Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 1194-1197. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
In 1952, allegedly made a deathbed confession to his friend, Chester Morris, for the murder of Thelma Todd in 1935.
Was involved and living with actress Thelma Todd in Santa Monica at the time of her still-unsolved death in 1935. Neighbors heard them quarreling the night before she was found in her garage, overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning. Though a suspect, he was never arrested.