William Desmond Taylor

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)_ (qv) 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' (qv) 'Dustin Farnum' (qv) 'Wallace Reid' (qv) and 'Mary Miles Minter' (qv) . Directed _Davy Crockett (1915)_ (qv) , _Tom Sawyer (1917)_ (qv) , _Anne of Green Gables (1919)_ (qv) and _Huckleberry Finn (1920)_ (qv) among others. His unsolved murder in 1922 remains one of Hollywood's greatest mysteries.::Bruce Long <[email protected]>