1894-1982] researched the unsolved 1922 murder of fellow director William Desmond Taylor for a possible screenplay; Vidor never published or wrote of this research during his lifetime, but biographer Sidney D. Kirkpatrick examined the research material found buried in Vidor's garage after he died. Kirkpatrick alleged in his 1986 book that Vidor had solved the sensational crime but kept his conclusions private to protect individuals still living at the time. The widely cited newsletter Taylorology later noted over 100 factual errors in "Cast of Killers" and strongly disputes Kirkpatrick's conclusions Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [4/2011] for $9.95 Onyx mass pb [9/92] for $12.43 BookSurge Publng 8x5¼ pb [3/2007] out of print/used E.P. Dutton Books hardcover [6/86] for $8.47 {sic} E.P. Dutton Books 9¼x6¼ hardcover [6/86] for $4.00 {sic}
	"A Deed of Death: The Story Behind The Unsolved Murder of Hollywood Director William Desmond Taylor" [1990] by Robert Giroux (publisher at Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Alfred A. Knopf 9½x5½ hardcover [5/90] for $7.99
	Murder Casebook Magazine Issue #58 [1990s] — William Desmond Taylor, Thelma Todd: Two leading lights – a director and a screen idol – whose deaths shook Tinseltown weekly magazine published by Marshall Cavendish in U.K. out of print/used: copies for sale on eBay, not found on Amazon Murder In Mind Magazine Issue #89 [2000] — Hollywood Mysteries: The murder of Silent Era director William Desmond Taylor and the death of screen comedienne Thelma Todd still raise questions weekly magazine published by Marshall Cavendish in U.K. out of print/used: copies for sale on eBay, not found on Amazon
	"Hollywood: A Novel of America In The 1920s" [1990] by Gore Vidal [1925-2012] features a fictionalised account of the Taylor murder Ballantine pb [2/91] out of print/used Vintage 8x5¼ pb [8/2000] for $10.50 Modern Library 7¾x5 hardcover [2/99] out of print/used
	"Murder In Hollywood: Solving A Silent Screen Mystery" [2004] by Charles Higham Several Amazon reviewers report that this book is a badly-written, confused mess with mistakes that include facts and typos; the murderer might very well be Mary Miles Minter, as Higham concludes, but he does not prove it Kindle Edition from Univ Wisconsin Press [2004 edition] for $9.71 Univ Wisconsin Press 9x6 pb [2/2006] for $16.19 Univ Wisconsin Press 9x6¼ hardcover [10/2004] for $15.99
	"Famous Players: The Mysterious Death of William Desmond Taylor" graphic novel [2009] by Rick Geary N.B.M. Comics Lit 8½x6 pb [2/2010] for $9.95 N.B.M. Comics Lit 9½x6 hardcover [8/2009] for $15.95 "Treasury of XXth Century Murder, Volume 1" inludes W.D.T, Lindberg baby, and M. Smith cases N.B.M. Comics Lit 9x6 pb [6/2013] for $26.99
	"Loonies In Hollywood: Based On The Unsolved Murder of Silent Film Director William Desmond Taylor" [2013] by Terry Nelson Book #2 of a series; screenwriter and his actress girlfriend get mixed up in the aftermath of the murder of Hollywood director Taylor Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [12/2013] for $3.99
	"Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness At The Dawn of Hollywood" [2014] New York Times bestseller by William J. Mann won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime Book watch book promo [9/2014 upload; 1:19] online at YouTube Kindle Edition from HarperCollins [10/2014] for $9.99 Harper Paperbacks 7¾x5¼ pb [10/2015] for $14.52 Harper 9x6¼ hardcover [10/2014] for $35.85 Harper 9x6¼ hardcover [10/2014] out of print/40+ used
	"Murder In Babylon: A Novel Based On Fact" [2014] by Michael B. Druxman Author constructs a fictional version of the twenty years spent by Los Angeles reporter Ben Birnbaum investigating the murder of William Desmond Taylor Kindle Edition from BearManor Media [2/2015] for $4.95 BearManor Media 9x6 pb [12/2014] for $19.95
	"Ravenwood Stepson of Mystery Book 3: Return of The Dugpa" [2015] by Micah S. Harris, Illustrated by Bret Blevins Occult detective Ravenwood is hired to find German composer Wilhem Richard Wagner’s lost opera, alleged to have a curse on it; he discovers that others connected to the lost opera score have perished in Hollywood under mysterious circumstances, including the director William Desmond Taylor, who was murdered nine years prior . . . Kindle Edition from Airship 27 [6/2015] for $4.99 Airship 27 9x6 pb [6/2015] for $16.99

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"Who Killed Bill?" radio docudrama [Ireland May 2012] feature length radio docudrama written & directed by Marc-Ivan O’Gorman, featuring interviews with historians Marc Wannamaker & Kevin Brownlow; aired on Newstalk Radio on Saturday May 12 & 13, 2012 watch official promo [0:26 + repeats twice] online at Facebook

"The Murder of Hollywood Director William Desmond Taylor" [BBC Radio 4 Aug 2015]
Season 8, Episode 1 of the "Punt P.I." BBC Radio program
listen to audio recording [28:05] online at YouTube

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"Mack & Mabel" 'cult' Broadway musical [Oct-Nov 1974]

Produced at the Majestic Theatre, ran for six previews and 66 regular performances; produced by David Merrick; book by Michael Stewart, music & lyrics by Jerry Herman; directed & choreographed by Gower Champion; starring Bernadette Peters as Mabel Normand, Robert Preston as Mack Sennett, James Mitchell as William Desmond Taylor, Lisa Kirk as Lottie Ames; nominated for 8 Tony Awards and 4 Drama Desk Awards; revivals in London in 1995 & 2006 • Plot plays loose with the facts; former producer Mack Sennett revisits his old studio property and recalls the glories and defeats of the past, including a rivalry with director William Desmond Taylor for the talents and the affections of silent screen star Mabel Normand show credits at Internet Broadway Database • stageplay entry at Wikipedia A.B.C. Records vinyl LP album [1974] for $27.00 Uni/Island import soundtrack CD [3/99] 14 tracks for $9.82 Verve MP-3 soundtrack album download [4/92] 14 tracks for $9.49 Universal Music audio cassette [4/92] 14 tracks for $9.95 "Mack and Mabel in Concert" [1988] with George Hearn, Georgia Brown, Debbie Gravitte, others Relativity/Combat/Ruthless U.K. concert performance CD [3/96] for $27.99 "Mack & Mabel" London cast [1995] Angel Records original cast CD [3/96] 20 tracks for $15.97 "Mack & Mabel" filmed stageplay [Hollywood Playhouse 1991] not available on video/DVD • bare credits at IMDb

"Murdered Uncensored" was a 2007 stage play by George Barthel, centered on the Taylor murder.
The New York production was reviewed in the March 22, 2007 issue of Back Stage East

"A Blight of Stars" stageplay [2012] by Michael Legge First performed in November 2012 by The Medway Players community theatre company [1984-2014] in Medway, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; as a young woman researches documents at a William Davis Tainter museum in Los Angeles, audience sees blackout-style re-enactments of events playscript available at Stageplays.com website for $7.99 each

"Hollywood" is a new play written by Joe DiPietro which centers on the Taylor case. A short video montage can be seen here.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/may/11/la-jolla-playhouse-host-world-premiere-hollywood-p

Suspects  &  Witnesses  Gallery

"16 Silent Film Celebrities & The William Desmond Taylor Case"
watch full movie [10/2007 upload; 4:57] online at YouTube

studio manager Charles Eyton [1871-1941]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eyton

Silent Era actor-director Hugh Fay [1882-1926] /nm0269572/

silent serial queen Neva Gerber [1894-1974] - engaged to W.D.T. from 1914-19
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neva_Gerber

film actress Margaret Gibson aka Patricia Palmer [1894-1964] - movie career lasted from 1913 to 1929
'confessed' on her deathbed to the 1922 murder of W.D.T.; easy to debunk: the night before she died, the local "Ralph Story's Los Angeles" TV show
aired an episode about the murder of W.D.T. - you can bet she watched it, and it was on her mind . . .
IMDb listing • entry at Wikipedia

George James Hopkins [1896-1985] - W.D.T.'s gay lover circa 1914-22
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_James_Hopkins
unpublished 1981 autobiography "Caught In The Act"

character actor Arthur Hoyt [1874-1953]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Hoyt

Silent Era actor Gareth Hughes [1894-1965] - movie career lasted from 1918 to 1931
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Hughes

Julia Crawford Van Trees Ivers [1869-1930]
W.D.T.'s literary advisor and uncredited Assistant Director - movie career lasted from 1915 to 1927
IMDb listing • entry at Wikipedia
The June 1923 issue of Scenario Bulletin Digest contained an interview with Ivers

actor-director James Kirkwood [1875-1963]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kirkwood_Sr.

film actress Mary Miles Minter [1902-84] - movie career lasted from 1912 to 1923
IMDb listing • entry at Wikipedia
only 6 Minter movies survive today

former actress Charlotte Shelby [1877-1957], mother of Mary Miles Minter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Shelby

actress Margaret Shelby [1900-39], sister of Mary Miles Minter /nm0790973/

maid Belle Simpson [d. 1962], worked for the Shelby family
committed to mental institution by Charlotte Shelby in 1923, remained there for 39 years

actor-director Antonio Moreno [1887-1967] - movie career lasted from 1912 to 1959
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Moreno

actor-director Marshall Neilan [1891-1958]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Neilan

movie star Mabel Normand [1892-1930] - last to see W.D.T. alive but never a suspect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Normand
Mabel's chauffeur William Davis
May 2012 blogpost about Mabel & Bill's relationship (with photos)

cook & valet Henry Peavey [1882-1931] - found the body next day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Peavey

silent film actress Edna Purviance [1895-1958] - movie career lasted from 1915 to 1927
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edna_Purviance

fired cook & valet Edward Sands [b. 1892] - vanished in February 1922
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_F._Sands

actor & studio head Mack Sennett [1880-1960] - movie career lasted from 1908 to 1956

actor Carl Stockdale [1874-1953] - movie career lasted from 1913 to 1943
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Stockdale

actress Kathlyn Williams - movie career lasted from 1910 to 1932
married to Charles Eyton, 1916-31
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathlyn_Williams

actress Claire Windsor [1892-1972] - movie career lasted from 1919 to 1945
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Windsor

Minor  Characters
W.C. Doran, Chief Deputy D.A.
Howard Fellows, Taylor's chauffeur
apt mgr E.C. Jesserin
Det. Sgt. later Lt. Ed C. King
neighbors Faith Cole 'Babe' MacLean & Douglas MacLean
Capt. Edward A. Salisbury
D.A. Thomas Lee Woolwine

unknown hitman hired by local drug ring
bogus tale made up by studio publicity people

Image  Gallery

Friends  &  Family
William Cunningham Deane-Tanner was born 26 April 1872 in County Carlow, Ireland; he was sent to a boys ranch in Kansas in 1890; he went to New York City circa 1900,
married, and then disappeared; he traveled the Western U.S. until turning up in San Francisco in 1912 as the actor Wm. Desmond Taylor; he enlisted in the Canadian Army
in July 1918 and reached the rank of major, then returned to Hollywood in May 1919 and resumed his career.
He was shot to death at his bungalow home in Los Angeles on the evening of 1 February 1922, a murder which has still not been solved.

father retired Major Kearns Deane-Tanner [] of the Carlow Rifles, British Army
mother Jane O'Brien Deane-Tanner []
brother Denis Gage Deane-Tanner
sister-in-law Ada Brennan Deane-Tanner (wife of Denis)
sister Ellen 'Nell' Deane-Tanner Faudel-Phillips
sister Lizzie 'Daisy' Deane-Tanner
brother Oswald Kearns Deane-Tanner
uncle & Home Rule MP Charles Kearns Deane-Tanner [1849-1901]
uncle Dr. Lombard John Newman Deane-Tanner

wife Ethel May Hamilton Deane-Tanner [] - married 12/1901, deserted 10/1908, divorce decree 1912
an actress who had appeared in the stage musical "Florodora" under the name Ethel May Harrison
daughter Ethel Daisy Deane-Tanner [born 1902 or 1903]

fiancee actress Neva Gerber [1891-1974] - engaged 1914-1919

George James Hopkins [1896-1985] - W.D.T.'s gay lover circa 1914-22

L i n k s

Bruce Long's 'Taylorology' fansite
Wm. Desmond Taylor entry at Wikipedia
Wm. Desmond Taylor credits [1914-1922] at Internet Movie Database
search for books about Wm. Desmond Taylor at Amazon

WTS's Wm. Desmond Taylor fansite
DD's William Desmond Taylor fansite
Ireland-based William Desmond Taylor fansite {active 2020}
AJ's William Desmond Taylor blogsite [last update 2009]

Taylorfest in May [2012-2014] in Carlow, Ireland
official website given up • Facebook page {last update 2014}

here on the Wm. Desmond Taylor [1872-1922] Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

top of page • short profile • movies of Wm. Desmond Taylor • works about Wm. Desmond Taylor •

works about the murder • suspects gallery • image gallery • friends & family • links

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