fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Thelma Alice Todd[3] (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935)[4] was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, she is remembered for her comedic roles opposite ZaSu Pitts, and in films such as Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers and a number of Charley Chase's short comedies. She co-starred with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily. She also had roles in several Wheeler and Woolsey and Laurel and Hardy films, the last of which (The Bohemian Girl) featured her in a part that was cut short by her suspicious death in 1935 at the age of 29.

Thelma Todd
Todd, c. 1933
Born	Thelma Alice Todd (1906-07-29)July 29, 1906 Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	December 16, 1935(1935-12-16) (aged 29) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Carbon monoxide poisoning (suspicious)
Other names	Alison Loyd
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1926–1935
Spouse	Pat DiCicco ​ ​ (m. 1932; div. 1934)​

Sidewalk Café
Cocktail Room. Jewel Carmen's residence can be seen on the hill in the background.
House of Jewel Carmen , 1930
Thelma Todd's Inn postcard[2]
Thelma Todd at Sidewalk Café Entrance[2]
Sidewalk Café, Exterior 1933
Sidewalk Café, Exterior 1935
Thelma Todd in her car 1935
garage, Exterior, distant 1935
garage, Exterior, close 1935
Photo diagram 1935
Chez Roland Beach Club, 1949

Early life

Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts,[4] to John Shaw Todd, an upholsterer from Ireland,[5] later, a superintendent of streets,[6] an alderman, and Lawrence's commissioner of health and charities in 1912[7] and Alice Elizabeth Edwards, an immigrant from Canada.[8] She had an older brother, William, who died in an accident in 1910.[5][9] She was a bright and successful student. Intending to become a schoolteacher, she enrolled at the Lowell Normal School (now University of Massachusetts, Lowell) after graduating from high school in 1923.[7] As a student, she earned money as a model, entered beauty pageants in her late teens, gained the attention of Elks Lodge 65, was crowned 1925 Miss Lawrence, and won the title of 1925 Miss Massachusetts.[7] While representing her home state, she was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout. She was offered a slot at the Paramount Players School[10] in Astoria, Queens, New York City, at a time when Paramount Studios was training would-be-actors in acting, diction, athletics and manners.[7] Of the 16 members of her cohort, only Charles "Buddy" Rogers also made it to Hollywood. Todd later found work, in 1929, at Hal Roach Studios.[7]

Career

Film

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, she was able to expand her roles when producer Hal Roach signed her to appear with comedy stars such as Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy.

In 1931, Roach cast Todd in her own series of 17-to-27-minute slapstick comedy shorts. Attempt to create a female version of Laurel and Hardy, Roach teamed Todd with ZaSu Pitts 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, who appeared with Todd in 21 shorts, from "Beauty and the Bus" (September 1933) through "An All American Toothache" (January 1936). These shorts often cast Todd as a levelheaded working girl doing her best to remain poised and charming despite numerous problems and her ditzy sidekick's embarrassing antics.

In 1931, Todd starred in Corsair, a film directed by Roland West, with whom she become romantically involved.[3][11]

Todd became highly regarded as a capable film comedian, and Roach loaned her to other studios to play opposite Wheeler & Woolsey, Buster Keaton, Joe E. Brown, and the Marx Brothers. She also successfully appeared in dramas, such as the original 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, where she played Miles Archer's treacherous widow. She appeared in around 120 feature films and shorts in her career.

Todd continued her short-subject series through 1935 and was featured in the full-length Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bohemian Girl. It was her last role before her untimely death at age 29. Although she had completed all of her scenes, producer Roach had them re-shot, fearing negative publicity. He deleted all of Todd's dialogue, and limited her appearance to one musical number.[12]

Sidewalk Cafe

Originally built in 1928, by architect Mark Daniels, as the Castellammare housing tract business block,[13] in August 1934, Todd opened, in partnership with Jewel Carmen and Roland West, Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe,[14] at 17575 Pacific Coast Highway, Castellammare, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. The ground floor of the building housed the restaurant; on the second floor, Todd and West lived in adjoining ocean-view apartments, with only by a sliding wooden door separating their bedrooms.[15][2] and held parties in the adjacent, private nightclub named Joya's (for West's ex-wife Jewel Carmen); the third-floor, hexagonally-shaped, had a dance floor and bandstand.[14] It attracted a diverse clientele of Hollywood celebrities, and many tourists.[16][17][18][19][20]

Personal life

Todd was briefly married to Pat DiCiccio, who supposedly had ties to the mob. The relationship was volatile with DiCiccio being very abusive to Todd, resulting in her filing for divorce & changing her will to only leaving him $1- so he couldn't contest it and try to get more.[21]

Death

On the morning of Monday, December 16, 1935, Todd was found dead, wearing a mauve and silver gown, mink wrap and expensive jewelry,[22] in her chocolate-colored 1934 Lincoln Phaeton convertible[22] inside the garage[23] 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.[24][1][25] Her death was determined to have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. West is quoted in a contemporaneous newspaper account[26] 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 and 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. She had a brief but unpleasant exchange there with her ex-husband, Pat DiCicco. However, her friends stated that she was in good spirits and were aware of nothing in her life that suggested a reason for her to commit suicide.[27] She was driven home from the party in the early hours of December 15 by her chauffeur, Ernest O. Peters.[26]

LAPD detectives 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 the death was held on December 18, 1935.[28] 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."[29] There are informal accounts of greater signs of injury.[30] The jury ruled that the death appeared accidental, but recommended "further investigation to be made into the case, by proper authorities."[31]

A grand jury probe was subsequently held to determine whether Todd was murdered. After four weeks of testimony, the inquiry concluded with no evidence of foul play.[32] The case was closed by the Homicide Bureau, which declared the death "accidental with possible suicide tendencies." However, investigators found no motive for suicide, and Todd left no suicide note.[32]

Todd's memorial service was held at Pierce Brothers Mortuary at 720 West Washington Blvd in Los Angeles.[33] The 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

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Todd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6262 Hollywood Blvd.[34]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1926	Fascinating Youth	Lorraine Lane	Silent
1926	God Gave Me Twenty Cents	Dance-Hall Girl	Uncredited
1927	Rubber Heels	Princess Anne	Silent
1927	Fireman, Save My Child		Uncredited / Silent
1927	Nevada	Hettie Ide
1927	The Gay Defender	Ruth Ainsworth
1927	The Shield of Honor	Rose aka Flora Fisher
1928	The Noose	Phyllis	Silent
1928	Abie's Irish Rose		Part-talkie
1928	Vamping Venus	Madame Vanezlos the Dancer / Venus
1928	Heart to Heart	Ruby Boyd
1928	The Crash	Daisy McQueen
1928	The Haunted House	The Nurse	Silent
1928	Naughty Baby	Bonnie Le Vonne
1929	Seven Footprints to Satan	Eve Martin	Produced as both a silent film and part-talkie
1929	Trial Marriage	Grace Logan
1929	House of Horror	Thelma
1929	Unaccustomed As We Are	Mrs. Kennedy	Short
1929	The Bachelor Girl	Gladys
1929	Cherchez la Femme	Hortense
1929	Her Private Life	Mrs. Leslie	First full length talkie
1930	Her Man	Nelly
1930	Another Fine Mess	Lady Plumtree	Short, Uncredited
1931	No Limit	Betty Royce
1931	Command Performance	Lydia
1931	Chickens Come Home	Mrs. Hardy	Short, Uncredited
1931	Swanee River	Caroline
1931	The Hot Heiress	Lola
1931	Aloha	Winifred Bradford
1931	The Maltese Falcon	Iva Archer	Alternative title: Dangerous Female
1931	Broadminded	Gertie Gardner
1931	The Pip from Pittsburg	Thelma	Short
1931	Monkey Business	Lucille Briggs
1931	Corsair	Alison Corning	Credited as Alison Loyd
1931	On the Loose	Thelma	Short
1932	The Big Timer	Kay Mitchell
1932	This Is the Night	Claire Mathewson
1932	Horse Feathers	Connie Bailey
1932	Speak Easily	Eleanor Espere
1932	Klondike	Klondike
1932	Deception	Lola Del Mont
1932	Call Her Savage	Sunny De Lane
1933	Air Hostess	Sylvia C. Carleton
1933	Cheating Blondes	Anne Merrick / Elaine Manners
1933	Fra Diavolo	Lady Pamela Rocburg	Alternative titles: Bogus Bandits The Devil's Brother
1933	Mary Stevens, M.D.	Lois Cavanaugh
1933	You Made Me Love You	Pamela Berne
1933	Sitting Pretty	Gloria Duval
1933	Son of a Sailor	The Baroness
1933	Counsellor at Law	Lillian La Rue
1934	Palooka	Trixie	Alternative titles: Joe Palooka The Great Schnozzle
1934	Hips, Hips, Hooray!	Amelia Frisby
1934	The Poor Rich	Gwendolyn Fetherstone
1934	Bottoms Up	Judith Marlowe
1934	Cockeyed Cavaliers	Lady Genevieve
1934	Take the Stand	Sally Oxford
1934	Lightning Strikes Twice	Judith 'Judy' Nelson
1935	After the Dance	Mabel Kane
1935	Two for Tonight	Lilly
1936	The Bohemian Girl	Gypsy queen's daughter	(final film role)

See also

• Jewel Carmen § Death of Thelma Todd
• List of unsolved deaths
• Pitts and Todd
• Patsy Kelly
• White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd, 1991 TV movie

Further reading

• Croddy, Marshall; Jenning, Patrick (2017). Testimony of a death: Thelma Todd: mystery, media and myth in 1935 Los Angeles (Revised ed.). Redondo Beach, California: Bay City Press. ISBN 9781530498475. OCLC 1242965029.
• Edmonds, Andy (1989). Hot Toddy: The True Story of Hollywood's Most Sensational Murder. New York: William Morrow and Co. Inc. ISBN 0-688-08061-8.
• Parish, James Robert; Leonard, William T; Mank, Gregory W; Hoyt, Charles (1979). The Funsters: 62 jesters of the silver screen. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House. ISBN 9780870004186. OCLC 924799414. James Robert Parish and William T. Leonard ; with Gregory W. Mank and Charles Hoyt.[35][36]
• Morgan, Michelle (2015). The Ice Cream Blonde: The Whirlwind Life and Mysterious Death of Screwball Comedienne Thelma Todd. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613730386.

References

External links

• Thelma Todd at IMDb
• Thelma Todd at AllMovie
• Thelma Todd at the TCM Movie Database
• Thelma Todd at Find a Grave

На других языках

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[de] Thelma Todd

Thelma Alice Todd (* 29. Juli 1906 in Lawrence, Massachusetts; † 16. Dezember 1935 in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Kalifornien) war eine US-amerikanische Schauspielerin. Ab Beginn der Tonfilmzeit bis zu ihrem mysteriösen Tod im Alter von 29 Jahren war die Blondine eine bekannte Komikerin, die ihre eigene Komödienreihe hatte und auch in Filmen von Laurel und Hardy und den Marx Brothers größere Rollen übernahm.

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- [en] Thelma Todd

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[es] Thelma Todd

Thelma Alice Todd (Lawrence, Massachusetts, 29 de julio de 1906-Pacific Palisades, California, 16 de diciembre de 1935) fue una actriz estadounidense. Apareció en alrededor de 120 películas entre 1926 y 1935, aunque es más conocida por sus papeles en numerosos cortometrajes y películas en el estudio de Hal Roach, entre ellas varias de el Gordo y el Flaco como Another Fine Mess, The Devil's Brother (también conocido como Fra Diavolo) y Chickens Come Home. También apareció en las películas Monkey Business y Horse Feathers de los hermanos Marx.

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[ru] Тодд, Телма

Телма Элис Тодд (англ. Thelma Todd; 29 июля 1906 — 16 декабря 1935[1] ) — американская актриса, снявшаяся примерно в 120 картинах между 1926 и 1935 годами. Запомнилась зрителям комедийными ролями в таких фильмах, как «Обезьяний бизнес», «Лошадиные перья», главной ролью в картине «Проще говоря» и ряде коротких комедий Чарли Чейза.

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