THE MYSTERY OF THELMA TODD - HOLLYWOOD'S 'ICE CREAM BLONDE' & 'HOT TODDY'

 

Thelma Todd - 26 July, 1906 - 16 December, 1935, Died at 29.

The County Down town of Comber, about ten miles from Belfast, has a number of claims to fame.  It was the birthplace in 1873 of Thomas Andrews, managing director of shipbuilders Harland and Wolff and overseer of the design and building of RMS Olympic, RMS Britannic and RMS Titanic.  John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland’s second Prime Minister hailed from Comber, as did First World War Victoria Cross recipient, Edmund De Wind and the jazz singer Ottilie Patterson, one-time vocalist with the Chris Barber Jazz Band.  Comber was also the ancestral home of the Todd family, not well-known internationally until the birth of Thelma Todd to parents John and Alice. Thelma became one of early Hollywood’s brightest and bubbliest stars nicknamed The Ice Cream Blonde and Hot Toddy.  She was to die at 29 in mysterious circumstances in 1935.

 

Before marrying and starting a family, her father left Ireland to find work in America.  He was an upholsterer and carpenter by trade, but chose a police career instead, progressing from street cop to lieutenant in Lawrence, a city in Essex County, Massachusetts.  He settled and married Alice and they had two children, William and Thelma.  At first, it was a happy family but John had ambitions to enter politics which he did, and power went to his head.  In the police phase of his life, John was known to use dubious tactics and corrupt practices, making friends with powerful cronies along the way.  He became Director of Public Health and Welfare for Massachusetts, using his budget to buy favours, approve carefully chosen contracts and manipulate the membership of influential committees.  He also lined his own pockets.  It was a murky world of corrupt businessmen, politicians and mobsters.

 

Gradually, because of John’s behaviour, the marriage became strained.  Son William died at the age of seven in 1910 following an accident.  Thelma, born in 1906, was by accounts a beautiful child who grew into an intelligent young woman.  She had ambitions to become a teacher but abandoned the idea.  She entered and won beauty contests, including Miss Massachusetts in 1925.  A talent scout had spotted her at the contest and to cut a long story short, it led to a contract with Paramount Studios and a successful working relationship with producer, Hal Roach.  After acting school, she made her first film appearance in the silent comedy, Fascinating Youth, in 1926, the same year her father died of a heart attack.

 

As silent movies gave way to talking pictures, Thelma would go on to co-star with the likes of Gary Cooper, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, Cary Grant, Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, John Barrymore, Clara Bow and more.  She had a successful comedy partnership with ZaSu Pitts.

Thelma had an appetite for business and opened her Sidewalk Café on Pacific Coast Highway, Los Angeles, popular with celebrities, tourists and gangsters.  

Off duty, she was an energetic party girl and had no aversion to mixing with shady characters, including the infamous Lucky Luciano, who not only had his eye on Thelma but also on the possibility of acquiring space in the cafe to expand his gambling pursuits.  The fallout of Thelma’s rejection of Luciano and his gambling notions is believed to have led to her death at 29 on 16 December, 1935.  She was found slumped behind the steering wheel of a car in a neighbour’s garage.  At first, the recorded cause was carbon monoxide poisoning leading to accidental death.  Rumours spread that it might have been suicide.  More gossip suggested strongly that it was a Mob hit.  It’s a case that has not been fully resolved, although much analysis and plausible theories have emerged over the years.  

 

Thelma Todd is buried in Bellevue Cemetery in Lawrence, Massachusetts.  Her career spanned 1926 to 1935.  She appeared in over 100 feature films and film shorts.  She was a popular actress who was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

As an example of how Thelma’s death continues to intrigue after more than 80 years, a Northern Ireland group of jazz and blues musicians, The Mono Trio, featuring the multi-talented Stephen Dunwoody, have released a song called 17575 Pacific Coast Highway (Todd’s café address), which has won the Best Jazz Song at this year’s Rome Music Video Festival.  The song, inspired by the tragedy, will feature on the band’s album, Film Noir.  (Find it on YouTube.)

 

It is worth exploring online clips of Thelma’s films to remember her for her extraordinary talent rather than her tragic end.

Note:

From July 2011 to March 2023, I built my Dropped the Moon blog and received 333, 384 views.  Here is the link to that archive of musings, poetry, celebrity profiles, fast fiction, book reviews, music reviews, and much else - https://droppedthemoon.blogspot.com Please have a browse any time.  Due to a technical hitch, I have decided to create a new blog called '2023 New Dropped the Moon', to carry on doing what I have done since 2011.  I hope you enjoy both the archive and the continuance of posts.