Estelle Taylor

Ida Estelle Taylor (May 20, 1894 – April 15, 1958) was an American actress, singer, and model whose striking dark‑brown hair and expressive eyes made her one of the most memorable silent‑film beauties of the 1920s. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, she grew up with her maternal grandparents after her parents separated, studied piano, and showed an early talent for performance by singing the role of Buttercup in a benefit production of H.M.S. Pinafore at the age of ten. After a brief marriage to bank cashier Kenneth Malcolm Peacock in 1911, Taylor moved to New York in 1918 to study acting at the Sargent Dramatic School, supporting herself as a hat model and an artists’ model for illustrators such as Howard Pyle and Leslie Thrasher. Her Broadway debut came in 1919 with George V. Hobart’s Come‑On, Charlie, and a recommendation from producer Adolph Klauber soon led her to early film work with Vitagraph and Fox, where she earned notice for her versatility in While New York Sleeps (1920) playing three distinct characters. Taylor’s talent for portraying historical women shone in Cecil B. DeMille’s biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1923) as Miriam, in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924) as Mary, Queen of Scots, and in Warner Bros.’ Don Juan (1926) as Lucrezia Borgia, performances praised for their sensuality and dramatic depth. She transitioned successfully to sound films, appearing in notable talkies such as Street Scene (1931) and the Oscar‑winning Cimarron (1931), before retiring from acting in 1932 to focus on her singing career and later on animal‑rights activism. Taylor’s personal life was marked by three high‑profile marriages, most famously to heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey (1925‑1931), yet she never had children. In her later years she founded the California Pet Owners’ Protective League and served as vice president of the Los Angeles City Animal Regulation Commission, championing anti‑vivisection causes. She died of cancer in 1958, leaving a legacy of elegance, talent, and compassion, and was posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.