Laurette Taylor
Encyclopedia
Laurette Taylor was an America
n stage and silent film actress.
of Irish extraction as Loretta Helen Cooney.
-born playwright J. Hartley Manners
, who wrote Peg o' My Heart
, a major and enduring personal triumph for Taylor, who toured in it extensively throughout the country. Based upon the popular novel by Mary O'Hara, the play's success inspired a 1922 film version
starring Taylor and directed by King Vidor
. A six-reel print of the film survives in the Motion Picture Division of the Library of Congress
. Taylor remained married to Manners until his death in 1928. She died from a coronary thrombosis
in 1946. Her great-granddaughter, Chloe Taylor, is an actress in Los Angeles
.
, Seven Sisters, Lola Lola, The Bird of Paradise, and Peg o' My Heart
, which ran on Broadway from December 20, 1912 to May 1914 (a total of 603 performances) cemented her fame and reputation with audiences as a skilled actress.
She toured the nation with the play, which reopened on Broadway at the Cort Theater on February 14, 1921, and ran for another 692 performances. She achieved great success starring in such other productions as Out There, One Night in Rome, The Wooing of Eve and the special production, Laurette Taylor in Scenes From Shakespeare. In the latter production, she performed scenes from Romeo and Juliet
, The Merchant of Venice
, and The Taming of the Shrew
. Few of Taylor's performances have been preserved on celluloid.
In 1924, Taylor starred in the film version of another theatrical success by her husband. Happiness
, directed by King Vidor
, told of the adventures of a young shopgirl named "Jenny Wray", who learns that riches do not necessarily lead to happiness. The cast included Hedda Hopper
and Pat O'Malley. The same year, Taylor starred in another screen version of Manners' dramatic play One Night In Rome, in which she played the dual roles of Duchess Mareno/Madame Enigme. Taylor seems to have enjoyed making One Night in Rome as she kept a personal print of the movie to always show guests at her home, re-running it over and over again.
Taylor's outsized personality, mercurial moods, and eccentricities became legendary. Her friend Noël Coward
spent a weekend at the home of Taylor and, inspired by that remarkable visit wrote, in just three days, his devastating, witty comedy of manners Hay Fever
(1925). The play, a widely-praised comedic dissection of a family whose theatrical excesses drive their unsuspecting visitors to distraction, was a major hit from the moment of its August 6, 1925 debut. It also caused a serious and permanent rift in the friendship of Taylor and Coward.
Taylor suffered from severe alcoholism
for many years, a condition which sharply limited her appearances from the late 1920s throughout her career. In 1938, she headed the cast in a revival of Outward Bound
and did not appear again until her re-emergence in Williams' The Glass Menagerie
in 1944; her performance received unanimously rapturous reviews.
paid tribute to "the great warmth of her heart", saying, "There was a radiance about her art which I can compare only to the greatest lines of poetry, and which gave me the same shock of revelation as if the air about us had been momentarily broken through by light from some clear space beyond us."
In 1960, the play Laurette, starring Judy Holliday
and directed by José Quintero
, closed out of town in Philadelphia due to Holliday's battle with breast cancer. Produced by Alan Pakula, the play had a supporting cast that included Patrick O'Neal, Joan Hackett
, and Nancy Marchand
.
For years, film director George Cukor
tried unsuccessfully to launch a film version of Taylor's life. In 1963, a musical adaptation of Laurette opened on Broadway. The musical, titled Jennie starred Mary Martin
in the title role. Arnold Schulman
's book is credited as having been suggested by Marguerite Courtney's Laurette, with a score by Howard Dietz
and Arthur Schwartz
. It only ran for 82 performances, receiving mediocre reviews.
A one-act play, Opening Night, appeared briefly off-Broadway in October 1963. Peggy Wood
portrayed Fanny Ellis, a once famous star who is preparing for a performance in her dressing room. Many thought Fanny was actually Taylor. Wood appeared with Ruth Gates. The play ran for only 47 performances.
, Broadway
veterans, including Charles Durning
, Uta Hagen
, Marian Seldes
, Kaye Ballard
, Maureen Stapleton
, Martin Landau
, Gena Rowlands
and June Havoc
, among others, ranked Taylor's Glass Menagerie performance as the most memorable stage performance they had seen.
A rare sound film clip of Taylor in a screen test
made for David O. Selznick
's studio is included in the documentary. The test, for a role in the film The Young in Heart
reportedly did not meet the approval of studio executives.
, but the film version of the hit play was coveted by nearly every screen actress, including Mary Pickford
, who made an offer considerably in excess of the highest amount ever paid for the picture rights to a play or a story. The rights to the film were coveted because of the production's established popularity. Almost any actress in the famous role would be assured of a resounding success, however Taylor doggedly clung to the movie rights for her own use, should she ever commit to appearing in a film.
It took years for the play to be filmed and released. King Vidor
remembered in his autobiography, A Tree Is A Tree:
. She never appeared in another film, although David O. Selznick
did invite her to film a sound test for a role in his 1938 film The Young in Heart
, which Taylor did, but she declined the part and actress Minnie Dupree
was cast. (The sound film test exists and has been shown on TV from time to time).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n stage and silent film actress.
Personal life
Laurette Taylor was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
of Irish extraction as Loretta Helen Cooney.
Personal life
She married her first husband, Charles A. Taylor, around 1900, and they had two children, Dwight and Marguerite, but they divorced around 1910. In 1912 she married BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-born playwright J. Hartley Manners
J. Hartley Manners
John Hartley Manners was a London-born playwright of Irish extraction who wrote Peg o' My Heart, which starred his wife, Laurette Taylor on Broadway in one of her greatest stage triumphs.-Biography:...
, who wrote Peg o' My Heart
Peg o' My Heart
"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher. It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies. The song was first performed publicly by Irving Kaufman in 1912 at The College Inn in New York City after he had stumbled across a...
, a major and enduring personal triumph for Taylor, who toured in it extensively throughout the country. Based upon the popular novel by Mary O'Hara, the play's success inspired a 1922 film version
Peg o' My Heart (1922 film)
Peg o' My Heart is a silent drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Laurette Taylor. It is based on the 1912 play written by Taylor's husband J. Hartley Manners. The play starred Laurette Taylor and famously ran a record number of performances on Broadway...
starring Taylor and directed by King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
. A six-reel print of the film survives in the Motion Picture Division of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. Taylor remained married to Manners until his death in 1928. She died from a coronary thrombosis
Coronary thrombosis
Coronary thrombosis is a form of thrombosis affecting the coronary circulation. It is associated with stenosis subsequent to clotting. The condition is considered as a type of ischaemic heart disease.It can lead to a myocardial infarction...
in 1946. Her great-granddaughter, Chloe Taylor, is an actress in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Approach to Acting
Taylor wrote an essay on acting, titled "The Quality Most Needed", which was included in some of the early editions of the text "Actors on Acting". In it, Taylor muses on the importance of imagination over physical beauty for the actress wishing to truly create art. She sharply criticizes performances where you can "see the acting", and warns against paying too much attention to the traditions of acting, saying it "cramps creative instinct". To Taylor, the imaginative actress will leave you with a feeling that you can imagine the character's conduct "[i]n any position, aside from the situations involved in the actions of the play". Taylor applauded the imaginative actress who "builds a picture, using all her heart and soul and brain", not for the audience but for herself.Critical acclaim
Taylor began attracting critical acclaim virtually from her first known performance on Broadway in The Great John Ganton in 1908 and building her reputation in such stage productions as The Ringmaster, Alias Jimmy ValentineAlias Jimmy Valentine
Alias Jimmy Valentine is a 1928 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film directed by Jack Conway, and starring William Haines, Leila Hyams, Lionel Barrymore, and Karl Dane. It is sourced from the O. Henry story,A Retrieved Reformation which was turned into the 1910 play Alias Jimmy Valentine by Paul Armstrong. The...
, Seven Sisters, Lola Lola, The Bird of Paradise, and Peg o' My Heart
Peg o' My Heart
"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher. It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies. The song was first performed publicly by Irving Kaufman in 1912 at The College Inn in New York City after he had stumbled across a...
, which ran on Broadway from December 20, 1912 to May 1914 (a total of 603 performances) cemented her fame and reputation with audiences as a skilled actress.
She toured the nation with the play, which reopened on Broadway at the Cort Theater on February 14, 1921, and ran for another 692 performances. She achieved great success starring in such other productions as Out There, One Night in Rome, The Wooing of Eve and the special production, Laurette Taylor in Scenes From Shakespeare. In the latter production, she performed scenes from Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
, and The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
. Few of Taylor's performances have been preserved on celluloid.
In 1924, Taylor starred in the film version of another theatrical success by her husband. Happiness
Happiness (1924 film)
Happiness is a 1924 silent comedy film directed by King Vidor. It stars stage great Laurette Taylor, in one of her rare film appearances. The film is based on the 1914 Broadway play written by Taylor's husband J. Hartley Manners.-Cast:...
, directed by King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
, told of the adventures of a young shopgirl named "Jenny Wray", who learns that riches do not necessarily lead to happiness. The cast included Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
and Pat O'Malley. The same year, Taylor starred in another screen version of Manners' dramatic play One Night In Rome, in which she played the dual roles of Duchess Mareno/Madame Enigme. Taylor seems to have enjoyed making One Night in Rome as she kept a personal print of the movie to always show guests at her home, re-running it over and over again.
Taylor's outsized personality, mercurial moods, and eccentricities became legendary. Her friend Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
spent a weekend at the home of Taylor and, inspired by that remarkable visit wrote, in just three days, his devastating, witty comedy of manners Hay Fever
Hay Fever
Hay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
(1925). The play, a widely-praised comedic dissection of a family whose theatrical excesses drive their unsuspecting visitors to distraction, was a major hit from the moment of its August 6, 1925 debut. It also caused a serious and permanent rift in the friendship of Taylor and Coward.
Taylor suffered from severe alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
for many years, a condition which sharply limited her appearances from the late 1920s throughout her career. In 1938, she headed the cast in a revival of Outward Bound
Outward Bound
Outward Bound is an international, non-profit, independent, outdoor educationorganization with approximately 40 schools around the world and 200,000 participants per year...
and did not appear again until her re-emergence in Williams' The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
in 1944; her performance received unanimously rapturous reviews.
Legacy
Writing after Taylor's death, Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
paid tribute to "the great warmth of her heart", saying, "There was a radiance about her art which I can compare only to the greatest lines of poetry, and which gave me the same shock of revelation as if the air about us had been momentarily broken through by light from some clear space beyond us."
In 1960, the play Laurette, starring Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday was an American actress.Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals...
and directed by José Quintero
José Quintero
José Benjamin Quintero was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill.-Early years:...
, closed out of town in Philadelphia due to Holliday's battle with breast cancer. Produced by Alan Pakula, the play had a supporting cast that included Patrick O'Neal, Joan Hackett
Joan Hackett
Joan Ann Hackett was an American actress who appeared on stage, in films, and on television.- Early life :She was born in New York City of Irish and Italian extraction...
, and Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
.
For years, film director George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
tried unsuccessfully to launch a film version of Taylor's life. In 1963, a musical adaptation of Laurette opened on Broadway. The musical, titled Jennie starred Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
in the title role. Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, a songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio....
's book is credited as having been suggested by Marguerite Courtney's Laurette, with a score by Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist.-Biography:Dietz was born in New York City and studied journalism at Columbia University...
and Arthur Schwartz
Arthur Schwartz
Arthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer.Schwartz supported his legal studies at New York University and postgraduate studies at Columbia University by playing piano before concentrating his talents on vaudeville, Broadway theatre and Hollywood.Among his Broadway musicals are The...
. It only ran for 82 performances, receiving mediocre reviews.
A one-act play, Opening Night, appeared briefly off-Broadway in October 1963. Peggy Wood
Peggy Wood
Peggy Wood was an American actress of stage, film and television.-Early career:She was born Mary Margaret Wood in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Eugene Wood, a journalist, and Mary Gardner, a telegraph operator. She was a direct descendant of Daniel Boone...
portrayed Fanny Ellis, a once famous star who is preparing for a performance in her dressing room. Many thought Fanny was actually Taylor. Wood appeared with Ruth Gates. The play ran for only 47 performances.
Acclaim by fellow actors
In the 2004 documentary Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were ThereBroadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Broadway: The Golden Age is a 2004 documentary by Rick McKay, telling the story of the "golden age" of Broadway by the oral history of the legendary actors of the 40s and 50s, incorporating rare lost footage of actual performances and never-before-seen personal home movies and photos.-The Cast:The...
, Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
veterans, including Charles Durning
Charles Durning
Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
, Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
, Marian Seldes
Marian Seldes
Marian Hall Seldes is an American stage, film, radio, and television actress whose career has spanned six decades and who was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Life and career:...
, Kaye Ballard
Kaye Ballard
Kaye Ballard is an American musical theatre and television actress, comedienne, and singer.-Life and career:Ballard was born as Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, to an Italian American family, the daughter of Lena and Vincent James Balotta.Ballard established herself as a musical...
, Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television.-Early life:Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family...
, Martin Landau
Martin Landau
Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
, Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
and June Havoc
June Havoc
June Havoc was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer, writer, and theater director. Havoc was a child Vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother. She later acted on Broadway and in Hollywood and stage directed . She last appeared on television in 1990 on General Hospital...
, among others, ranked Taylor's Glass Menagerie performance as the most memorable stage performance they had seen.
A rare sound film clip of Taylor in a screen test
Screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
made for David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
's studio is included in the documentary. The test, for a role in the film The Young in Heart
The Young in Heart
The Young in Heart is a film comedy starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paulette Goddard, Roland Young, and Billie Burke....
reportedly did not meet the approval of studio executives.
Notable fans
- Actor/teacher Uta HagenUta HagenUta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
's highly regarded 1991 acting text, A Challenge for the Actor, she described Taylor as her "idol" and "an inspiration", seeing her as the ultimate example of an actor working from the inside out. Hagen praised Taylor for saying that her identification with a character wasn't complete until she was "wearing the underpants of the character". Hagen's description of Taylor's acting was that she subjectively developed her actions and words, that "always sprang from her as though for the very first time".
- Actor Charles DurningCharles DurningCharles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
described of seeing Taylor's acting, "I thought they pulled her off the street. She was . . so natural".
- Actor Martin LandauMartin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
said Taylor "was almost like this woman had found her way into the theatre, through the stage door, and was sort of wandering around the kitchen".
Motion Pictures
Taylor planned to make her film debut in Peg o' My HeartPeg o' My Heart (1922 film)
Peg o' My Heart is a silent drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Laurette Taylor. It is based on the 1912 play written by Taylor's husband J. Hartley Manners. The play starred Laurette Taylor and famously ran a record number of performances on Broadway...
, but the film version of the hit play was coveted by nearly every screen actress, including Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, who made an offer considerably in excess of the highest amount ever paid for the picture rights to a play or a story. The rights to the film were coveted because of the production's established popularity. Almost any actress in the famous role would be assured of a resounding success, however Taylor doggedly clung to the movie rights for her own use, should she ever commit to appearing in a film.
It took years for the play to be filmed and released. King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
remembered in his autobiography, A Tree Is A Tree:
"I soon landed a job at the old Metro studio on Romaine Street – the assignment: to direct Laurette Taylor in Peg O' My HeartThe play was considerably expanded for the film version, and the final production was an immediate success with audiences. Taylor went on to make another adaptation of one of her stage successes, Happiness, and then a third and final film for MGM, One Night in RomePeg o' My Heart (1922 film)Peg o' My Heart is a silent drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Laurette Taylor. It is based on the 1912 play written by Taylor's husband J. Hartley Manners. The play starred Laurette Taylor and famously ran a record number of performances on Broadway...
. Although I had never seen Miss Taylor, her name carried with it a certain magic to my young ears."
One Night in Rome
One Night in Rome is a 1924 film starring Laurette Taylor. The film was directed by Clarence G. Badger and written J. Hartley Manners, Ms. Taylor's husband, based upon his play. Laurette Taylor was a great name of the American theatre, who made only three films in a triumph-studded career, all of...
. She never appeared in another film, although David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
did invite her to film a sound test for a role in his 1938 film The Young in Heart
The Young in Heart
The Young in Heart is a film comedy starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paulette Goddard, Roland Young, and Billie Burke....
, which Taylor did, but she declined the part and actress Minnie Dupree
Minnie Dupree
Minnie Dupree was a stage and film actress.She made her acting debut in a touring company in 1887. The next year, she made a big impression in a small role in William Gillette's New York play Held by the Enemy...
was cast. (The sound film test exists and has been shown on TV from time to time).
Broadway: The Golden Age
In Rick McKay's DVD Broadway: The Golden Age, an entire section is devoted to Taylor, and it includes a section on her 1938 screen test.Further reading
- Brenon, Harold. "Must They Have Temperament?" Motion Picture Magazine, February 1926.
- Courtney, Marguerite. Laurette. New York: Atheneum, 1968.
- Carroll, Gardiner. "Why Jane Cowl Avoids the Screen, Norma Talmadge Avoids the Stage, Laurette Taylor Appears on Both". Photoplay July 1924, pp. 72–73.
- Dowd, Nancy and David Shepard. Metuchen. King Vidor. New Jersey: The Directors Guild of America; London: The Scarecrow Press, 1988.
- Jackson, Kenneth T. The Encyclopedia of New York City. The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. p. 1155.
- Menefee, David W. The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era. Connecticut: Praeger, 2004. ISBN 0-275-98259-9.
- "Laurette Taylor a Delight in Adaptation of Her Stage Success", Film Daily. December 17, 1922.
External links
- Laurette Taylor's photo gallery at New York Public Library
- Laurette Taylor papers, at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin
- 1924: Ethel Barrymore visits Laurette Taylor during the filming of One Night in Rome
- Laurette Taylor & J. Hartley Manners courtesy of Amazon.com
- Laurette Taylor portrait gallery at the University of Washington's Sayre collection