Libby Taylor
{{Infobox person
| name = Libby Taylor
| birth_name = Elizabeth A. Taylor
| birth_date = April 20, 1902
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, USA
| death_date = August 23, 1961 (aged 59)
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, USA
}}
Libby Taylor (April 20, 1902 - August 23, 1961) was an African American character actress of the stage and screen who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1950s.{{Cite web|date=28 Jul 1933|title=Mae West's Maid in the Movies|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/567565958/?terms=%22libby%20taylor%22&match=1|access-date=2021-03-28|website=The Spokesman-Review|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=McCann|first=Bob|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7ZYsnTPIhwC&q=%22libby+taylor%22+black+actress&pg=PA320|title=Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television|date=2009-12-21|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5804-2|language=en}}
Biography
In 1933, while working as a struggling actress in Harlem, she accepted Mae West's offer to become West's personal maid.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ycoDAAAAMBAJ&q=%22libby+taylor%22+black+actress&pg=PA40|title=Jet|date=1974-07-25|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|language=en}} West in turn helped Taylor get roles in Hollywood films. This arrangement lasted for several years.{{Cite web|date=28 Jul 1933|title=Trio of Actresses Pour a Balm on Hollywood|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/416451769/?terms=%22libby%20taylor%22&match=1|access-date=2021-03-28|website=The New York Daily News|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=12 Oct 1934|title=Heard and Seen on the Scene|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/600278636/?terms=%22libby%20taylor%22&match=1|access-date=2021-03-28|website=The Shreveport Journal|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Parsons|first=Louella|date=23 Sep 1937|title=News and Gossip of Hollywood|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/681346523/?terms=%22libby%20taylor%22&match=1|access-date=2021-03-28|website=The Lexington Herald|language=en}} When Taylor had a stroke in 1955, she told reporters that contrary to the headlines, West had not been helping her financially.{{Cite web|date=20 Oct 1955|title=Shhh! He's On the Beat|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/693561909/?terms=%22libby%20taylor%22%20maid&match=1|access-date=2021-03-28|website=California Eagle|language=en}}
Selected filmography
- Bright Road (1953)
- Two Tickets to Broadway (1951)
- Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951)
- You're My Everything (1949)
- Another Part of the Forest (1948)
- The Foxes of Harrow (1947)
- The Perfect Marriage (1946)
- Cinderella Jones (1946)
- My Gal Sal (1942)
- Flight from Destiny (1941)
- Blonde Inspiration (1941)
- Santa Fe Trail (1941)
- The Howards of Virginia (1940)
- The Great McGinty (1940)
- Babes in Arms (1939)
- Secrets of an Actress (1938)
- Smashing the Rackets (1938)
- Woman Against Woman (1938)
- The Buccaneer (1938)
- The Good Old Soak (1937)
- Three Smart Girls (1936)
- Libeled Lady (1936)
- Lucky Corrigan (1936)
- Stage Struck (1936)
- Diamond Jim (1935)
- Every Night at Eight (1935)
- Shanghai (1935)
- Black Sheep (1935)
- Star of Midnight (1935)
- Transient Lady (1935)
- Sweet Music (1935)
- Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
- Society Doctor (1935)
- I'm No Angel (1933)
- Ann Carver's Profession (1933)
- The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
References
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Category:Actresses from Chicago
Category:20th-century American women
Category:20th-century American actresses
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