Ruth Taylor (actress)
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Daughter of Norman and Ivah (Bates) Taylor, Ruth Alice Taylor (January 13, 1908 – April 12, 1984) was a movie actress from Grand Rapids, Michigan.
She was blonde, 5'2", 110 pounds, with blue eyes, and a creamy complexion. Taylor was born on Friday the 13th. When she was two years old her parents moved to Portland, Oregon. There she graduated from high school in June 1925. She participated in amateur dramatics as a youth.
[edit] Film comedian
Taylor persuaded her mother to bring her to Hollywood where the teenager spent a year working as an extra. In 1920, Taylor played opposite Babe Ruth in Ruth's biopic Heading Home. She was discovered by Mack Sennett in February 1925 when he was looking for a blonde to play in a Harry Langdon comedy. She was chosen from among two hundred girls who responded to Sennett's call. Taylor was the only true blonde employed by the comedy producer at this time.
In 1927 Taylor's two-year contract with Mack Sennett expired. She was cast as Lorelei Lee in the silent movie version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1928). Directed by Malcolm St. Clair, the film co-starred Alice White and Ford Sterling. Lorelei, as Anita Loos described her, was a cold-blooded, hard-boiled, hypocritical little gold digger, hard as granite, with baby-blue eyes and cooey little ways. She was a typical sinful lady that won gentleman's hearts and incomes in 1927 A.D.
During the search for Lorelei Lee 14,000 letters were received from fans by Paramount Pictures. Each suggested a choice of an actress for the role. In return every fan was mailed a photo of Ruth Taylor when she was selected for the part. It was the largest shipment of pictures of one person ever shipped from Hollywood. Anita Loos was determined that Taylor play the role of her literary character.
Just Married (1928) was the first offering in what was billed as a new comedy team featuring Taylor and James Hall. Produced by B.P. Schulberg, the movie was directed by Frank R. Strayer.
Taylor's final screen credits are roles in A Hint To Brides (1929), The College Coquette (1929), This Thing Called Love (1929), and Scrappily Married (1930).
Ruth Taylor died in Palm Springs, California in 1984. She is the mother of writer Buck Henry.
[edit] References
- Los Angeles Times, Has No Competition, March 6, 1925, Page A9.
- Los Angeles Times, Famous Charmers Of Ages Find Way To Screen, September 18, 1927, Page 15.
- Los Angeles Times, She's In Pictures, All Right, November 1, 1927, Page A14.
- Los Angeles Times, Austin With New Team, May 26, 1928, Page 7.
- Syracuse Herald, Sennett Grads Hail Lorelei, March 25, 1928, Page 68.
