In the 1910s and early 1920s, William Desmond Taylor was arguably the most prolific and successful silent film director Hollywood had ever seen. But just as the movie industry was transitioning to talking pictures in the early 1920s, Taylor was shot in the back and killed at his Los Angeles home. The popular director didn't appear to have any ongoing problems with anyone, and from the start, suspects were few and far between.
Nobody knows who did it, and to this day the crime has never been solved. Media reports at the time portrayed it -- along with Fatty Arbuckle's San Francisco scandal -- as the crime of the century, at one point implicating both Taylor's younger lover, and the girl's mother. The murder remains a cold case, still open to investigation in the city of Los Angeles should any new leads pop up.
[Image via YouTube.]
Nobody knows who did it, and to this day the crime has never been solved. Media reports at the time portrayed it -- along with Fatty Arbuckle's San Francisco scandal -- as the crime of the century, at one point implicating both Taylor's younger lover, and the girl's mother. The murder remains a cold case, still open to investigation in the city of Los Angeles should any new leads pop up.
[Image via YouTube.]
Feb 09, 2015 10:14am PDT
