Bizarre Celeb Death: William Desmond Taylor Part 2

If you haven’t read last week’s post on the murder of William Desmond Taylor, then click here for all the juicy deets! We already know Taylor’s previous valet robbed and blackmailed him and that Paramount was messing with his apartment before the police arrived, but those aren’t even the craziest parts of this case. Here are two more unreal facts about Taylor’s murder:

1.       He was an avid anti-drug crusader…

During the 1920’s, drug use was super common in Hollywood and Taylor being so publicly against them was weird. Mabel Normand, an actress and close friend of Taylor’s, was apparently addicted to drugs and Taylor tried to help her get clean for many years. Some people think that drug dealers who were close to Normand may have targeted Taylor to keep him quiet and keep Normand and all of Hollywood addicted. Gulp.

2.       A young actress was in love with him and her mother didn’t like that one bit…

Mary Miles Minter was a 19-year-old actress who became smitten with Taylor and wrote him many letters professing her love, but he apparently rejected her (ouch, totes embarrassing.) Her mother, however, believed that Taylor had taken her daughter’s virginity and warned him to stay away from Mary and even threatened to kill him! Yikes, double embarrassing for Mary! It’s also rumored that Mary’s mom was having an affair with the Los Angeles district attorney at the time of Taylor’s murder. Hmmm, anyone else thinking about a cover up?

In our upcoming film, Beverly Hills Ghost, Missy Palmer’s death is ruled an accident, but there seem to be plenty of people around Bev Hills who would have a motive for murdering her. We may never find out who murdered William Desmond Taylor in 1922 (tbh I’m betting on Mary’s mom, that lady seems cray) but we promise you’ll find out who killed Missy Palmer soon!