There's just something about Mary (Miles Minter)

Mary Miles Minter

One of these days, I'm going to finish writing a novel based on Mary Miles Minter's life. The plot is in my head. Most of the characters are in my head. I've even written some chapters, including the opening and the ending. I really should get cracking on the middle of the book. You wouldn't believe the research I still need to do for that book.

Mary has fascinated me ever since a friend pointed me to the book "Cast of Killers." It's a terrific read based on an unsolved Hollywood murder mystery involving Mary (I should point out the criticism about the book. Let's just say the author didn't allow facts to get in the way of a good story. Nowadays, the book would bear a "loosely based on" disclaimer. That said, it's an enjoyable read).

Mama Rose ... I mean Charlotte Shelby

Getting back to Mary, she was born in Shreveport during the early 1900s. Her birth name was Juliet Reilly (I'd love to know her precise birthplace if anyone knows it). Her father, J. Homer Reilly, was a newspaperman. Her mother, Lily Pearl Miles, was a doctor's daughter. What Lily Pearl really, really wanted was to be a star.

The Reilly ladies lived on Cadiz Street in Dallas

I don't know how Lily Pearl ended up marrying Homer. But married him she did. The union produced two daughters: Margaret and Juliet (later Mary Miles Minter). The couple soon separated. Lily Pearl packed up the girls and moved to Dallas, where she offered lessons. I think she gave acting lessons, but my memory might be failing me here.

The Lyceum Theatre, where Charlotte played a maid

Soon, the little family was in New York. And, by New York, I mean New York City. In 1908, Lily Pearl - now Charlotte Shelby - played a maid in "Love Watches" at the Lyceum Theatre. She was only 31 but probably considered a little long in the tooth for that era. No worries, though. Charlotte (Lily Pearl) channeled her energies into becoming the mother of all stage mothers. Really, Mama Rose had nothing on her.

Poor Margaret

Margaret was put on stage and did passingly well. She was pretty and scored supporting roles. Then, so the story goes, a babysitter could not be found for Juliet one day when Margaret had an audition. Juliet tagged along and grabbed the director's attention. A star was born. From this point on, if you want to put "poor" in front of Margaret's name, go right ahead. She had a terrible life.

The youngest looking teenager on Broadway

By 1912, Charlotte had a problem. Juliet was only 10 and child labor laws curtailed her working hours. Fortunately (for Charlotte at least), Charlotte's big sister, Mary, had a misfortune back home in Louisiana. Mary married a Minter and incorporated her maiden name into her daughter's name. Little Mary (perhaps Marie) Miles Minter died young (supposedly from drinking apple cider laced with snake venom, but I ask you ... how does snake venom get into apple cider? Was this a common problem back in those days?). Charlotte stole her dead niece's birth date, rechristened Juliet as Mary Miles Minter (II) and tacked seven years onto her age. The Gerry Society (the child labor police) either didn't notice or ignored the switch (or maybe Charlotte threatened to lace their apple cider with snake venom). The new Mary Miles Minter had to be the youngest looking 17-year-old in New York.

An early movie starring little Mary

1912 was the same year in which Mary made her first short film, "The Nurse." She was billed as Juliet Shelby. Three years later, as Mary Miles Minter, she had the starring role as a fairy in another feature picture. Most of Mary's films are lost, including her turn as Anne of Green Gables in a film that outraged the series' author. The director of Anne was William Desmond Taylor.

William Desmond Taylor as actor

William was interesting. He was an Irishman, a problem child who was sent to America in the hopes that he would do something with his life. He dabbled in acting, married well, fathered a daughter and then went out to grab a bite to eat and vanished - but not really. He eventually headed to California and started anew without the baggage of a family. In other words, he was exactly the type of man you would want your young daughter to fall in love with. Exactly.

William as director

Less than 10 years after deserting his family, William was directing Mary Pickford and other stars of the day. He made friends and money. He rented a bungalow. He was close to actress Mabel Normand. Mary - all of 20 when he died (by now she was back to her real age) - apparently fell in love.

The house that Mary bought

Although young, Mary was supporting her mother, grandmother and her sister (poor Margaret) in a comfortable California lifestyle. They had an ivy-covered mansion. Mary was a star. Yet, she was still young and could be naive.

James Kirkwood Sr.

In 1916 - when Mary was 14 or 15 - she "married" the already married director James Kirkwood in the hills above Santa Barbara. I'm not sure where Charlotte was that day, but she obviously fell down on the job. Basically, James said a few words and told Mary they were now husband and wife. Mary soon was pregnant. Mama Charlotte eventually found out after wondering why her diets failed to peel weight off Mary. Mary had an abortion, and James was pushed off a cliff. Just kidding. James lived a long life and hopefully dug within and became a better person. Indirectly because of him (he fathered the writer), "A Chorus Line" stood for a time as Broadway's longest-running production.

Mary and William Taylor

No worries about Mary, though. She had great taste in men. She shifted focus to William Desmond Taylor. So what was the nature of the relationship between the two? No one seems to agree on that point. Mary wrote William gushing love letters even though he was more than old enough to be her father. William might have gently rebuffed her or he might have been an old goat and taken advantage. Regardless, Mama Charlotte was none too pleased with the situation (and can you blame her?). Charlotte stole Mary's love letters and diary and placed them safely in her purse ... just in case she needed to blackmail Mary into falling in line. Don't you do that with your kids?

The bungalow where Taylor died

On Feb. 1, 1922, William was found shot to death in his Hollywood bungalow. The murder remains unsolved to this day even though there was supposedly a deathbed confession (well, a death on the kitchen floor confession). It's one of Hollywood's enduring scandals and mysteries. Really, Google him. William Taylor and his whodunit murder are an Internet sensation.

Mabel Normand, a story for another day

Police found a love note written on Mary's stationary in William's apartment (Charlotte must have missed that one). It was to the point and said: "I love you. I love you. I love you. XXXXXXXXX Yours always, Mary." Sweet, huh? So who killed him? No one knows. The possibilities include a valet with a fake accent, a different valet who died in an asylum and Mabel Normand herself (who probably was the true love of William's life). Or maybe it was one of these three: Mama Charlotte, Mary and poor Margaret.

Mary with her mother and grandmother

Charlotte had a pistol, and that pistol conveniently disappeared after the murder. Years later, Margaret claimed her mother killed William Taylor. Here's what Margaret said about her mother: "She told me they were pinning it pretty close to her. She was awfully worried. And she was very grateful that her mother had gone to Louisiana and thrown the gun that had killed William Desmond Taylor into a bayou on the plantation."

Margaret died at 39

However, Margaret was an alcoholic with a penchant for rash marriages that ended in quickie divorces. She suffered a nervous breakdown. She got arrested on her honeymoon (along with her new husband, who actually was married to someone else). Her mother hosed her down with a garden hose and kept a weapon handy because of Margaret's drinking problems. They spent a lot of time in court battling over money. Usually, Charlotte tried to put Margaret "away" to avoid court appearances but she didn't always succeed.

Charlotte in later years

Charlotte was cozy with police officials. Maybe she bribed them. The police file on the case - along with the physical evidence - later disappeared.

Mary, whose film career came to an abrupt end

Or maybe Mary herself did it. She was emotional. She was obsessed with an older man.

Mary's final home

After Margaret died just before her 40th birthday, Charlotte and Mary lived together until Charlotte's death in 1957. The Taylor case ruined Mary's movie career, but she was shrewd investor. She married, for the first time, after her mother died. She died in 1984.

 Margaret Gibson

Years before Mary's death, a has been actress named Margaret Gibson collapsed on the kitchen floor of her home in California. Gibson had a hard life. She went on stage as a young girl to support her mother. She went to Hollywood only to get involved in opium. Then, in 1935, she abruptly moved to Singapore and married an accountant. A bladder infection brought her back to the U.S. in the 1940s. Two decades later, Gibson had a heart attack. While dying on the floor of her home, she told neighbors she killed Taylor. Gibson did work on films with Taylor, but it is believed they stopped working together in 1914. Whether her dying words were the ramblings of a confused, old woman or an actual confession probably will never be known.