Actress. She will be best remembered for her lead role as 'Inez Valenti' in the dramatic film, "Behind Closed Doors" (1916). The film which was directed by Joseph A. Golden and written by Eve Unsell, and also starred Marian Swayne, William Huntington, and Regan Hughston, tells the story of Inez Valenti who is the niece of Grant Thorne, who runs a gambling house. She acts as a lure for her uncle's den. Barry King becomes infatuated with her, and this gives her a violent aversion to the life she has been living "behind closed doors." Elsa Montford, daughter of the Judge, is saddened by King's attention to Inez. Thorne also becomes jealous of King. They fight in the gambling house; Thorne is shot, and King throwing the pistol away, runs but is caught. Elsa has seen the affair and tells her father who takes her to the police station, where she identifies Barry among the other prisoners. Inez is in despair when she learns that there was a witness to the affair whom the State has in charge, and refuses to leave the city while he is in danger. She sends for Elsa and tries to bribe her to keep silent, but on refusal offers her a glass of wine which has been drugged, but Elsa breaks the glass and escapes. Inez tries to get Barry to jump his bail, but Elsa pleads with him to stay and fight it out. He agrees and writes to Inez telling her he loves Elsa. Inez, in despair, writes out a full confession of her life and declares that she and not Barry killed Thorne, Barry having kept silent as to having taken the pistol from her in order to avoid incriminating her. Elsa reads the confession. When she has finished she phones the district attorney and together they go to Inez's room where they find her a suicide. She was born in Birmingham, England, as Mary Ann Louisa Taylor on March 26, 1884. Her father was a contractor who died in 1901. She married dentist William Horton from 1902, but the couple had no children. The couple separated four years later in 1906 but were not divorced legally until 1918. The reason for the separation was so that she could pursue an acting career. She began her career in vaudeville and variety shows and became a star. She later was considered the best male impersonator in England. She also appeared in New York City in the Broadway stage production of the play, "The Little Cafe" (1913). A star of the silent film era, she then began making films in the United States and in England for the Shubert Film Company, Famous Players Film Company, Art Film Company, Metro Pictures Corporation, and Equitable Motion Pictures Corporation. She made her actual film debut in the role of 'Mildred Bennett' in "Old Dutch" (1915). The comedy film which was directed and written by Frank Hall Crane and also starred Vivian Martin, Lew Fields, and George Hassell tells the story of Ludwig Streusand and his daughter, Violet, who is living in New York. Ludwig is known as "Old Dutch," and after years of hard study and labor, he completes his invention of what he calls the teloptophone, a device which, when attached to the telephone, enables the speaker to see the party at the other end of the wire. He goes to John Rockmorgan with his invention and after proving its worth, Rockmorgan agrees to finance his invention and gives him a check for $5,000 on account. "Old Dutch" and his daughter have had rather a hard time of it. Now that his invention is a success, he feels that the best thing to do is to go away to Palm Beach, Florida, with her for a vacation. To escape the publicity arising through the invention of the teloptophone, he also thinks it wise to assume another name so as to avoid being questioned and annoyed about his invention. He arrives at a Palm Beach, Florida, hotel and registers under the name of John Mueller and daughter, and settles down to a period of rest and comfort. Harold, John Rockmorgan's son, has also gone to the hotel, and when he sees Violet, love awakens in his heart. They meet and she is happy in her first love affair. In the meantime, we see the vaudeville team of Bings and Bings discharged from the theater in which they are playing on account of their act being so bad. They are in desperate straits and the idea comes to the male member of the team to go to a fashionable hotel in Florida and by hook and crook get some of the money of the millionaires. "Old Dutch" has become a great favorite with the children of the hotel, and on the day that Bings and Bings arrive there while playing with the children, he loses his pocketbook. It is the good luck of Mr. Bings to be the first to see the pocketbook and before registering he goes through the contents and sees the check made out to Ludwig Streusand for $5,000. When he finds there is no such man stopping there, he boldly signs the name of Ludwig Streusand and daughter. When Joubert, the hotel proprietor, learns that such an illustrious person is stopping with him, he immediately begins to give receptions and balls in his honor. "Old Dutch" is so wrapped up in having a good time that he is unaware a man is masquerading under his name, so when his week's bill is presented he is unable to pay it, as his check for $5,000 and all means of identification have gone with the pocketbook. Joubert is furious that "Old Dutch" cannot pay his bill and tells him that he and his daughter must either go to jail or work off their board bill, "Old Dutch" protests and says that his name is Streusand and John Rockmorgan is his partner. Joubert laughs at him and points at whom he thinks is the real Streusand. Harold tells the proprietor he feels sure that "Old Dutch" is speaking the truth. When Joubert asks him how long he has known him and in what way he can identify them, he is left without an answer. So they are put to work, "Old Dutch" in the stable and Violet in the kitchen. Meanwhile, the vaudeville team of Bings and Bings are having the time of their lives. The female end of the sketch is doing her best to win Harold Rockmorgan, who still believes and loves Violet. After having been forced to perform various duties around the hotel, on the night of a banquet given in honor of the false Streusand, Joubert forces "Old Dutch" to be a head waiter. In the meantime "Old Dutch" has induced Harold to phone his father to come down and identify his partner. At first, he refuses, but Harold gets the teloptophone from "Old Dutch" and tells his father that he plainly sees the stenographer seated on his lap, and unless he does come at once he will tell mother. That settles the old man. During the banquet, Bings is called upon for a speech, and as he is telling his eager listeners what a wonderful man he is, Rockmorgan arrives downstairs in the hotel. The clerk hastens to tell Joubert. "Old Dutch" overhears the good news, and knows that his time has come. He tears down to the office, followed by Bings and the surprised guests. He runs up to Rockmorgan who quickly explains that "Old Dutch" is the real Streusand and the other is a fakir. Bing and Bings' day is over. Harold and Violet are free to get married, and "Old Dutch" takes up his pleasure again. A black curly-haired beauty she signed a contract with the Balboa Amusement Producing Company (or Knickerbocker Star Features), in Long Beach, California, and began appearing in more films during the 1910s usually playing "vamp" roles. Besides, "Old Dutch" (1915), and "Behind Closed Doors" (1916), her many other film credits include, "When We Were Twenty-One" (1915), "The Stubbornness Of Geraldine" (1915), "The Woman Pays" (1915), "Sibyl's Scenario" (1916), "Lesson From Life" (1916), "Love's Cross Roads" (1916), "The Chorus Girl And The Kid" (1916), "The Woman Redeemed" (1916), "The Girl Who Doesn't Know" (1916), and her last film, "The Guilty Woman" (1919). While working in New York City she fell in love with a handsome musician but he later ended the relationship. She became distraught over the breakup of the relationship and she sadly turned to using drugs and tried to take her own life. The actress who once claimed she was a grand-niece of the famous actor Edmund Kean had become known for her "grand passions," "suspected drug use," and "unexplained scars." After the outbreak of the First World War, she volunteered with the British Red Cross and boarded a Cunard cruise liner the S.S. Orduña in Liverpool, England, on October 16, 1919, where she was assigned to Cabin 480. Apparently while onboard she had been in good spirits and had been friendly with the other passengers. The ship arrived in New York City on October 27, 1919, but the actress could be not be found anywhere. Her bed had not been slept in and the last night she had been seen was the night previously when a stewardess had given her a glass of water and served her dinner. She had been wearing a veil and had been dressed in all black clothing. The police investigation concluded that the actress had either fallen overboard or had committed suicide by jumping overboard. It was also speculated by reporters that she could have been murdered or that her death was a hoax or a publicity stunt. Her body was never found and she was legally declared dead in 1921. Her date of death has also been listed as October 25, 1919, or October 26, 1919, and she was about 35 years old. Her will was proven and announced in November of 1921. Her body still has not been found and her fate is still unknown to this day.