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Mary Miles Minter

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Full Name
  
Juliet Reilly

Years active
  
1907–1923

Cause of death
  
Stroke

Name
  
Mary Minter


Other names
  
Juliet Shelby

Role
  
Actress

Occupation
  
Actress

Siblings
  
Margaret Shelby

Mary Miles Minter Greenbriar Picture Shows

Born
  
April 25, 1902 (
1902-04-25
)

Relatives
  
Margaret Shelby (1900–1939)

Died
  
August 4, 1984, Santa Monica, California, United States

Spouse
  
Brandon O'Hildebrandt (m. 1957–1965)

Movies
  
Anne of Green Gables, Nurse Marjorie

Parents
  
Joseph Homer Reilly, Charlotte Shelby

Similar People
  
William Desmond Taylor, Charlotte Shelby, Margaret Shelby, James Kirkwood - Sr, Lloyd Ingraham

Mary miles minter 1970 interview excerpt


Mary Miles Minter (April 25, 1902 – August 4, 1984) was an American actress. She appeared in 54 silent era motion pictures from 1912 to 1923.

Contents

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In 1922, Minter was involved in scandal surrounding the murder of director William Desmond Taylor, for whom she professed her love. Although gossip implicated her mother, former actress Charlotte Shelby, as the murderer, Minter's reputation was tarnished, and she gave up her movie career in 1923.

Mary Miles Minter Mary Miles Minter Vintage Photographs Conclusion

Mary miles minter biography


Early life

Mary Miles Minter Mary Miles Minter in The Silent Collection by Tammy Stone

She was born Juliet Reilly in Shreveport, Louisiana, the younger of two daughters born to Joseph "Homerun" Reilly (1877–1958) and Lily Pearl Miles (later known as Broadway actress Charlotte Shelby; 1877–1957). Her sister was Margaret Reilly, who later became an actress using the name Margaret Shelby.

Stage and film career

Mary Miles Minter Mary Miles Minter Person Comic Vine

At the age of five, she accompanied her sister, Margaret, on an audition because no babysitter was available. She was noticed by the director and given her first part. She began her stage career and was frequently employed afterward, widely noted for both her talent and visual appeal. To avoid child labor laws while the 10-year-old was appearing in a play in Chicago, in 1912, Charlotte Shelby obtained the birth certification of her elder sister's deceased daughter from Louisiana, and Juliet became Mary Miles Minter.

Mary Miles Minter MaryMilesMinterCourtesySBt479jpgad14627618f647f3902aa65ed5ac8237c798b1ef

In her screen debut, in which she was billed as Juliet Shelby, she appeared in the 1-reel drama short The Nurse (1912). From there her new stage name was applied and Minter was starred in the role as Viola Drayton, the fairy, in the 5-reel feature length drama The Fairy and the Waif (1915).

Mary Miles Minter Mary Miles Minter Vintage Photographs Page 4

Minter's career steadily grew after that. She specialized in playing demure young women. With her photogenic features, blue eyes and curly blonde hair, she emulated and later rivaled Mary Pickford.

Her first movie for director William Desmond Taylor was Anne of Green Gables (1919). It was well received, and Taylor actively promoted Minter as a star. According to Minter, a romantic relationship developed between them. However, Minter (who had grown up fatherless) said Taylor had reservations from the outset and later curtailed the romance, citing the 30-year difference in their ages. Other people who knew Taylor and Minter said he never reciprocated her feelings.

Scandal

On February 1, 1922, Taylor was murdered in his home, a two-story bungalow apartment on Alvarado Street, at the southeast corner of Alvarado and Maryland Street, in the Westlake area of Los Angeles.

The ensuing scandal, following the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal of Labor Day weekend 1921, and Arbuckle's subsequent murder trial, was the subject of widespread media speculation and embellishment. Newspapers reported that coded love letters written by Minter had been found in his bungalow after his death (these were later shown to have been written three years earlier, in 1919). Minter was at the height of her success, having starred in more than 50 films, and newspaper revelations of the 20-year-old star's association with the 49-year-old murdered director was cause for a sensational scandal.

There were several suspects (including her mother, Charlotte Shelby) in the long investigation of Taylor's murder. In 1937, Minter publicly announced to the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper, "Now I demand that I either be prosecuted for the murder committed fifteen years ago, or exonerated completely. If the District Attorney has any evidence, he should prosecute. If not, then I should be exonerated... Shadows have been cast upon my reputation." Taylor's murder was never solved.

In a 1970 interview, during which she described Taylor as her "mate," Minter recalled going to view Taylor's body immediately after the murder. In shock, she demanded to be used for a blood transfusion to revive him, not believing he was dead until she touched his body in the morgue: “That deadly cold... convinced me as nothing else could have done. No life can return to this man.” She broke down and sobbed: “They crucified Jesus. Now they’ve crucified... They’ve crucified my mate.”

Later career and retirement

Minter made four more motion pictures for Paramount, with her last being The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1923). When the studio did not renew her contract, she received many other offers but declined them all, saying she had never been happy as an actress.

Personal life

In late 1922, several months following Taylor's death, Minter became romantically involved for a time with then-news correspondent of Los Angeles and movie critic Louis Sherwin, who had at one time been married to actress Maude Fealy.

In 1925, Minter sued her mother for an accounting of the money Shelby had received for her during her screen career. The case was settled out of court, with the settlement being signed by Minter and Shelby at the American Consulate in Paris, France, on January 24, 1927.

In 1957, Minter and wealthy real estate developer Brandon O. Hildebrandt (1898–1965) were married. They remained married until Hildebrandt's death in 1965.

Later years

Minter commented she was content to live without her Hollywood career. She later reconciled with her mother and proclaimed her love for Taylor throughout her life. Minter's money had been invested in Los Angeles real estate and she seems to have lived in relative comfort and prosperity. She later moved to a house in Santa Monica, California; her mother, Charlotte Shelby, died there in 1957.

In 1981, Minter was severely beaten in a burglary at her home in which more than $300,000 worth of antiques, china and jewelry were taken. A former live-in companion and three other people were later charged with attempted murder and burglary. The police described her as a frail old woman and people were often shocked to learn she had once been a famous movie star.

Death

Mary Miles Minter died at age 82 from a stroke in Santa Monica. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered at sea.

For her contribution to motion pictures, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street in Hollywood.

Legacy

As is common with many silent movie stars, much of Minter's work has been lost; she made 53 films, approximately a dozen of which are known to exist today. A print of her 1919 movie, The Ghost of Rosy Taylor surfaced in New Zealand in the 1990s. Other known surviving movies include Youth's Endearing Charm (1916), A Dream or Two Ago (1916), Innocence of Lizette (1916), The Eyes of Julia Deep (1918), Nurse Marjorie (1920), A Cumberland Romance (1920) and The Little Clown (1921).

Filmography

Actress
1923
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine as
June Tolliver
1923
Drums of Fate as
Carol Dolliver
1922
The Cowboy and the Lady as
Jessica Weston
1922
South of Suva as
Phyllis Latimer
1922
The Heart Specialist as
Rosalie Beckwith
1922
Tillie as
Tillie Getz
1921
Her Winning Way as
Ann Annington
1921
Moonlight and Honeysuckle as
Judith Baldwin
1921
Don't Call Me Little Girl as
Jerry
1921
The Little Clown as
Pat
1921
All Souls' Eve as
Alice Heath / Nora O'Hallahan
1920
Eyes of the Heart as
Laura
1920
Sweet Lavender as
Lavender
1920
A Cumberland Romance as
Easter Hicks
1920
Jenny Be Good as
Jenny Riano
1920
Nurse Marjorie as
Lady Marjorie Killonan
1920
Judy of Rogues' Harbor as
Judy
1919
Anne of Green Gables as
Anne Shirley
1919
Yvonne from Paris as
Yvonne Halbert
1919
A Bachelor's Wife as
Mary O'Rourke
1919
The Intrusion of Isabel as
Isabel Trevor
1919
The Amazing Impostor as
Joan Hope
1918
Wives and Other Wives as
Robin Challoner
1918
Rosemary Climbs the Heights as
Rosemary Van Voort
1918
The Eyes of Julia Deep as
Julia Deep
1918
The Ghost of Rosy Taylor as
Rhoda Eldridge Sayles
1918
Social Briars as
Iris Lee
1918
A Bit of Jade as
Phyllis King
1918
Powers That Prey as
Sylvia Grant
1918
Beauty and the Rogue as
Roberta Lee
1917
The Mate of the Sally Ann as
Sally
1917
Peggy Leads the Way as
Peggy Manners
1917
Her Country's Call as
Jess Slocum
1917
Charity Castle as
Charity
1917
Somewhere in America as
Rose Dorgan
1917
Melissa of the Hills as
Melissa Stark
1917
Periwinkle as
Periwinkle
1917
Annie-for-Spite as
Annie Johnson
1917
Environment as
Liz Simpkins
1917
The Gentle Intruder as
Sylvia
1916
The Innocence of Lizette as
Lizette
1916
A Dream or Two Ago as
Millicent Hawthorne
1916
Faith as
Faith
1916
Dulcie's Adventure as
Dulcie
1916
Youth's Endearing Charm as
Mary Wade
1916
Lovely Mary as
Mary Lane
1916
Dimples as
Dimples
1916
Rose of the Alley as
Nell Drogan
1915
Barbara Frietchie as
Barbara - Mrs. Frietchie's Granddaughter
1915
Emmy of Stork's Nest as
Emmy Garrett
1915
Always in the Way as
Dorothy North
1915
The Fairy and the Waif as
Viola Drayton - The Fairy
1912
The Nurse (Short) as
The Child (as Juliet Shelby)
Self
1923
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 24 (Documentary short) as
Self
1923
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 17 (Documentary short) as
Self
1922
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 16 (Documentary short) as
Self
1922
A Trip to Paramountown (Documentary short) as
Self
1921
Screen Snapshots, Series 1, No. 22 (Documentary short) as
Self
1919
Onze filmsterren (Documentary)
1916
Reel Life #23 (Documentary short) as
Self
Archive Footage
2016
Dawson City: Frozen Time (Documentary) as
Self
2010
Sigrid Holmquist (Short) as
Sigrid Holmquist & Self
2007
Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (Documentary) as
Self
2007
City Confidential (TV Series documentary) as
Self
- Old Hollywood: Silent Stars, Deadly Secrets (2007) - Self
1992
Murderers, Mobsters and Madmen: Hollywood Police Blotter (Video documentary short)
1988
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies (Video documentary)
1931
Stars of Yesterday (Short documentary) as
Self

References

Mary Miles Minter Wikipedia


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