Philip Yale Drew's career as an actor was overshadowed by his part in a
famous murder case. While on tour with his company in Reading, England,
a local tobacconist was murdered in his shop: witnesses claimed a man
seen near the shop at the time of death was Drew. The coroner's enquiry
ended up being a virtual trial of the actor, even though no formal
charge of murder had been made against him. The jury eventually issued
a verdict of "Murder by person or persons unknown", which effectively
meant that Drew was a free man. By this time, the people of Reading
were very much on his side, and gave him a rapturous reception on
hearing the news. The events of the inquest came under a great deal of
criticism, and the Coroner's Act was amended as a result, the feeling
being that it was not the aim of the coroner to ascertain the guilt or
otherwise of a suspect, but simply to find the cause of death. Drew
himself started a downhill slide into obscurity after the above events,
unable to cash in on the fame that the murder had brought him.
