Born in Freeport, Pennsylvania, Don Taylor studied law, then speech and drama at Penn State University, where as a freshman he began taking part in college stage productions. Hitchhiking to Hollywood in 1942, the youthful Taylor screen-tested at Warner Brothers but was rejected because of his draft status. MGM, not as fussy, signed him to a contract and immediately put him to work, assigning him the minuscule role of a soldier in director Clarence Brown’s sentimental slice of Americana, The Human Comedy (1943). More minor roles followed before Taylor enlisted in the army, but even there he continued to act: Playwright/screenwriter Moss Hart chose him to play one of the leads in the Army-Air Force production of Hart’s play, “Winged Victory.” Returning to civilian life, Taylor resumed his work in pictures with a top role in the trend-setting crime drama The Naked City (1948). In later years Taylor became a film and TV director, being nominated for an Emmy for his direction of an episode of Night Gallery (1969). Taylor met his wife Hazel Court when he directed her in a 1958 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955).