Ida Estelle Taylor (May 20, 1894[note 1] – April 15, 1958) was an American actress who was the second of world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey's four wives.

She became famous and was commended by reviewers for her portrayals of historical women in important films: Miriam in The Ten Commandments (1923), Mary, Queen of Scots in Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1924), and Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926).

[8] Her mother, Ida LaBertha "Bertha" Barrett (1874–1965),[9][10] was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and later worked as a freelance makeup artist.

[7] In 1903, Ida LaBertha was granted a divorce from Harry on the ground of nonsupport; the following year, she married a cooper named Fred T.

[20] She attended high school[6] but dropped out because she refused to apologize after a troublesome classmate caused her to spill ink from her inkwell on the floor.

[21] She soon found work as an artists' model, posing for Howard Pyle, Harvey Dunn, Leslie Thrasher, and other painters and illustrators.

[19] Samoiloff gave Taylor singing lessons on a contingent basis and, within several months, recommended her to theatrical manager Henry Wilson Savage for a part in the musical Lady Billy.

[19] Taylor made her Broadway stage début in George V. Hobart's Come-On, Charlie,[23] which opened on April 8, 1919, at 48th Street Theatre in New York City.

[19] She was hired by the Vitagraph Company for a role with Corinne Griffith in The Tower of Jewels (1920), and also played William Farnum's leading lady in The Adventurer (1920) for the Fox Film Corporation.

Her next film for Fox, Blind Wives (1920),[26] was based on Edward Knoblock's play My Lady's Dress and reteamed her with director Brabin and co-star McDermott.

[26] When she arrived in Hollywood, she reported to Fox Studios and introduced herself to director Emmett J. Flynn, who gave her a copy of the script, but warned her that he already had another actress in mind for the role.

"[26] The New York Herald critic wrote, "Miss Taylor was as effective in the revenge section of the film as she was in the first or love part of the screened play.

"[28] She played a Russian princess in the film Bavu (1923),[26] a Universal Pictures production with Wallace Beery as the villain and Forrest Stanley as her leading man.

One of her most memorable roles is that of Miriam, the sister of Moses (portrayed by Theodore Roberts), in the biblical prologue of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1923), one of the most successful films of the silent era.

[26] Taylor's younger sister, Helen, was hired by Sid Grauman to play Miriam in the Egyptian Theatre's onstage prologue to the film.

"I've since wondered if my long illness did not, in some measure at least, make for realism in registering the suffering of the unhappy and tormented Scotch queen," she told a reporter in 1926.

[26] In 1925, she and her husband Jack Dempsey starred in an American silent drama film, a cowboy movie titled "Manhattan Madness" directed by John McDermott.

She played Lucrezia Borgia in Don Juan (1926), Warner Bros.' first feature-length film with synchronized Vitaphone sound effects and musical soundtrack.

Variety praised her characterization of Lucrezia: "The complete surprise is the performance of Estelle Taylor as Lucretia [sic] Borgia.

[6] Notable sound films in which she appeared include Street Scene (1931), with Sylvia Sidney; the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning Cimarron (1931), with Richard Dix and Irene Dunne; and Call Her Savage (1932), with Clara Bow.

Taylor returned to films in 1944 with a small part in the Jean Renoir drama The Southerner (released in 1945), playing what journalist Erskine Johnson described as "a bar fly with a roving eye.

In 1911 at age 17,[22] she married a bank cashier named Kenneth Malcolm Peacock, the son of a prominent Wilmington businessman.

"Whenever the subject of compulsory rabies inoculation or vivisection came up," wrote the United Press, "Miss Taylor was always in the fore to lead the battle against the measure.

[5] She was survived by her mother, Ida "Bertha" Barrett Boylan; her sister, Helen Taylor Clark; and a niece, Frances Iblings.