Carl Stockdale

Carl Stockdale

Carl Stockdale’s movie career ran from 1913 to 1943. Most of the time he played minor roles specialising in heavies and villains. He was a close friend of the Shelby family and acted with Margaret Shelby and her sister Mary Miles Minter on occasions. He played a crucial role in the William Desmond Taylor case – offering Charlotte Shelby an alibi. However, was that alibi sound?

On June 10, 1937 Carl Stockdale told reporters of the Daily News, California that he was with Charlotte Shelby from 7 pm until 9 pm at her home on February 1, 1922, when William Desmond Taylor was murdered. I’m not surprised that he remembered where he was that evening, but I find it interesting that after fifteen years he could remember the exact times. He must have had a terrific memory.

Stockdale’s movie career began with Broncho Billy’s Last Deed in 1913, and ran until 1943. He was consistently employed, appearing in over 100 films. In the 1920s and 1930s he averaged three films a year.

A page from Stockdale’s World War One Draft Registration. He was of medium build, medium height, blue eyes, brown hair.

Kinematography Weekly, May 1918. Do actors play versions of themselves?

In 1940, Carl Stockdale was living with his brother. He worked 26 weeks of the year. His incoming of $2,300 was double that of his neighbours, many of whom worked in motion pictures.

Stockdale made one film in 1940, The Captain is a Lady. He’s not listed among the cast, so presumably had a bit part. His income was the equivalent of $50,000 today. He appears to have earned this income through “private work”.

In his book, A Cast of Killers, Sidney D. Kirkpatrick citing King Vidor’s research claimed that Stockdale received regular payments from Charlotte Shelby. For what reason? For providing her alibi?

Oakland Tribune, June 1937. Was Mary Miles Minter with Carl Stockdale the night Taylor was murdered?

Oakland Tribune, June 1937. Charlotte Shelby potentially in deep trouble. Carl Stockdale stepped forward voluntarily to offer her an alibi. I’m surprised this alibi wasn’t mentioned sometime in the previous fifteen years. As soon as the innuendos started, why didn’t Charlotte Shelby say “I was with Carl?”

Did Carl Stockdale murder William Desmond Taylor at the behest of Charlotte Shelby or her daughter Mary Miles Minter? Possibly. Was he with Charlotte Shelby, as he stated, on the evening Taylor was murdered? That, I doubt. I reckon there is enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that Stockdale was a central figure in the murder.