Mary Miles Minter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mary Miles Minter
Minter in 1923
Born	Juliet Reilly (1902-04-25)April 25, 1902 Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	August 4, 1984(1984-08-04) (aged 82) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other names	Juliet Shelby
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1907–1923
Spouse(s)	Brandon O. Hildebrandt ​ ​ (m. 1957; his death 1965)​
Parent(s)	Charlotte Shelby (mother)
Relatives	Margaret Shelby (sister)

Mary Miles Minter (born Juliet Reilly; April 25, 1902– August 4, 1984) was an American actress. She appeared in 53 silent films from 1912 to 1923.

In 1922, Minter was involved in a scandal surrounding the murder of director William Desmond Taylor, for whom she professed her love. Although gossip implicated her mother, former actress Charlotte Shelby, as the murderer, Minter's reputation was tarnished, and she gave up her film career in 1923.

Early life

Minter was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the younger of two daughters born to J. Homer Reilly (1877–1958) and Lily Pearl Miles (later known as Broadway actress Charlotte Shelby; 1877–1957). Her sister was Margaret Reilly, who later became an actress using the name Margaret Shelby.

Career

Stage and film career

Minter, c. 1918

At the age of five, she accompanied her sister Margaret on an audition because no babysitter was available. She was noticed by the director and given her first part. She began her stage career and frequently was employed afterward, widely noted for both her talent and visual appeal. To avoid child labor laws while the 10-year-old was appearing in a play in Chicago in 1912, Charlotte Shelby obtained the birth certification of her older sister's deceased daughter from Louisiana, and Juliet became Mary Miles Minter.

In her screen debut, in which she was billed as Juliet Shelby, she appeared in the 1-reel short film The Nurse (1912). Her new stage name was applied, and Minter starred in the role as Viola Drayton, the fairy, in the 5-reel drama The Fairy and the Waif (1915).

Minter's career steadily grew after that. She specialized in playing demure young women. With her photogenic features, blue eyes, and blonde curls, she emulated and later rivaled Mary Pickford.

Her first movie for director William Desmond Taylor was Anne of Green Gables (1919). It was well-received, and Taylor actively promoted Minter. According to Minter, a romantic relationship developed between them. However, Minter (who had grown up fatherless) said Taylor had reservations from the outset and later curtailed the romance, citing their 30-year age difference. Other people who knew Taylor and Minter said he never reciprocated her feelings.

Later career and retirement

Minter made four more motion pictures for Paramount, with her last being The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1923). When the studio did not renew her contract, she received many other offers but declined them all, saying she had never been happy as an actress.

Personal life

Miles Minter by Witzel, circa 1917

Minter was involved with James Kirkwood Sr. for a time in 1916 when she was 15 years old. Minter and Kirkwood "married" without benefit of clergy in the countryside near Santa Barbara. .....

In late 1922, several months after Taylor's death, Minter became involved romantically for a time with then-news correspondent of Los Angeles and movie critic Louis Sherwin, who had at one time been married to actress Maude Fealy.

In 1925, Minter sued her mother for an accounting of the money Shelby had received for her during her screen career. The case was settled out of court, with the settlement being signed by Minter and Shelby at the American consulate in Paris, France, on January 24, 1927.

In 1934, a hearing took place in Los Angeles, in which Hilda Desey, the proprietor of a dress shop on Wilshire Blvd., claimed that Minter entered her shop and took a tweed dress valued at $55.00 by force. Minter countered in court by stating that she had helped finance Miss Desey's dress shop and that she took the dress as she was owed interest. The deputy district attorney declined to issue a complaint for either petty theft or malicious mischief, as it was decided that there was no evidence of malicious intent on the part of Minter.

In 1957, Minter and real estate developer Brandon O. Hildebrandt (1898–1965) were married. They remained married until Hildebrandt's death in 1965.

Later years

Minter commented she was content to live without her Hollywood career. She later reconciled with her mother and proclaimed her love for Taylor throughout her life. Minter's money had been invested in Los Angeles real estate, and she seems to have lived in relative comfort and prosperity. She later moved to a house in Santa Monica, California; her mother Charlotte Shelby died there in 1957.

In 1981, Minter was severely beaten in a burglary at her home in which more than $300,000 worth of antiques, china and jewelry were taken. A former live-in companion and three other people were charged with attempted murder and burglary. The police described her as a frail old woman, and people often were shocked to learn she had been a famous movie star.

Minter died in 1984 at age 82 from a stroke in Santa Monica. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered at sea. For her contribution to movies, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street in Hollywood.

Legacy

Much of Minter's work has been lost; of her 53 films, approximately a dozen are known to exist today. A print of her 1919 movie The Ghost of Rosy Taylor surfaced in New Zealand in the 1990s. Other known surviving movies include The Fairy and the Waif (1915), Youth's Endearing Charm (1916), A Dream or Two Ago (1916), The Innocence of Lizette (1916), The Eyes of Julia Deep (1918), Nurse Marjorie (1920), A Cumberland Romance (1920) and The Little Clown (1921).

Filmography

The Amazing Impostor (1919)

See also

In Spanish: Mary Miles Minter para niños