Margaret Shelby

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Margaret Shelby
Margaret Shelby - Witzel.jpg
Shelby in 1918
Born
Alma Margaret Reilly

(1900-06-16)June 16, 1900
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
DiedDecember 21, 1939(1939-12-21) (aged 39)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Other namesAlma M. Fillmore
OccupationActress
Years active1912–1924
Spouse(s)
Hugh Fillmore
​
​
(m. 1925; div. 1927)​

Emmett J. Flynn
​
​
(m. 1937; annulled 1937)​
Parent(s)
RelativesMary Miles Minter (sister)

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.

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. The same year, the sisters established a widely publicized "hotel" for stray dogs on the ample grounds of their home in Santa Barbara, California.

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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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[]

  • Ella Margaret Gibson

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ http://www.assumption.edu/acad/ii/Academic/history/His130/twenties/Taylor/MargaretShelby1920.jpg[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Mary Miles Minter". Archived from the original on July 12, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2006.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Mrs. Margaret Fillmore". The New York Times. United Press. December 24, 1939. p. 14. ProQuest 103005423. Retrieved November 15, 2020.

Bibliography[]

External links[]

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