Laurette Taylor

Laurette Taylor
Laurette Taylor in 1914
Born	Loretta Helen Cooney (1883-04-01)April 1, 1883 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	December 7, 1946(1946-12-07) (aged 63) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1912-1946
Spouse(s)	Charles A. Taylor (May 1, 1901-1910; divorced); 2 children J. Hartley Manners (1912-1928; his death)
Children	Dwight Oliver Taylor and Marguerite Courtney

Laurette Taylor (April 1, 1883 – December 7, 1946), born as Loretta Helen Cooney, was an American stage and silent film star.

Taylor was born in New York City on April 1, 1883, of Irish extraction to James and Elizabeth (née Dorsey) Cooney as Loretta Helen Cooney. She had a younger sister, Elizabeth. She married her first husband, Charles A. Taylor (born January 20, 1864, South Hadley, Massachusetts – died March 21, 1942, Glendale, California), on May 1, 1901, aged 18. They had two children, Dwight Oliver Taylor (January 1, 1903 – December 31, 1986) and Marguerite Courtney (August 13, 1904 – February 8, 1995), but divorced circa 1910. On December 22, 1912, she married British-born playwright J. Hartley Manners, who wrote the play Peg o' My Heart, a successful play and an enduring personal triumph for Taylor, who toured in it extensively throughout the country. 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. The marriage was successful and Taylor remained married to Manners until his death in 1928. By dint of then-immigration law, Taylor lost her U.S. citizenship by marrying a foreign national. A widow, Taylor reclaimed by naturalization, on September 11, 1930, her United States citizenship (cert #3234876). Her petition notes her "not having acquired any other nationality by affirmative act".

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 Valentine, 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 survive on celluloid.