Oooh I didnt know they made a book on it!
New to Tattle Life? Click "Order Thread by Most Liked Posts" button below to get an idea of what the site is about:
Bette and Joan:The Devine fued.
Awesome I'm going to download it to my kindle!
I read that years ago I love all them old Hollywood stories including Fatty Arbuckle s amongst others ,Bombshell is a great bookNot sure if anyone remembers an actress from the 30's named Thelma Todd. She was famous as a comedic actress, who'd starred in 'Monkey Business' and 'Horse Feathers' with the Marx Brothers. She'd also been part of an attempt to make a female version of Laurel and Hardy with another actress, ZaSu Pitts. Overall, she was one of Old Hollywood's brightest comedy stars.
Her personal life was......um....colourful. She'd been in a relationship with a man named Roland West, a director. They'd worked together on a movie, 'Corsair', in 1931. Allegedly, the relationship was volatile, with allegations of Roland being possessive and controlling. Her ex husband was Pat Di Ciccio, who was an agent, but also had links to mobster and was violent to Thelma. She divorced him after one beating too many.
Then there was the infamous Lucky Luciano, the mobster. That relationship involved beatings and Lucky getting her hooked on amphetamines. He wanted to open a casino in the rooms over her successful restaurant, 'Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café'. Thelma was having none of it.
I've taken the next section from the fabulous 'Find A Death' directory(run by Graham Norton's ex, Scott Michaels):
'On Saturday, December 14th 1935, Thelma was driven to a party, at which she was guest-of-honor at the Cafe Trocadero at 8610 Sunset Blvd. You can still (apparently) see the three entrance steps at the south-east corner of Sunset Blvd and Sunset Plaza. Roland West had told her to be in by 2 am or he would lock her out. The hosts were British music-hall comedian, Stanley Lupino, and his actress daughter, Ida, a close friend, who had agreed to a request by DiCicco that he be seated next Thelma at dinner.
[N.B.: From now on no two accounts agree on exact times].
DiCicco, however, arrived with actress, Margaret Lindsay, as his date and joined another group instead, leading to a brief spat in which Thelma accused DiCicco of deliberately humiliating her. Just after midnight, DiCicco made a phone call from the lobby and left an hour later with Lindsay. Thelma proceeded to get drunk, and confided to Ida that she was seeing a wealthy San Francisco businessman.
As promised, West locked the door to the apartment at 2 am. Thelma left the Cafe Trocadero about forty-five minutes later, promising to see the guests at a party later that afternoon at the home of Mrs Wallace Reid. She was driven away by chauffeur, Ernest Peters, in a Lincoln Phaeton touring car. They arrived at the doors of the Sidewalk Cafe between 3.15 am and 3.30, depending on accounts, and Thelma refused Peters’ usual service of walking her up the steps that led to the apartment entrance.
Some accounts have Peters seeing a brown Packard with its lights off, parked or approaching, before he left.
West claimed that during the early hours of the morning he heard water running in the apartment, but later said that it might have just been the coolers in the bar below.
At 9.30 a.m. a druggist claims that Thelma came in and asked him to make a call for her but that she then disappeared. That afternoon, several witnesses claimed to have seen her driving with a dark-haired man. Mrs. Wallace Reid claims that at around 4.30 pm, Thelma called her, using the nickname ‘Hot Toddy’ that she herself had coined, apologizing for being late but promising to surprise her with a mystery guest.
In the morning of Monday, 16th December the maid, May Whitehead, came to clean the apartment above the Café. At 10:30 am she climbed the staircase to the garage, where she found Thelma slumped dead at the wheel of her Packard convertible.
The ignition was on, but the engine not running (the car was not “still spewing a noxious fog of carbon monoxide” as some accounts relate) and the door of the garage had been partially open. There were two gallons of fuel inside the car, and a smudged handprint on the door. She was only 29.
Thelma was still gussied up in her Saturday night outfit of silk and tulle dress, mink coat and diamond jewelry. Her high-heeled sandals were perfectly clean, although when a policewoman of similar build later attempted to climb the steps up from the Highway, her sandals were dirty. Her lip was bruised, her face streaked with blood, her nose broken and a dental filling dislodged, but her make-up, unsmudged. Her fingernails were undamaged, indicating a lack of struggle. Her blood revealed a level of alcohol inconsistent with her having been able to do much at all. One account says a .13 blood alcohol reading, and a 75-80% carbon monoxide saturation. There were beans and peas in her stomach, although none had been served at Ida Lupino’s dinner.
L.A. County Surgeon fixed the time of death at between 5 and 8 am on Sunday morning, and explained the blood by suggesting that Thelma had struck the wheel with her head. The inquest threw up a number of theories. One, because she was locked out, Thelma had turned on the engine to keep warm and fallen asleep; however, maid May Whitehead stated that she had given Thelma her key and it had been found in her handbag. West stated that frequently Thelma had woken him up by throwing stones or smashing a window, and after all, the door was open. Another, having decided to go out again, she turned on the motor, passed out, and suffocated. The Cashier at the café slept in a room above the garage and had heard nothing. The Coroner’s report runs to over 100 pages.'
Surprisingly, given Thelma's injuries, a verdict of suicide was returned, and the case was closed. There are several suspects, but all are now dead.
They were:
Roland West, Thelma's ex
Pat Di Ciccio, Thelma's ex husband
Jewel Carmen, Roland West's ex wife and part owner of Thelma's restaurant
Lucky Luciano, her lover at the time she died..........
And then there's Stan Laurel. But that's a whole other post.
Thelma Todd - Celebrity Deaths: Findadeath
Pictures and information related to the deceased Thelma Todd. Dearly Departed Tours and Celebrity Deaths: Findadeath.findadeath.com
In my youth I was a cleaner for an elderly woman and she and her husband used to live next to Bob Hope. She told me this and told me he was the most evil terrible man she had ever met. I always tried to get specifics out of her but she would never say any more except she hated him and he was evil. Lol
I
I went to live there too and I loved to research old Hollywood.
If you get a chance read Dave McGowans Laurel Canyon book as it explores the musicians who lived their in the 60s and 70s and the iconic music they produced. Be prepared to go down a rabbit hole tho.
..but Joan was incredibly chic so there was this endless rivalry between them. But there was also parallels. Both had daughters who wrote very unflattering biographies of them that they both believed tarnished their images
Also Bette made it despite not being a glamazon or sex symbol
To me she is beautiful because of the power she transmits. But when she first came to Hollywood the studio sent a car to pick her up from the station and the driver came back alone because he said ' there was no one on the station who looked like a movie star.' She had to carve out her own path. Also she told her daughter she felt she had to fight every day of her life and that comes across on screen.
Bette Davis was an absolute force of nature and when she came on the screen it was like a hurricane. I have all her movies and she was a true pioneer. I often just spend evening watching her movies especially All about Eve.She even lobbied the studios to get more diverse and interesting parts which was unheard of at the time. Also she had no issue with appearing unlikeable on screen. Again this was very novel. Her and Joan well that was like the never ending feud. Bette was always considered the better actress and she used to shame Joan terribly saying that she slept with all the Male stars at MGM except Lassie
..but Joan was incredibly chic so there was this endless rivalry between them. But there was also parallels. Both had daughters who wrote very unflattering biographies of them that they both believed tarnished their imagesAlso Bette made it despite not being a glamazon or sex symbol
To me she is beautiful because of the power she transmits. But when she first came to Hollywood the studio sent a car to pick her up from the station and the driver came back alone because he said ' there was no one on the station who looked like a movie star.' She had to carve out her own path. Also she told her daughter she felt she had to fight every day of her life and that comes across on screen.
Last edited:
She was also the mother of Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Mariska has a scar on one side of her head from the car accident which killed her mother; her brothers had minor injuries.
Because I love The Wizard of Oz I researched the actors who played the Munchkins....a harder drinking group of actors you would be hard pressed to meet lol. But it was interesting because it showed how in the 1930s and before then they actually used to dress dwarfs (hope I am using the right term) as children. There is photos of them dressed as children. Its quite difficult to watch it to be honest. But what came out of it was how hard they tried to retain their dignity and their humanity through it all. They often lived together and looked after each other when they were sick. They were incredibly tenacious people.
Looking back I wish I had taken the time to ask more questions regarding Hollywood celebs but because I was so invested in putting them on a pedestal I couldnt bear hearing anything non complimentary about them. That was my fault. Through going to an old school beauty salon I used to hear a lot but you have to take it with a large pinch of salt. So many old Hollywood stars die in very miserable circumstances
Marlon Brando had a lock on his fridge and couldnt face going out because he was nearly 300lbs, however he used to see Heidi Fleiss on the regular.Such a beautiful man in his time
Ava Gardner lived a reclusive life in London struggling with money and alcoholism. But she was beautiful and generous to the end she used to invite the bin man in to have a Brandy with her. Rod Steiger was so paralysed by depression he wouldnt leave the house for months and months at a time. He literally couldnt get out of bed or shower even. Marlene Dietrich.....well a shadow of herself but went on the Caberet circuit for too long.
Looking back I wish I had taken the time to ask more questions regarding Hollywood celebs but because I was so invested in putting them on a pedestal I couldnt bear hearing anything non complimentary about them. That was my fault. Through going to an old school beauty salon I used to hear a lot but you have to take it with a large pinch of salt. So many old Hollywood stars die in very miserable circumstances
Marlon Brando had a lock on his fridge and couldnt face going out because he was nearly 300lbs, however he used to see Heidi Fleiss on the regular.Such a beautiful man in his time
Ava Gardner lived a reclusive life in London struggling with money and alcoholism. But she was beautiful and generous to the end she used to invite the bin man in to have a Brandy with her. Rod Steiger was so paralysed by depression he wouldnt leave the house for months and months at a time. He literally couldnt get out of bed or shower even. Marlene Dietrich.....well a shadow of herself but went on the Caberet circuit for too long.
Last edited:
God, I forgot how similar Vivian Leigh and Hedy Lemarr looked at some points.
two of my go-to old movies were Waterloo bridge and The Wicked Lady, loved them.
Speaking of feuds.....Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland
www.biography.com
two of my go-to old movies were Waterloo bridge and The Wicked Lady, loved them.
Speaking of feuds.....Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland
The Lifelong Feud Between Sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine
The rivalry between the actresses encompassed their childhood, careers, love lives and even the Academy Awards.
Where did you live? I was in Westwood and loved it!
Studio City. I absolutely loved LA
Westwood is a great place
I would love to go back because of course the weather is fantastic but no way could I afford it now.
Its weird how three of kevin spacey's accusers keep dying. Three so far.
The Kevin Spacey thing...well it's incredibly nefarious the people that he is surrounded with. And the young men that have died. Perhaps in the next few years people will come forward about the industrial levels of abuse suffered by the LGTBQ youth in Hollywood. It's truly heartbreaking but frightening because young men have gone missing never to be seen again.
LGBTQ
LGBTQ
II heard years ago that Cary Grant had sex with dead people. Don't know how much truth there is in that though
Cary Grant, heard the common rumours about him and Randolph but never anything nefarious
Almost as if it wasn't just chance...
Loving this thread. 
Here’s some more books I’ve read about people discussed so far. Definitely worth hunting down
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield and the American fifties by Martha Saxton
Thelma Todd
Hot Toddy: The True Story of Hollywood's Most Sensational Murder By Andy Edmonds
Gloria Grahame
Suicide Blonde: The Life of Gloria Grahame by Vincent Curcio
Gene Tierney
Self-Portrait by Gene Tierney
Here’s some more books I’ve read about people discussed so far. Definitely worth hunting down
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield and the American fifties by Martha Saxton
Thelma Todd
Hot Toddy: The True Story of Hollywood's Most Sensational Murder By Andy Edmonds
Gloria Grahame
Suicide Blonde: The Life of Gloria Grahame by Vincent Curcio
Gene Tierney
Self-Portrait by Gene Tierney