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.
Movie | Screen Snapshots (Series 22, No. 10) | Self (archive footage) | 1942-01-01 |
Movie | The Bohemian Girl | Gypsy Queen's Daughter | 1936-02-14 |
Movie | An All American Toothache | Thelma Alice Todd | 1936-01-25 |
Movie | The Tin Man | Thelma Todd | 1935-03-30 |
Movie | Sing Sister Sing | Thelma | 1935-03-02 |
Movie | After the Dance | Mabel Kane | 1935-06-25 |
Movie | Treasure Blues | Thelma | 1935-01-26 |
Movie | The Misses Stooge | Thelma Todd | 1935-04-20 |
Movie | Hot Money | Miss Thelma Todd | 1935-11-16 |
Movie | Slightly Static | Thelma | 1935-09-07 |
Movie | Twin Triplets | Thelma | 1935-10-12 |
Movie | Top Flat | Thelma Todd | 1935-12-21 |
Movie | Two for Tonight | Lilly | 1935-09-12 |
Movie | Bottoms Up | Judith Marlowe | 1934-04-12 |
Movie | Maid in Hollywood | Thelma | 1934-05-19 |
Movie | Soup and Fish | Miss Thelma Todd | 1934-03-30 |
Movie | Hips, Hips, Hooray! | Miss Amelia Frisby | 1934-02-02 |
Movie | I'll Be Suing You | Miss Todd | 1934-06-23 |
Movie | Palooka | Trixie | 1934-01-26 |
Movie | Babes in the Goods | Thelma Todd | 1934-02-10 |
Movie | The Poor Rich | Gwendolyn Fetherstone | 1934-02-25 |
Movie | Opened by Mistake | Thelma | 1934-10-05 |
Movie | Done in Oil | Thelma Todd aka Mlle. La Todd | 1934-11-10 |
Movie | Cockeyed Cavaliers | Lady Genevieve | 1934-06-29 |
Movie | Bum Voyage | Thelma | 1934-12-15 |
Movie | Lightning Strikes Twice | Judy Nelson | 1934-12-07 |
Movie | Take the Stand | Miss Sally Oxford | 1934-08-07 |
Movie | Three Chumps Ahead | Thelma Todd | 1934-07-14 |
Movie | One-Horse Farmers | Thelma | 1934-08-01 |
Movie | Cheating Blondes | Anne Merrick / Elaine Manners | 1933-05-01 |
Movie | The Devil's Brother | Lady Pamela Rocburg | 1933-05-05 |
Movie | The Bargain of the Century | Thelma | 1933-04-08 |
Movie | Asleep in the Feet | Thelma | 1933-01-21 |
Movie | One Track Minds | 1933-05-20 | |
Movie | Air Hostess | Mrs. Sylvia C. Carleton | 1933-01-15 |
Movie | Maids a la Mode | Miss Todd | 1933-03-04 |
Movie | Beauty and the Bus | Thelma | 1933-09-16 |
Movie | Air Fright | Thelma | 1933-12-23 |
Movie | Mary Stevens, M.D. | Lois Cavanaugh | 1933-07-22 |
Movie | Son of a Sailor | The Baroness | 1933-11-29 |
Movie | Counsellor at Law | Lillian La Rue | 1933-12-25 |
Movie | Sitting Pretty | Gloria Duval | 1933-11-23 |
Movie | You Made Me Love You | Pamela Berne | 1933-10-01 |
Movie | Backs to Nature | Thelma | 1933-11-14 |
Movie | Strictly Unreliable | Miss Thelma Todd | 1932-04-30 |
Movie | The Old Bull | Thelma | 1932-06-04 |
Movie | This Is the Night | Claire Mathewson | 1932-04-08 |
Movie | The Big Timer | Kay Mitchell | 1932-03-10 |
Movie | Sealskins | Thelma Todd | 1932-02-06 |
Movie | The Nickel Nurser | Thelma Todd | 1932-03-12 |
Movie | Speak Easily | Eleanor Espere | 1932-08-13 |
Movie | Red Noses | Miss Todd | 1932-03-18 |
Movie | Call Her Savage | Sunny De Lane | 1932-11-24 |
Movie | Sneak Easily | Miss Thelma Todd - Attorney for the Defense | 1932-12-10 |
Movie | The Soilers | Thelma | 1932-10-29 |
Movie | Horse Feathers | Connie Bailey | 1932-08-19 |
Movie | Show Business | Thelma | 1932-08-20 |
Movie | Klondike | Klondike | 1932-08-29 |
Movie | Alum and Eve | Thelma | 1932-09-24 |
Movie | The Hot Heiress | Lola | 1931-03-28 |
Movie | Rough Seas | Antoinette | 1931-04-24 |
Movie | The Pip from Pittsburg | Thelma | 1931-03-21 |
Movie | Love Fever | Thelma Todd | 1931-04-11 |
Movie | Command Performance | Lydia | 1931-01-19 |
Movie | Aloha | Winifred Bradford | 1931-04-26 |
Movie | No Limit | Betty Royce | 1931-01-15 |
Movie | Chickens Come Home | Mrs. Hardy | 1931-02-21 |
Movie | Let's Do Things | Thelma Todd | 1931-06-06 |
Movie | The Maltese Falcon | Iva Archer | 1931-05-23 |
Movie | Corsair | Alison Corning | 1931-11-28 |
Movie | On the Loose | Thelma | 1931-12-26 |
Movie | The Pajama Party | Thelma | 1931-10-03 |
Movie | War Mamas | Thelma | 1931-11-14 |
Movie | Monkey Business | Lucille Briggs | 1931-09-19 |
Movie | Broadminded | Gertie Gardner | 1931-08-01 |
Movie | Catch-As Catch-Can | Thelma | 1931-08-22 |
Movie | All Teed Up | Thelma | 1930-04-16 |
Movie | The Shrimp | Jim's Girlfriend | 1930-05-03 |
Movie | Whispering Whoopee | Miss Todd | 1930-03-08 |
Movie | The Real McCoy | Thelma | 1930-02-01 |
Movie | The Head Guy | The Star | 1930-01-11 |
Movie | The Fighting Parson | The Blonde Dance Hall Girl | 1930-02-06 |
Movie | Her Man | Nelly | 1930-09-21 |
Movie | Another Fine Mess | Lady Plumtree (uncredited) | 1930-11-29 |
Movie | The King | The Queen | 1930-06-14 |
Movie | Looser Than Loose | Thelma, Charley's Fiancee | 1930-11-15 |
Movie | High C's | Antoinette | 1930-12-27 |
Movie | Follow Thru | Mrs. Van Horn | 1930-09-26 |
Movie | Dollar Dizzy | Thelma Todd (uncredited) | 1930-10-03 |
Movie | Hurdy Gurdy | Blondie | 1929-05-10 |
Movie | Unaccustomed as We Are | Mrs. Kennedy | 1929-05-04 |
Movie | Trial Marriage | Grace Logan | 1929-03-10 |
Movie | The Bachelor Girl | Gladys | 1929-05-20 |
Movie | Seven Footprints to Satan | Eve | 1929-01-27 |
Movie | House of Horror | Thelma | 1929-04-28 |
Movie | Her Private Life | Mrs. Leslie | 1929-08-25 |
Movie | Careers | Hortense | 1929-06-02 |
Movie | Look out Below | Thelma | 1929-08-17 |
Movie | Hotter Than Hot | 1929-08-17 | |
Movie | Snappy Sneezer | Mary White | 1929-07-29 |
Movie | Heart to Heart | Ruby Boyd | 1928-07-22 |
Movie | The Noose | Phyllis | 1928-01-29 |
Movie | Vamping Venus | Madame Vanezlos the Dancer / Venus | 1928-05-13 |
Movie | The Crash | Daisy McQueen | 1928-10-07 |
Movie | The Haunted House | The Nurse | 1928-11-04 |
Movie | Naughty Baby | Bonnie Le Vonne | 1928-12-16 |
Movie | Fashion News | Self (1929) | 1928-11-06 |
Movie | Rubber Heels | Princess Aline | 1927-06-11 |
Movie | The Shield of Honor | Rose aka Flora Fisher | 1927-12-10 |
Movie | Nevada | Hettie Ide | 1927-08-01 |
Movie | Fascinating Youth | Lorraine Lane | 1926-03-17 |
Movie | God Gave Me Twenty Cents | Dance-Hall Girl (uncredited) | 1926-11-20 |