Name
Thelma Todd
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1906-07-29
Deathday
1935-12-16 (29 years old)
Place of Birth
Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA
Biography
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.
Known For
6.792
Two wannabe bandits join the service of a dashing nobleman, who secretly masquerades as Fr...
6.9
Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley U, hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky t...
6.9
Four stowaways get mixed up with gangsters while running riot on an ocean liner....
5.4
When Stephen, the husband of Gerald’s mistress, Claire, discovers a pair of tickets for ...
6.2
Stan and Ollie travel with a band of 18th-century Gypsies holding a nobleman's daughter....
5.692
A high-spirited and short-tempered Texan woman storms her way through life until her luck ...
6.6
Ollie is running for mayor when an old flame tries to blackmail him with a old photo....
6.4
A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quic...
5.8
A professor gets mixed up with chorus girls in a Broadway musical....
- 1929 Seven Footprints to Satan as Eve Martin
- 1931 The Maltese Falcon as Iva Archer
- 1931 Monkey Business as Lucille Briggs
- 1932 Horse Feathers as Connie Bailey
- 1932 Speak Easily as Eleanor Espere
- 1953 Yesterday and Today as (archive footage)
- 1926 God Gave Me Twenty Cents as Dance-Hall Girl (uncredited)
- 1931 On the Loose as Thelma
- 1930 Another Fine Mess as Lady Plumtree (uncredited)
- 1931 Chickens Come Home as Mrs. Hardy (uncredited)
- 1929 Unaccustomed as We Are as Mrs. Kennedy
- 1936 The Bohemian Girl as Gypsy Queen's Daughter
- 1932 This Is the Night as Claire Mathewson
- 1933 Air Hostess as Mrs. Sylvia C. Carleton
- 1931 Corsair as Alison Corning
- 1933 Counsellor at Law as Lillian La Rue
- 1933 The Devil's Brother as Lady Pamela Rocburg
- 1932 Call Her Savage as Sunny De Lane
- 1934 Cockeyed Cavaliers as Lady Genevieve
- 1927 Nevada as Hettie Ide
- 1934 Hips, Hips, Hooray! as Miss Amelia Frisby
- 1930 Her Man as Nelly
- 1932 Klondike as Klondike
- 1930 Whispering Whoopee as Miss Todd
- 1933 Sitting Pretty as Gloria Duval
- 1934 Lightning Strikes Twice as Judy Nelson
- 1934 The Poor Rich as Gwendolyn Fetherstone
- 1933 Mary Stevens, M.D. as Lois Cavanaugh
- 1931 Broadminded as Gertie Gardner
- 1931 The Hot Heiress as Lola
- 1933 Son of a Sailor as The Baroness
- 1935 Two for Tonight as Lilly
- 1931 Rough Seas as Antoinette
- 1932 The Big Timer as Kay Mitchell
- 1942 Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) as Self (archive footage)
- 1930 High C's as Antoinette
- 1931 No Limit as Betty Royce
- 1934 Maid in Hollywood as Thelma
- 1935 Top Flat as Thelma Todd
- 1933 The Bargain of the Century as Thelma
- 1933 Asleep in the Feet as Thelma
- 1932 Sealskins as Thelma Todd
- 1932 Show Business as Thelma
- 1931 The Pip from Pittsburg as Thelma
- 1935 The Tin Man as Thelma Todd
- 1930 Follow Thru as Ruth Van Horn
- 1931 Catch-As Catch-Can as Thelma
- 1935 Sing Sister Sing as Thelma
- 1932 Red Noses as Miss Todd
- 1934 Soup and Fish as Miss Thelma Todd
- 1930 The Real McCoy as Thelma
- 1934 Opened by Mistake as Thelma
- 1935 Hot Money as Miss Thelma Todd
- 1930 Dollar Dizzy as Thelma Todd
- 1934 One-Horse Farmers as Thelma
- 1933 Maids a la Mode as Miss Todd
- 1928 Heart to Heart as Ruby Boyd
- 1932 The Nickel Nurser as Thelma Todd
- 1933 Backs to Nature as Thelma
- 1931 Command Performance as Lydia
- 1934 Palooka as Trixie
- 1931 Love Fever as Thelma Todd
- 1930 The Fighting Parson as The Blonde Dance Hall Girl
- 1930 The Shrimp as Jim's Girlfriend
- 1930 The Head Guy as The Star
- 1930 The King as The Queen
- 1931 War Mamas as Thelma
- 1931 The Pajama Party as Thelma
- 1932 The Old Bull as Thelma
- 1935 The Misses Stooge as Thelma Todd
- 1935 Twin Triplets as Thelma
- 1934 Three Chumps Ahead as Thelma Todd
- 1932 The Soilers as Thelma
- 1932 Strictly Unreliable as Miss Thelma Todd
- 1935 Treasure Blues as Thelma
- 1932 Sneak Easily as Miss Thelma Todd - Attorney for the Defense
- 1935 Slightly Static as Thelma
- 1933 One Track Minds as Thelma Todd
- 1934 I'll Be Suing You as Miss Todd
- 1933 Beauty and the Bus as Thelma
- 1934 Bum Voyage as Thelma
- 1934 Done in Oil as Thelma Todd aka Mlle. La Todd
- 1931 Let's Do Things as Thelma Todd
- 1934 Babes in the Goods as Thelma Todd
- 1933 Air Fright as Thelma
- 1932 Alum and Eve as Thelma
- 1936 An All American Toothache as Thelma Alice Todd
- 1935 After the Dance as Mabel Kane
- 1927 The Shield of Honor as Rose aka Flora Fisher
- 1934 Bottoms Up as Judith Marlowe
- 1929 Hurdy Gurdy as Blondie
- 1933 Cheating Blondes as Anne Merrick / Elaine Manners
- 1934 Take the Stand as Miss Sally Oxford
- 1930 Looser Than Loose as Thelma, Charley's Fiancee
- 1933 You Made Me Love You as Pamela Berne
- 1928 The Noose as Phyllis
- 1930 All Teed Up as Thelma
- 1931 Aloha as Winifred Bradford
- 1929 Snappy Sneezer as Mary White
- 1929 Look out Below as Thelma
- 1929 Hotter Than Hot
- 1929 House of Horror as Thelma
- 1928 Naughty Baby as Bonnie Le Vonne
- 1929 Careers as Hortense
- 1926 Fascinating Youth as Lorraine Lane
- 1929 The Bachelor Girl as Gladys
- 1928 The Crash as Daisy McQueen
- 1929 Trial Marriage as Grace Logan
- 1929 Crazy Feet as Dancer
- 1928 Vamping Venus as Madame Vanezlos the Dancer / Venus
- 1932 Deception as Lola Del Mont
- 1928 The Haunted House as The Nurse
- 1929 Her Private Life as Mrs. Leslie
- 1927 Rubber Heels as Princess Aline
- 1927 Fireman, Save My Child as (uncredited)
- 1931 Swanee River as Caroline
- 1927 The Gay Defender as Ruth Ainsworth
- 1929 Sky Boy
- 1929 Stepping Out as Charley's Wife
- 1929 Hal Roach Presents Harry Langdon as The Woman
- 1989 Death Scenes as Self (archive footage)
- 1988 Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2003 Murders of Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
- 1992 Murderers, Mobsters, & Madmen: Volume 6: Hollywood Police Files as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1990 Death In Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
- 2016 Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
