Mary Miles Minter (born Juliet Reilly; April 25, 1902[1][2]– August 4, 1984) was an American actress, and one of the leading ladies who established the early Hollywood star system.

In 1922, Minter was involved in a scandal surrounding the murder of director William Desmond Taylor, for whom she professed her love.

One of her directors, Edward Sloman, said of her, ‘Without doubt, she was the best looking youngster I ever saw, and the lousiest actress.’”—Film historian Paul O’Dell in Griffith and Rise of Hollywood (1970)[7] At the age of five, she accompanied her sister Margaret on an audition because no babysitter was available.

She began her stage career and frequently was employed afterward, widely noted for both her talent and visual appeal.

[8] To avoid child labor laws while the 10-year-old was appearing in a play in Chicago in 1912, Charlotte Shelby obtained the birth certification of her older sister's deceased daughter from Louisiana, and Juliet became Mary Miles Minter.

[citation needed] In her screen debut, in which she was billed as Juliet Shelby, she appeared in the 1-reel short film The Nurse (1912).

[10] A reviewer in the New York Dramatic Mirror declared: “Mary Miles Minter is the greatest child actress to be seen either on stage or before the camera.

[14] However, Minter (who had grown up fatherless) said Taylor had reservations from the outset and later curtailed the romance, citing their 30-year age difference.

In 1937, Minter publicly announced to the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper: "Now I demand that I either be prosecuted for the murder committed fifteen years ago, or exonerated completely.

[24] The case was settled out of court, with the settlement being signed by Minter and Shelby at the American consulate in Paris, France, on January 24, 1927.

Minter's money had been invested in Los Angeles real estate, and she seems to have lived in relative comfort and prosperity.

Other known surviving movies include The Fairy and the Waif (1915), Youth's Endearing Charm (1916), A Dream or Two Ago (1916), The Innocence of Lizette (1916), The Eyes of Julia Deep (1918), Nurse Marjorie (1920), A Cumberland Romance (1920) and The Little Clown (1921).

The saccharine vehicles in which she was generally presented were all too seldom afforded opportunities for acting...[32]Wagenknecht adds: “Miss Minter was well aware of this, young as she was, and deeply distressed by it.”[33]