William Desmond Taylor(1872-1922)
- Director
- Actor
- Producer
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.
