Victim
William Desmond Taylor
- Born
- 26 April 1872
- Died
- 1 February 1922, aged about 50
- Record
- Wikidata Q1365430 · Wikipedia
Victim in The Murder of William Desmond Taylor
Irish-born film director, born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner.
1922 · Westlake, Los Angeles, California · Unsolved
A leading Hollywood director was shot in his bungalow in 1922. The suspects included two film stars and a stage mother, and the case files later vanished. Read the case.
Dated events
Now William Desmond Taylor, he begins directing films in California.
Taylor enlists in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and serves in Europe until 1919.
His valet Edward Sands forges checks and burgles the bungalow while Taylor is in Europe; Sands later disappears.
Mabel Normand leaves Taylor's bungalow at about 7:45 p.m.; he is shot soon afterward.
Valet Henry Peavey finds Taylor's body in the morning.
Taylor's funeral is held at St. Paul's Cathedral, Los Angeles.