Kent Taylor

Intro

Kent Taylor was an American film and television actor whose career stretched from early sound-era studio pictures to television detectives, Westerns and independent genre films. His most recognizable continuing television role was Boston Blackie, the former criminal turned investigator. Taylor's screen image, often marked by a slim mustache and an assured manner, suited both romantic supporting parts and characters responsible for carrying an adventure or mystery. His long career crossed several changes in the kinds of productions available to a working leading man.

Career snapshot

Born Louis William Weiss in Nashua, Iowa, Taylor worked in his family's awning business before establishing himself in films. A Los Angeles Times retrospective describes an early interest in school plays and playing saxophone in a small dance band. After moving to California, he worked as an extra and attracted Paramount's interest through a screen test. These beginnings placed him within the studio system of the early 1930s, where smaller assignments could lead to more visible supporting roles across a succession of releases.

The entry point

In Mitchell Leisen's Death Takes a Holiday, released in 1934, Taylor played Corrado opposite an ensemble headed by Fredric March and Evelyn Venable. Corrado's hopes of marrying Grazia form part of the human world disrupted when Death takes mortal form as a visiting prince. The film gave Taylor a place in a romantic fantasy whose central conflict depended on the attraction of ordinary life. Another substantial studio credit was Doc Holliday opposite Richard Dix's Wyatt Earp in the 1942 Western Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die, directed by William McGann.

Screen identity and style

Television made Taylor the title performer in Boston Blackie from 1951 to 1953. The character already had a history in print, cinema and radio; this was a new screen incarnation rather than a continuation with the same actors. Lois Collier played Mary Wesley and Frank Orth played Inspector Farraday alongside him. The fifty-eight-episode television series gave Taylor a recurring identity in audiences' homes and continued circulating in reruns. Its detective framework relied on the tension between Blackie's suspicious past and his work solving present-day crimes.

Collaborations and patterns

The Rough Riders brought him another television lead during the 1958-1959 season. He played Captain Jim Flagg with Jan Merlin as Lieutenant Colin Kirby and Peter Whitney as Sergeant Buck Sinclair. The Western follows former soldiers from opposing sides of the Civil War as they travel together after the conflict. That three-person arrangement placed Taylor within a continuing partnership rather than giving him the solitary title identity of Boston Blackie. His wider television credits also included guest appearances in Westerns and crime programs such as Zorro, Tales of Wells Fargo and Peter Gunn.

Era reflection

Taylor's later film work included science fiction and low-budget suspense. In The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues he played the scientist Ted Stevens, also known as Ted Baxter, with Cathy Downs as Lois King. The film was distributed on a double bill with Day the World Ended, connecting it to the developing market for independently made genre attractions. In The Day Mars Invaded Earth, released in 1963 and directed by Maury Dexter, he played Dr. David Fielding opposite Marie Windsor. These roles put a familiar screen presence into speculative stories far removed from his earlier romantic studio assignments.

Legacy and rediscovery

Taylor died in 1987. His work in two media is represented by separate motion-picture and television stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The gallery follows that range through a circa-1940 studio portrait, a 1951 Bigelow Theatre publicity photograph with Marjorie Reynolds, and a scene with Cathy Downs from The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues. The latter image is dated 1955 by its archive; the AFI catalog records the film's release in January 1956. The photographs preserve distinct productions and settings rather than presenting multiple crops of a single portrait as a career gallery.

Selected screen roles

• Death Takes a Holiday: Corrado — 1934
• Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die: Doc Holliday — 1942
• Boston Blackie: Boston Blackie — 1951-1953
• The Rough Riders: Captain Jim Flagg — 1958-1959
• The Day Mars Invaded Earth: Dr. David Fielding — 1963

A career in pictures

A studio portrait and distinct television and science-fiction images, preserving dates, collaborators and archive rights records.

Studio publicity portrait (1940)

Portrait

Paramount publicity portrait, circa 1940; exact date not established.

The Bigelow Theatre (1951)

A Case of Marriage

Taylor at left with Marjorie Reynolds; publicity photograph dated October 12, 1951.

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955)

Ted Stevens

Taylor at right with Cathy Downs. Archive dates the image to 1955; AFI lists the film release in January 1956.

Rewatch notes

• Played television Boston Blackie in 58 episodes.
• Starred with Jan Merlin and Peter Whitney in The Rough Riders.
• Has Hollywood Walk of Fame stars for film and television.