Biography on William Desmond Taylor
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On February 1, 1922 at approximately 7: 50 A.M, director and actor William Desmond Taylor was murdered. The murder of William Desmond Taylor to this day has not been solved. They were several speculations as to who murdered him. After reviewing the evidence, I believe that Charlotte Shelby murdered him. The evidence all points to the mother of the young love interest of Taylor: Mary Miles Minter. The paths that Taylor and Shelby both took are what ultimately led to the death of William Desmond Taylor.
William Desmond Taylor was born on April 26, 1872 in County Carlow, Ireland under the name William Cunningham Deane-Tanner. He was the son of British army officer Major Kearns Deanne Tanner and his wife Jane O’Brien. He was one of five children. At the age of 18 he left his home and moved to the United States after having a fall-out with his father. He worked at a dude ranch in Kansas before moving to New York. In 1901 he married Ethel May Harrison and had one daughter named Ethel Daisy Deane-Tanner in 1903. Not able to support his family as actor, Taylor worked as an antique dealer instead supported by his wealthy father-in-law. He gained a respectable position in New York and society and was well-admired by many people. On October 23, 1908, Taylor went to lunch and never returned walking out on his wife and daughter without even saying goodbye. His wife and friends stated afterward that Taylor had mental lapses and that he probably had wandered off while suffering a case of amnesia.
Taylor traveled through Canada and northwestern United States until December of 1912 he arrived in California. It was here where he changed his name to William Desmond Taylor. He started his career here quickly as a silent film actor and later a successful director. For back in those days, it was crucial to hire a man as an actor and director than to hire two men to do the same thing. Over the next few years, he directed more than fifty films.
In July of 1918, Taylor enlisted and was apart of the Royal Army Service Corps towards the end of World War 1. He returned home in May of 1919 resuming his normal life. It was during this time that Taylor directed some of the best actors in the period including his rising star Mary Miles Minter.
It was a cool morning on February 2, 1922 when Taylor’s body was found in his apartment in Westlake, Los Angeles by his valet Henry Peavey. Though initially stomach haemorrhage was declared as the potential cause of death, in the later forensic examinations, it was found that he was shot dead from a small caliber pistol, which was not found at the scene.
Taylor’s wallet had seventy-eight dollars in cash and and he wore a two-carat diamond ring, which would seem to disprove the idea that the murder was a robbery gone bad. Yet the day before, Taylor had shown his accountant a large sum of money which was nowhere to be found. Faith Cole Maclean, Taylor’s neighbor, is said to have seen the kill emerge from Taylor’s apartment a little after 8 P.M. She told police interviewers this person looked “funny” and may have been a woman disguised as a man. A police detective who worked on the case claimed, many years later, that within the first week of investigation they “got word to lay off.” Perhaps due to these desires to hush up certain aspects of the crime, much of the physical evidence relating to the murder was lost either right away or over the intervening years.
The police and press identified several possible suspects in the killing. No one was ever charged, but the evidence against Charlotte Shelby leads me to believe that she was the one who murdered William Taylor. The evidence compiled against a few of the other suspects is just not as convincing as what the police have on Charlotte Shelby.
Mabel Normand a actress who was said to have been a lover of Taylor’s. She was also the last person to see him alive. She was ruled out as a suspect early through after an intense interrogation by police as it was seen she had no motive. Normand was a cocaine addict though, and it is speculated that her suppliers called for the hit on Taylor. This is only a speculation though, as there were never any hard evidence found against the cocaine suppliers.
Edward sands had worked as Taylor’s valet and cook up until seven months before the murder, during which he had forged Taylor’s name on several checks and wrecked his car. Sands had even burgled Taylor’s apartment leaving footprints on his bed. Sands is often considered the a likely suspect for the murder,