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Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd

Birthday: 1906-07-29 | Place of Birth: Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) 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. 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 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. Todd 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." 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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1936
The Bohemian Girl

as    Gypsy Queen's Daughter

1935
The Tin Man

as    Thelma Todd

1934
Lightning Strikes Twice

as    Judy Nelson

1934
Take the Stand

as    Miss Sally Oxford

1934
Palooka

as    Trixie

1933
Cheating Blondes

as    Anne Merrick / Elaine Manners

1933
Sitting Pretty

as    Gloria Duval

1933
The Devil's Brother

as    Lady Pamela Rocburg

1933
Son of a Sailor

as    The Baroness

1932
This Is the Night

as    Claire Mathewson

1932
Klondike

as    Klondike

1931
Corsair

as    Alison Corning

1931
The Maltese Falcon

as    Iva Archer

1931
Chickens Come Home

as    Mrs. Hardy

1930
Follow Thru

as    Mrs. Van Horn

1930
The Real McCoy

as    Thelma

1929
The Bachelor Girl

as    Gladys

1927
Nevada

as    Hettie Ide

1927
The Shield of Honor

as    Rose aka Flora Fisher