THELMA TODD ,AMERICAN ACTRESS SUSTAINED SUSPICIOUS DEATH 1935 DECEMBER

THELMA TODD ,AMERICAN ACTRESS  SUSTAINED SUSPICIOUS DEATH 1935 DECEMBER 

Thelma Alice Todd[1] (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935)[2] was an American actress. Appearing in about 120 pictures between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles in films such as Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, a number of Charley Chase's short comedies, and co-starring with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily. She also had roles in Wheeler and Woolsey farces, several Laurel and Hardy films, the last of which (The Bohemian Girl) featured her in a part that was truncated by her suspicious death at the age of 29.
Early life[edit source]
Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts[2] to John Shaw Todd, an upholsterer from Ireland,[3] and Alice Elizabeth Edwards, an immigrant from Canada[4] and was a bright student who achieved good academic results. She intended to become a school teacher and enrolled at the Lowell Normal School (now University of Massachusetts, Lowell) after graduating from high school in 1923.[5] However, in her late teens, she began entering beauty pageants, winning the title of Miss Massachusetts in 1925.[5] While representing her home state, she was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout and began her career in film at Paramount. She had an older brother, William.[6]

Career[edit source]

Todd as Alison Corning in Corsair (1931)
During the silent film era, Todd appeared in numerous supporting roles that made full use of her beauty but gave her little chance to act. With the advent of the talkies, Todd was given opportunity to expand her roles when producer Hal Roach signed her to appear with such comedy stars as Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy.

In 1931, Roach cast Todd in her own series of slapstick comedy shorts, running 17 to 27 minutes each. In an attempt to create a female version of Laurel and Hardy, Roach teamed Todd with ZaSu Pitts (pronounced "Zay-soo," also her character's name) for 17 shorts, from "Let's do Things" (June 1931) through "One Track Minds" (May 1933). When Pitts left in 1933, she was replaced by Patsy Kelly, appearing with Todd in 21 shorts, from "Beauty and the Bus" (September 1933) through "An All American Toothache" (January 1936). These Roach shorts often cast Todd as a working girl having all sorts of problems, and trying her best to remain poised and charming despite the embarrassing antics of her sidekick.

In 1931, Todd starred in Corsair, a film directed by Roland West, with whom she would later become romantically involved. [1][7]

Todd became highly regarded as a capable film comedian, and Roach loaned her out to other studios to play opposite Wheeler & Woolsey, Buster Keaton, Joe E. Brown, and the Marx Brothers. She also appeared successfully in such dramas as the original 1931 film version of The Maltese Falcon starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, in which she played Miles Archer's treacherous widow. During her career she appeared in 119 films although many of these were short films, and was sometimes publicized as "The Ice Cream Blonde." In August 1934, she opened In August of 1934,Todd opened at 17575 Pacific Coast Highway, a successful cafe in the Los Angeles coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, called Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe, attracting a diverse clientele of Hollywood celebrities as well as many tourists.[8][9][10][11]

Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe,
[12]17535 Pacific Coast Highway,
Pacific Palisades

Todd continued her short-subject series through 1935, and was featured in the full-length Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bohemian Girl. This was her last film; she died after completing all of her scenes, but most of them were re-shot. Producer Roach deleted all of Todd's dialogue and limited her appearance to one musical number.[13]

Death[edit source]



Buster Keaton, Thelma Todd and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily (1932)

On the morning of December 16, 1935, Thelma Todd was found dead in her car inside the garage of Jewel Carmen, a former actress and former wife of Todd's lover and business partner, Roland West. Carmen's house was approximately a block from the topmost side of Todd's restaurant.[14][15][16] Her death was determined to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. West is quoted in a contemporaneous newspaper account[17] as having locked her out, which may have caused her to seek refuge and warmth in the car. Todd had a wide circle of friends and associates as well as a busy social life.

Police investigations revealed that she had spent the previous Saturday night (December 14) at the Trocadero, a popular Hollywood restaurant, at a party hosted by entertainer Stanley Lupino and his actress daughter, Ida. At the restaurant, she had had a brief but unpleasant exchange with her ex-husband, Pat DiCicco. However, her friends stated that she was in good spirits, and were aware of nothing unusual in her life that could suggest a reason for her committing suicide.[18] She was driven home from the party in the early hours of December 15 by her chauffeur, Ernest O. Peters.[17]


Thelma Todd, 1930

The detectives of the LAPD concluded that Todd's death was accidental, the result of her either warming up the car to drive it or using the heater to keep herself warm. A Coroner's Inquest into Todd's death was held on December 18, 1935.[19] Autopsy surgeon A.P. Wagner testified that there were "no marks of violence anywhere upon or within the body" with only a "superficial contusion on the lower lip."[20] There are informal accounts of greater signs of injury.[21] The jury ruled that the death appeared to be accidental but recommended "further investigation to be made into the case, by proper authorities." [22]

Subsequently a grand jury probe was held to determine whether Todd's death was a murder. After four weeks of testimony, the inquiry was closed with no evidence of murder being brought forward.[23] The case was closed by the Homicide Bureau, which listed the death as "accidental with possible suicide tendencies." However, investigators were unable to find any motive for suicide or a suicide note.[23]

Todd's body was cremated. After her mother's death in 1969, Todd's remains were placed in her mother's casket and buried in Bellevue Cemetery in her hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Legacy[edit source]
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Todd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6262 Hollywood Blvd.[24]

Selected filmography[edit source]

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1926	Fascinating Youth	Lorraine Lane	Silent
1927	Rubber Heels	Princess Anne	Silent
1927	Fireman, Save My Child		Uncredited/Silent
1928	The Noose	Phyllis	Silent
1928	Abie's Irish Rose		Part-talkie
1928	The Haunted House		Silent
1929	Her Private Life	Mrs. Leslie	Lost film/First full length talkie
1929	Seven Footprints to Satan	Eve	Produced as both a silent film and part-talkie
1929	Unaccustomed As We Are	Mrs. Kennedy	Short film
1929	House of Horror
1930	Her Man	Nelly
1930	Another Fine Mess	Lady Plumtree	Short film
1931	Chickens Come Home	Mrs. Hardy	Short film
1931	No Limit	Betty Royce
1931	The Maltese Falcon	Iva Archer	Alternative title: Dangerous Female
1931	Corsair	Alison Corning	Credited as Alison Loyd
1931	Monkey Business	Lucille Briggs
1931	On the Loose	Thelma	Short subject
1931	Broadminded	Gertie Gardner
1932	The Big Timer	Kay Mitchell
1932	This Is the Night	Claire
1932	Deception	Lola Del Mont
1932	Horse Feathers	Connie Bailey
1932	Speak Easily	Eleanor Espere
1932	Call Her Savage	Sunny De Lane
1933	You Made Me Love You	Pamela Berne
1933	Fra Diavolo	Lady Pamela Rocburg	Alternative titles: Bogus Bandits The Devil's Brother
1933	Sitting Pretty	Gloria Duval
1933	Air Hostess	Mrs. Carleton
1933	Mary Stevens, M.D.	Lois Rising
1933	Counsellor at Law	Lillian La Rue
1934	Palooka	Trixie	Alternative titles: Joe Palooka The Great Schnozzle
1934	Hips, Hips, Hooray!	Amelia Frisby
1934	Cockeyed Cavaliers	Lady Genevieve
1935	Two for Tonight	Lilly
1936	The Bohemian Girl	Gypsy queen's daughter	With Darla Hood