Margaret Shelby
Alma Margaret Reilly (June 16, 1900 – December 21, 1939), known professionally as Margaret Shelby, was an American stage and motion picture actress, daughter of actress Charlotte Shelby, older sister of silent film star Mary Miles Minter, and one of many public figures noted in the scandals which followed the murder of William Desmond Taylor in 1922.
Margaret Shelby | |
|---|---|
 Shelby in 1918 | |
| Born | Alma Margaret Reilly June 16, 1900 San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | December 21, 1939 (aged 39) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) |
| Other names | Alma M. Fillmore |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1912–1924 |
| Spouses | Hugh Fillmore
(m. 1925; div. 1927)Emmett J. Flynn
(m. 1937; annulled 1937) |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | Mary Miles Minter (sister) |
Film career
Born Alma Margaret Reilly[1] (and later also known as Alma M. Fillmore), Shelby was a child actress. Her first Broadway appearance was in Grace Livingston Furniss's play, The Fibber. In 1916 Margaret and Mary, both in their teens, acted together on film in director James Kirkwood's picture Faith.
Although she was seen as pretty[2] and noted for having some talent as an actress, her film career was limited to supporting roles in some of her sister's films. By 1916, both sisters were quite famous and established a widely-publicized "hotel" for stray dogs on the ample grounds of their Santa Barbara, California home.
Her sister left the film industry in 1924, and Margaret took small bit parts in sundry productions.[3]
Personal life
She was briefly married to Hugh Fillmore, but they divorced in 1927.[4] With the coming of sound films in the late 1920s, her career ended. By the late 1930s, Shelby was suffering from both alcoholism and clinical depression. In March 1937, she eloped to Yuma, Arizona with Emmett J. Flynn, but this marriage was annulled two months later.[4]
On June 5, 1937 Shelby filed a lawsuit against her mother alleging financial mismanagement, claiming Charlotte had stolen $48,750 (roughly almost $2 million in 2007 inflation-adjusted terms) from a safety deposit box in a Los Angeles, California bank. A jury awarded her $20,000.[3] On September 13, 1938, she publicly accused her mother of having killed William Desmond Taylor in 1922. Shelby's sister had an unrequited infatuation with Taylor, beginning in 1919.
Death
Margaret Shelby died following a long illness in 1939, aged 39.[4]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | Billie | Billie | |
| 1916 | Faith | Laura | aka The Virtuous Outcast |
| 1917 | Peggy Leads the Way | Maude Greenwood | |
| Her Country's Call | Marie Tremaine | ||
| Environment | Mildred Holcombe | ||
| 1918 | Wives and Other Wives | Mrs. Craig | |
| Rosemary Climbs the Heights | Wanda Held | ||
| 1919 | A Bachelor's Wife | Genevieve Harbison | |
| The Intrusion of Isabel | Lois Randall | ||
| The Amazing Impostor | Countess of Crex | ||
| 1920 | Jenny Be Good | Jolanda Van Mater | |
| 1928 | Clothes Make the Woman |
See also
References
Notes
- Wilson, Scott (August 19, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 519. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
- http://www.assumption.edu/acad/ii/Academic/history/His130/twenties/Taylor/MargaretShelby1920.jpg%5B%5D
- "Mary Miles Minter". Archived from the original on July 12, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2006.
- "Mrs. Margaret Fillmore". The New York Times. United Press. December 24, 1939. p. 14. ProQuest 103005423. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
Bibliography
- Janesville, Wisconsin Daily Gazette, News Notes From Movieland, October 23, 1916, Page 6.
- Los Angeles Times, Film Slaying Witness Dies, December 23, 1939, Page 1.
