It is the evening of February 1, 1922.

Hollywood's most powerful director walks his famous guest to her limousine, blows a kiss goodbye, and steps back inside his bungalow.

Five minutes later, he is dead.

The murder of William Desmond Taylor shocked a nation and exposed the hidden side of Old Hollywood. A crime scene disturbed before investigators arrived. Evidence that disappeared from police custody. A district attorney with close ties to one of the leading suspects. A gun thrown into a Louisiana bayou. And forty-two years later, a dying woman's confession that may have solved the crime—or deepened the mystery.

In the debut episode of Hollywood Horrors, we investigate the unsolved 1922 murder of silent film director William Desmond Taylor—one of Hollywood's oldest and most infamous cold cases. From the double life he lived before fame, to the obsessed teenage actress, the controlling stage mother, the vanished valet, and the deathbed confession the world almost missed, this episode examines one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in Hollywood history.

Hollywood Horrors is a true crime podcast that explores the murders, scandals, and dark secrets that shaped the world's most glamorous industry. Each episode uncovers the stories behind Hollywood's most infamous crimes, mysteries, and cover-ups—from the silent film era to the present day.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show