Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood (67 page)

delusion, 81

dreams, 27

drugs, 362

faked suicide attempt, 62

funeral home, 227–28

and Gibson, 287–90

grand jury testimony, 400

hair sample, 315–16

Heart Specialist
,
The
, 204

and James Kirkwood, 59

later life, 421–23

lawsuit against mother, 360–61

living independently, 326–27

love affair story, 361–62

marriage, 422

and Marshall Neilan, 173

mother, 27, 55–63, 114

mother as suspect, 398

move back to California, 422

move to New York, 388

and Normand, 360

and Normand confrontation, 209–10

origin of name, 57–58

poetry, 61

police interview, 246–48

police re-interview, 1926, 398

pregnancy and abortion, 59

press after death of Taylor, 228

reconciliation with mother, 346

separation from mother, 326–27

Sweet Lavender
, 130

and Taylor, 27–28, 60–63, 81–83

and Taylor, Christmas gift, 173

and Taylor, good-bye, 174–75

and Taylor, homosexuality, 116–17

and Taylor, letters to, 81, 113, 229–30, 244–45, 247–48, 288

and Taylor, obsession, 113–15, 143–44, 173–75

Taylor funeral, 244

Taylor murder, reaction, 204–9

and Thomas Dixon, 173

train accident, 289–90

and Zukor, 58

and Zukor, letter to, 80

Mirage
,
The
, 74

Mishawum Manor, 16, 122, 131, 134, 147

Mission Theatre, 78–79

Molly O’
, 93, 153, 241, 267

Monarch Hotel, 318

Moon-Calf
(Dell), 196

Moonlight and Honeysuckle
, 229

Moore, Fred, 127, 184, 185, 353

aka Earl Frank Dustin, 344

working with Bushnell, 343–44

Moore, Jackie, 184

Moore, Owen, 32, 43

Moore, Tom, 179

Morals
, 5–6, 130

Moreno, Antonio, 69, 181, 241

Motion Picture Directors Association, 5, 29

Motion Picture Theater Owners of America (MPTOA), 38, 65, 70

movies, as industry, 13

American movie theater revenues, 38

appointment of Hays, 261–65

and beauty, 20

beginnings of, 19

and First Amendment, 14

impact on society, 20

and Jews, 17

losses in 1920, 14

open-air shooting, 19

parallel with baseball, 168

production code, 101–6

revenues from Paramount films, 39

and scandal, 14

as scapegoat for cultural changes, 152

shift from New York to Los Angeles, 20

Taylor death as additional scandal, 223–24

vigilance committee, 254

Moving Picture World
, 130

Muir, Florabel, 257

Murder in Hollywood
, 408

Murphy, Wiley, 203

Murphy, Patrick, 107, 179

Murray, Mae, 43, 154, 261

Mystery of the Leaping Fish
,
The
, 91

Nast, Condé, 393

National Association of the Motion Picture Industry (NAMPI), 18, 105, 122, 166

and Will Hays, 166–71

National Bank of New York, 39

National Board of Review, 18, 68, 106, 296

and production code, 104

National Catholic Welfare Council, 295

National Conference of Catholic Charities, 69–70

Nazimova, Alla, 146, 148

Neilan, Marshall “Mickey,” 154, 173, 229, 235

and Minter letters, 229–30

New Catherine Theatre fire, 69

New Theatre of Alexander Pantages, 84

New York Police Department, first policewoman, 68

New York Times
, 33, 146, 181, 265, 329, 335, 386

New York Tribune
, 64

Niblo, Fred, 94

Nietzche, Friedrich, 190

Night Riders of Petersham
,
The
, 129

Normand, Claude, 22, 44–45, 267

Normand, Mabel, 21–24, 26, 34, 42–47, 71–74, 86, 87, 89–93, 109, 127, 186–90, 266–69, 294, 358–60

addiction, 23–24, 43–44, 153

affair, 21

age, 21, 22

alcohol, 23, 109, 179, 360, 386

apartment, 21

“baloney card,” 22

censorship, 267

childhood, 22

and Clarine Seymour, 42

cocaine, 23, 43

at coroner’s jury, 233

criticism of, 266–67

death, 401

description, 45

D. W. Griffth, 45

England, 329

Europe, 325–26

Extra Girl
,
The
, 359

father, 44–45

“Fatty and Mabel” comedy shorts, 151

and Fatty Arbuckle arrest, 150–52

and Federation of Women’s Clubs, 384–85

at funeral, 241–42, 244

generosity, 23

and George Patterson, 266

Glen Springs, 89

and Glen Springs Sanatorium, 71–72, 74

Greer trial testimony, 383–84

gun tip, 216

hiding, 267

illness, 268

implicated in Taylor death, 242

Little Mouse
,
The
, 385–86

and Mack Sennett, 45–46

and Mack Sennett, professional relationship, 93

and Mary Miles Minter, 360

and Mary Miles Minter, confrontation, 209–10

modeling, 45

Molly O’
, 93, 153

move to New York, 385–87

movies, start in, 45

New York, 325–26

and Olive Thomas, 24, 42

and Olive Thomas funeral, 42–44

photo at scene of Taylor murder, 196

pleurisy, 153

and police, 268

police search, 218–19

pregnancy and stillbirth, 73

public perception of, 153

“Queen of Comedy,” 21

and Reid’s revelation, 328–29

return to California, 89

and Sam Goldwyn, 23, 46, 72–73

and Sam Goldwyn, contract, 90, 93

Slim Princess
,
The
, 21

Staten Island, 74

suicide attempt, 46

Suzanna
, 189, 269

and Taylor, 47, 90–91, 173

and Taylor, and argument, 179–80

Taylor, and drug dealer, 90

and Taylor, and letters to, 44, 238–39, 242

Taylor, and sanatorium, 71–72

Taylor, final visit to, 187–90

Taylor murder reaction, 203–4

tuberculosis, 387

weight gain, 89

witness, 214

North Beachwood Drive, 49

Obenchain, Madalynne, 222, 306

Ochs, Adolph, 107

Oesterreich, Fred, 376, 421

O’Grady, Ellen, 68–70

testimony, 120–22

O’Hildebrandt, Brandon, 422

Olcott, Sydney, 261

Old Wives for New
, 32, 417

Osborn, Don, 75, 125–26, 270, 283

ambition, 77, 78–80

arrest, 355

bunco, 127–28, 163, 185, 310–11

Bushnell scheme, 317–24, 352–57

forgery, 77

and George Weh, 77

and Gibson, proposal for Read, 94–97

and Gibson, scams, 125–26

Gibson rental, 165

and Lasher scam, 343

later life, 420

and Madsen, 127–28

marriage, 76, 77, 164

and Rose Putnam, 96

and Rose Putnam affair, 139–40, 163–64, 165

sentence, 371

son, 77

threat to Rae Osborn, 140–41

Osborn, Earl, 77

Osborn, Rae, 77–78, 96, 127, 139, 164

marriage to Don Osborn, 139–41

obsession with Don Osborn, 184

Otello
, 115

Overholtzer, Ivy, 208, 227–28

Overstreet, Jay R., 184

Owl Drug, 4–5

Pacific Electric Railway, 25

Pair of Hellions
,
A
, 343

premiere, 365

Palace, 84

Palmer, Mrs. George, 384

Palmer, Patricia.
See
Gibson, Margaret “Gibby”

Pantages Theatre, 129

Paramount, 15, 16

bankruptcy, 424

percent revenue of all motion pictures, 39

Paramount building, 389, 391

completion/opening, 393–94

Paramount Theater, 299

Paramount Theaters management, 392

Parent-Teachers Association, 295

Parsons, Louella, 74

Pathé, 76

Patricia Palmer Productions, 270

Patterson, George S., 266

Patteson, Stake, 130

Peavey, Henry, 4–8, 144–45, 172–73, 187, 188–89, 233, 411

arrest, 189

description, 5

discovery of body, 192, 196

and
Examiner
, 257

ghosts, 259–60

home, 4

reaction to murder, 207–8

sexual orientation, 5

spotlight after murder, 256

vagrancy charge, 5

Peete, Louise, 212, 222

Pelton’s Theatre, 78

Pepa, Joe, 48, 383

lewdness charge, 51

and Margaret “Gibby” Gibson, 49–53

marriage, 50

suit against police, 49–50

trial, 53

Pettijohn, Charles L., 105

Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger
, 40

Photoplay
, 387, 394

Pickford, Jack, 24, 154, 229

Pickford, Lottie, 43

Pickford, Mary, 6, 25, 27, 32, 34, 43, 56, 64, 79, 83, 154

Police Gazette
, 190, 224

Poor Little Rich Girl
,
The
, 283

production code, 101–6

and
The Affairs of Anatol
, 106

made public, 103

National Board of Review, 104

unenforceable, 120

Production Code Administration, 424

Prohibition, 15, 23

Public Is Never Wrong
,
The
(Zukor), 425

Purviance, Edna, 6, 195, 203, 267, 383

Putnam, Rose, 96, 125, 128, 163–64, 165, 184, 311–12

abortion, 310

arrest, 356

and Bushnell, 311–12, 317–18

Bushnell scheme, 352–57

and James Bryson, 163–64

later life, 420

marriage, 311

release, 380

scams, 125–26

sentence, 371

Putnam Building, 12, 118, 119, 298

Queen Elizabeth
, 37, 255

Ralph Story’s Los Angeles
, 407

Rappé, Virginia, 149, 151, 157

Ray, Charles, 26, 32

Read, J. Parker, 94–95, 96, 97

Realart Picture Corporation, 58

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
, 32

Reid, Wallace “Wally,” 84, 104, 132, 294, 312

addiction, 327–29, 332

death, 339

drugs, 91–92, 153

Reilley, Mrs. Eugene, 68

Reimer, Charles, 377, 379

Rialto, 84

Rich, Irene, 387

Ritz-Carlton, 37, 44, 146

Roach, Hal, 42, 387

Robbins, Ethel May, 236–37

Roberts, Ed, 292

Robins, Edward L. C., 237

Rodriguez, Ralph and Lola, 50–51

Rogers, Will, 32, 395

Roosevelt, Teddy, 170

Rosa Mundi
(Dell), 187

Ross, Gene, 181

Ross, Herbert I., 366

Rucker, Edward, 373

Rudin, J. Robert, 392

Ruggles, Wesley, 179

Ryan, John A., 354, 366, 380

FBI hunt, 377

Ryan, May, 139, 184, 320–21, 363

bunco, 320

Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, 260

Salisbury, Edward A., 252–53

Salvation Army, 295

Sands, Edward F. “Jazz,” 86, 108–12

aka Edward Strathmore, 111

aka Snyder, 110

crimes, 110–11

flyers about, 252

gun, 112

and Minter, 86

pawn ticket letter, 176

possible weight loss, 232

spying on William Desmond Taylor, 108–9

Taylor, spying on, 111, 113

Taylor, vandalism and crimes against, 142

and Taylor murder investigation, 213

as Taylor murder suspect, 201, 213–14, 215, 231–32, 247, 284, 412

Taylor’s house, seen at, 188

Sanhuber, Otto, 421

Santschi, Tom, 75

Saucedo, Maria, 420

Scarborough, George, 229

Schallert, Edwin, 116, 117

Schenck, Joseph, 101, 154, 155, 160, 169, 291, 368, 369

Schenck, Nicholas, 279–81, 394

Schiff, Jacob, 39

Schuyler, Betsy, 386–87

Schwab, Charles, 393

Schweppes, Mr. and Mrs. Richard, 116

Seeling, Charles, 162–63, 183

Selznick, Lewis J., 58, 101, 135, 166, 168, 261

Sennett, Mack, 45–46, 65, 153, 267, 294, 358–59

and Normand, 45–46

and Normand, professional relationship, 93

Serling, Rod, 423

Sex
, 94

Seymour, Clarine, 31, 33, 42, 44

death, 42

Shanley’s restaurant, 299

Shawnee Hotel, 322, 355

“Sheik of Araby, The,” 184

Shelby, Charlotte, 56–63, 80–83, 116, 204, 228, 286–90

aka Lilla Pearl Miles, 57

alibi, 273–74, 400, 412

bullets, 400

childhood, 57

daughter, aspirations for, 56, 57–58

description, 57–58

and eyewitnesses, 398

grand jury testimony, 400–401

gun, 274, 304, 397, 399, 400, 412

home, 56

later life, 421–22

motive for murder, 397, 410

and police, 244–48, 272–74, 303–8

protecting her daughter, 82

public opinion, 410

shrewdness, 411

statement to police, 397

as suspect, 316, 346, 396

and Taylor, 61–62, 82–83, 143–44

and Taylor, jealousy, 362

Taylor murder, knowledge of, 396

Taylor murder, reaction to, 211

and Woolwine, 316, 409

and Zukor, 58

Shelby, Margaret, 399, 410

alcoholic, 410

grand jury testimony, 400

Shell-Shocked Sammy
, 354

Shelly, Hazel, 109

Sheridan, Harriett, 377–78

Sherman Antitrust Act, 134

Sins of Hollywood
,
The
, 294, 372

Slauson, Ruth, 51, 52

Slim Princess
,
The
, 21

Smith, Wallace, 223, 242

Snow, Evelyn F., 251

Soul of Youth
,
The
, 32, 84–85, 87, 129