Estelle Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor in 1930 | |
| Born | Ida Estelle Taylor May 20, 1894 Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. |
| Died | April 15, 1958 (aged 63) Los Angeles, California |
| Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1919–1945 |
| Spouses | Kenneth Malcolm Peacock
(m. 1911; div. 1925)Paul Small
(m. 1943; div. 1945) |
Ida Estelle Taylor (May 20, 1894[note 1] – April 15, 1958) was an American actress who was the second of world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey's four wives.[5] With "dark-brown, almost black hair and brown eyes," she was regarded as one of the most beautiful silent film stars of the 1920s.[6]
After her stage debut in 1919, Taylor began appearing in small roles in World and Vitagraph films. She achieved her first success with While New York Sleeps (1920), in which she played three different roles, including a femme fatale, or "vamp." She was a contract player of Fox Film Corporation and, later, Paramount Pictures, but for the majority of her career she freelanced. She became famous and was commended by reviewers for her portrayals of historical women in important films: Miriam in The Ten Commandments (1923), Mary, Queen of Scots in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), and Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926).
Although she made a successful transition to sound films, she retired from film acting in 1932 to focus entirely on her singing career. She was also active in animal welfare before her death from cancer in 1958. She was posthumously honored in 1960 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the motion pictures category.
- ^ a b Field, Judith (September 1933). "Taking a Cut in Ages". Picture Play. XXXIX (1): 17.
- ^ Stars of the Photoplay. Photoplay Publishing Company. 1924.
- ^ "Ida Estella [sic] Taylor – United States Census, 1900". FamilySearch. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "Ida Estelle Taylor – California Death Index, 1940–1997". FamilySearch. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "Estelle Taylor, Screen Star of Past, Dies at 58; Onetime Wife of Jack Dempsey Was Also Militant Worker in Pet Welfare Projects". Los Angeles Times. April 16, 1958. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- ^ "Estelle Taylor, Silent Film Charmer, Dies". The Deseret News. INS. April 15, 1958. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
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