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Thelma Todd (July 29, 1905 in film|1905 - December
16, 1935 in film|1935) was an United
States|American film actor|actress.


Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts and was a
bright student who achieved good academic results.
 She intended to become a school teacher. However,
in her late teens, she began entering beauty
pageants, winning the title of Miss Massachusetts
in 1925. While representing her home state, she
was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout and began
her career in film.  

During the silent era, she 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 by the producer Hal Roach, who
contracted her to appear with such comedic stars
as Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel &
Hardy. At Roach studios, she appeared as the lead
actress in a series of comedy films with actresses
Zasu Pitts and Patsy Kelly. She became highly
regarded as a capable film comedienne, loaned 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 in film|1931 film
version of The Maltese Falcon. During her career
she appeared in more than 130 films and was
sometimes publicised as The Ice Cream Blonde.

In the early 1930s, she opened a successful cafe
at Pacific Palisades, called Thelma Todd's
Sidewalk Cafe, attracting a diverse clientele of
Hollywood celebrities as well as many tourists.

On the morning of December 16, 1935, she was found
dead in her car inside her garage, and her death
was determined to have been caused by carbon
monoxide poisoning. Todd had a wide circle of
friends and associates as well as a busy social
life. Police investigations revealed that she had
spent the last night of her life at a party hosted
by entertainer Stanley Lupino and his daughter,
the actress Ida Lupino. She had been involved in
an argument with her boyfriend Roland West.
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 committing
suicide.

Police were offered other alternatives throughout
their investigations. One theory widely supported
by Todd's friends was that Roland West had grown
frustrated by Todd's flightiness and, to keep her
from leaving her premises to attend another party,
had locked her in the garage. Her resulting death
according to this theory was accidental. However,
a key, which would have allowed her to escape, was
found in Todd's handbag.

A second theory was that Todd had turned on the
motor of the car in order to keep warm and had
fallen asleep. Roland West had closed the door to
the garage without realising Todd was inside, and
she had died as a result.

A third theory, created in the novel Hot Toddy,
postulates she was murdered by New York gangster
"Lucky" Luciano because of her refusal to allow
him to involve her club with illegal gambling. It
has become the most celebrated of all theories.

The Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles District
Attorney|DA's department and a Grand Jury were
unable to establish the true circumstances
surrounding her death. The conjecture that
surrounded it at the time, which has never been
resolved with a definitive explanation, is an
early example of what would become known as a
conspiracy theory with rumours and suppositions
accepted as fact and widely divergent opinions
given credence. The fact that her body was
cremated caused theorists to conjecture that this
had been done to destroy evidence and to prevent a
second autopsy. However, by this time, authorities
were satisfied with her official cause of death. 

Her death certificate states her cause of death as
accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Her remains
were buried in Bellevue Cemetery in her hometown
of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Thelma Todd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame at 6262 Hollywood Blvd.

==External link==
*http://silent-movies.com/Ladies/PTodd.html Thelma
Todd Photo Gallery
*imdb name|id=0865298|name=Thelma Todd