The Life of Thelma Todd
This December 16th, it will have been seventy years since Thelma Todd was found dead at 29, in the garage of her home. The car she was sitting in was still on. The exact cicumstances of her death remain a mystery. Thelma Alice Todd was born on July 29th 1905 in Lawrence, MA. She was a lively child, always good at academics, and she wanted to be a schoolteacher. In college, her mother (who wanted her to be more than a "schoolmarm") encouraged her to participate in beauty pageants. In 1925, she won the Miss Massachusetts title, and was subsequently offered movie roles. She had a gift for comedy (though she also did drama and horror roles) and starred in over 130 movies. Transitioning easily from silent to talkie films, she worked with such venerated actors as Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Zasu Pitts and the Marx Brothers. Her bombshell look earned her the moniker, "The Ice Cream Blonde."
Like many in the industry, Thelma lived fast. She had so many car crashes, the studio eventually insisted that she had a driver. She was married briefly in 1932 to party guy, Pat DiCicco. their chief entertainment appeared to be drunken brawls, one of which landed Thelma in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. They divorced in 1934. In the early thirties, Todd bought a piece of property on what is now called the Pacific Coast Highway, facing the ocean and built a structure that would double as her home (in the upstairs apartments) and Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe, which was downstairs. The Cafe was a great success, catering to the entertainment and underworld crowds.
To be continued...
posted by kuaptic. @ 11:29 AM
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