| Interment Location | Visited | |
|---|---|---|
| Lawrence, MA | June 15, 2019 |
Known as “the Ice Cream Blonde,” Thelma Todd was a hot commodity in Hollywood during her decade in show business. She appeared in dramas and comedies alike, with her most memorable roles falling into the latter genre. Across roughly 120 films, Todd worked with personalities such as Joe E. Brown, Jimmy Durante, Buster Keaton, Ginger Rogers, Laurel and Hardy, Clara Bow, ZaSu Pitts, and John Barrymore. The enterprising young star was also a businesswoman; in August 1934 she opened Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Cafe on the Pacific Coast Highway. Todd’s careers were cut short in December 1935, when she was found dead in a garage, having succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. She was just 29 years old. Her remains were cremated. When her mother, Alice, died in 1969, Todd’s ashes were places in her casket. They were buried together in section 19 of Bellevue Cemetery in their hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Fast Facts
Born: July 29, 1906 in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Spouse: Pat DiCicco (m.1932-1934)
Died: December 16, 1935 in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
Cause of Death: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Age: 29
Interment: Bellevue Cemetery, Lawrence, Massachusetts
"Seriously, though, it is much easier to be serious than to be funny. In real life, as well as in the films, who doesn't feel more like crying than laughing? I don't, for one. I think life is a lot of fun and very jolly, except when they decide it might be a good gag to have a truck run over me."
- Thelma Todd
in an interview with Molly Marsh, printed in the Detroit Free Press on November 4, 1934
Sources Consulted and Further Reading
IMDb. “Thelma Todd (1906-1935).’ Accessed December 24, 2023. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0865298/.
Marsh, Molly. “Thelma Todd — the Toast of All Hollywood.” Detroit Free Press. November 4, 1934. From Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/article/detroit-free-press-thelma-todd-molly-m/18352507/.
