Delores Judith Taylor (September 27, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American film actor, screenwriter, and producer, known for her roles in the ''

Billy Jack ''Billy Jack'' is a 1971 American action drama independent film, the second of four films centering on a character of the same name which began with the movie '' The Born Losers'' (1967), played by Tom Laughlin, who directed and co-wrote the ...

'' films of the 1970s.

Life and career

Taylor was born in 1932 in

Winner, South Dakota Winner is a city in central Tripp County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,921 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Tripp County. Winner also serves as the administrative center of neighboring Todd County, which does no ...

, and grew up near the

Rosebud Indian Reservation The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Rosebud Sioux Tribe, who are Sicangu, a band of Lakota people. The Lakota name ''Sicangu Oyate'' translates as th ...

. Her father, Harry Taylor, was a postmaster, who ran a post office that was frequented by Native Americans. Her mother, Ann Nelson, was a homemaker. She met actor

Tom Laughlin Thomas Robert Laughlin Jr. (August 10, 1931 – December 12, 2013) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator, and activist. Laughlin was best known for co-producing and starring in the four '' Billy Jack'' films, ...

while a student at the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is t ...

in 1953, and married him while she was a graphic artist on October 15, 1954. They borrowed a car and moved to Los Angeles in 1955. They had three children: Frank, Teresa, and Christina. Her daughter Teresa is a fashion designer. Together the couple developed the character of "Billy Jack", who first appeared in the 1967 film ''

The Born Losers ''The Born Losers'' is a 1967 American outlaw biker film.Gary A. Smith, ''The American International Pictures Video Guide'', McFarland 2009 p 32 The film introduced Tom Laughlin as the half- Indigenous American Green Beret Vietnam veteran B ...

''. They followed that with ''

'' in 1971, then '' The Trial of Billy Jack'' in 1974, and ''

Billy Jack Goes to Washington ''Billy Jack Goes to Washington'' is a 1977 American political drama film starring Tom Laughlin, the fourth film in the '' Billy Jack'' series, and although the earlier films saw enormous success, this film did not. The film only had limited ...

'' in 1976. Taylor and Laughlin played the starring roles in the latter three films. Taylor co-produced both ''The Born Losers'' and the 1975 film ''

The Master Gunfighter ''The Master Gunfighter'' is a Western film released in 1975 in Panavision, written and produced by Tom Laughlin, who also played the lead as Finley. ''The Master Gunfighter'' is mainly a remake of the 1969 Japanese film '' Goyokin'', although th ...

''. She was nominated for a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

for New Star of the Year – Actress in 1972.

Death

Taylor died on March 23, 2018, of natural causes at the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an observ ...

in Los Angeles, California, aged 85.

Filmography

References

External links

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Delores Taylor
Aveleyman) 1932 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses People from Tripp County, South Dakota Actresses from South Dakota University of South Dakota alumni Deaths from dementia in California 21st-century American women {{US-film-actor-1930s-stub