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TAYLOR, William Desmond
filmregisseur en filmacteur (1877-1922)
(*William Cunningham Dean Tanner) * Ireland 26.4.1877,– † Hollywood CA 1922, A former stage and screen actor, and one of Hollywood's most colourful personalities during its "age of innocence," he made his directorial debut in 1915 as co-director of the serial THE DIAMOND FROM THE SKY (1915), then rose to prominence as the director of several Mary Pickford vehicles and films of other noted stars on the Famous Players-Lasky lot. A suave, handsome man-about-town, he gained wide social acceptance, especially among lady stars, and was elected president of the Screen Directors Guild. On the night of February 2, 1922, he was shot to death in his Hollywood mansion in circumstances that remain mysterious to this day. The inquest that followed his murder revealed his intimate involvement with several popular stars, among them Mabel Normand and Mary Miles Minter, both of whom had visited him on the tragic night. Although neither star was suspected of the killing, the scandal promptly ended their screen careers. The use of narcotics was also mentioned in the case. Coming as it did just several months after the "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal, the Taylor murder resulted in increased pressure on the Hollywood community by various citizens' groups. It was pressure of this kind that eventually led the studios to initiate the self-regulatory Hays Office to improve its image both on and off the screen. Filmografie als regisseur1914 THE BEGGAR
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