Known For: American actress (1906–1935)
Category: Actresses
Occupation: actor, film actor
Country: United States of America
City: Lawrence
Date of Birth: Sunday, 29 July 1906
Died: 1935-12-16 00:00:00 in Q1370207
Thelma Alice Todd was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, she is remembered for her comedic roles opposite ZaSu Pitts, and in films such as Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers and a number of Charley Chase's short comedies. She co-starred with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily. She also had roles in several Wheeler and Woolsey and Laurel and Hardy films, the last of which featured her in a part that was cut short by her sudden death in 1935 at the age of 29.
| BirthPlace | Lawrence |
| Education | Q15143 |
| Awards | Q17985761 |
| Spouses | Pat DiCicco |
| Wikipedia | Thelma_Todd |
Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to John Shaw Todd, an upholsterer from Ireland, and later, a superintendent of streets, an alderman, and Lawrence's commissioner of health and charities in 1912 and Alice Elizabeth Edwards, an immigrant from Canada. She had an older brother, William, who died in an accident in 1910. She was a bright and successful student. Intending to become a schoolteacher, she enrolled at the Lowell Normal School (now University of Massachusetts, Lowell) after graduating from high school in 1923. As a student, she earned money as a model, entered beauty pageants in her late teens, gained the attention of Elks Lodge 65, was crowned 1925 Miss Lawrence, and won the title of 1925 Miss Massachusetts. While representing her home state, she was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout. She was offered a slot at the Paramount Players School in Astoria, Queens, New York City, at a time when Paramount Studios was training would-be-actors in acting, diction, athletics and manners. Of the 16 members of her cohort, only Charles "Buddy" Rogers also made it to Hollywood. Todd later found work, in 1929, at Hal Roach Studios.
