Instead of tracking down suspects, Taylor now owns Cape House Collectibles in Beavercreek with his wife Kathy. He also dabbles in the film industry as an extra.
Taylor has appeared in about a dozen films since retiring in 2014.
His knit, maroon hat has appeared in about five films, including "Shoes" from Jamestown- based filmmaker Ramsey Stoneburner and Emilio Estevez's "The Public," which is set to open Jan. 31 at the 33rd annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
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“I was on the set for 14 days, which is a long time for an extra,” Taylor said of Estevez’s film. “We did things in that movie that I never thought I’d do at 60 years old.”
He didn’t elaborate to prevent spoilers.
The son of Dayton native Martin Sheen, Estevez filmed "The Public" in Cincinnati.
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The film is set in Cincinnati and stars Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Taylor Schilling, Michael Kenneth Williams and Che "Rhymefest" Smith.
The movie centers around a police standoff with homeless library patrons who have staged a sit-in during a life-threatening cold snap.
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“I am one of the homeless guys. The movie is about us,” Taylor said about his role in “The Public. “There is no place to go and they are throwing us out of the library.”
The Fairborn area resident, one of a several local actors picked as extras in the movie, said he loved hearing stories from Williams, who joined the extras as they ate. He also said he enjoyed working with Estevez, who called him “Doc” during filming.
“He is just like a neighborhood guy. There was not a bit of pompousness in him,” Taylor said of Estevez.
Taylor said he enjoys the small, but important part he has played in “The Public” and other movies.
Most of the time extras are like furniture. We are the background crowd or a guy eating a hamburger,” he said. “The guys appreciate us because they wouldn’t have a movie without us. It would just be actors talking to each other.”
Taylor has long been interested in acting.
Before joining the Huber Heights police department at age 20, he was an extra in the “Blue Brothers” when he was 19.
His son and namesake is now studying theater.
An undercover detective for part of his career, Taylor said law enforcement was not always an easy job.
He recalled the day he was shot at 23 times by a suspect.
Taylor said he helped following the Oklahoma City bombing and a list of hurricanes that include Katrina and Irma.
On the set of the upcoming John Travolta film "Gotti," a biopic about crime boss John Gotti, Taylor said he met John Gotti Jr. and actors playing people he helped transport during his time as a U.S. Marshal.
After ending a law enforcement career started in 1990, Taylor said he decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing things he enjoyed.
“I’ve seen so much ick in my life. I just decided I didn’t want to see that anymore,” he said.
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Taylor played a moonshiner in James Franco's yet-to-be released "The Long Home" and a chef in a scene shot in this region for the Robert Redford movie "The Old Man and the Gun" with Redford, Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacey.
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Taylor said tons of opportunities have opened up for Dayton actors since Ohio started offering the Motion Picture Tax Credit in recent years.
Everyday people are seizing the opportunity to appear in movies as supporting actors and work behind the camera, he said.
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“There are some super talented people,” he said. “They go work a movie and then they go back to their beauty salon and do hair.”
As for himself, Taylor said the maroon hat helps.
“My buddies give me crap about it. They say the hat needs an agent,” Taylor said. “You have to stand out and you have to be fearless, too.”
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