laurel and hardy game of monkey business

With the advent of the talkies, she was able to expand her roles when producer Hal Roach signed her to appear with comedy stars such as Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy. Career Film ĭuring the silent film era, Todd appeared in numerous supporting roles that made full use of her beauty but gave her little chance to act.

Todd later found work, in 1929, at Hal Roach Studios. Of the 16 members of her cohort, only Charles 'Buddy' Rogers also made it to Hollywood. 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. While representing her home state, she was spotted by a Hollywood talent scout. 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. Intending to become a schoolteacher, she enrolled at the Lowell Normal School (now University of Massachusetts, Lowell) after graduating from high school in 1923. She had an older brother, William, who died in an accident in 1910. 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 also had roles in several Wheeler and Woolsey and Laurel and Hardy films, the last of which ( The Bohemian Girl) featured her in a part that was cut short by her sudden death in 1935 at the age of 29. She co-starred with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily. Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 19, 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. Thelma Alice Todd (J– December 16, 1935) was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames 'The Ice Cream Blonde' and 'Hot Toddy'. Thelma Todd at Sidewalk Café Entrance īuster Keaton, Todd, and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily (1932) Todd in Corsair (1931) Jewel Carmen's residence can be seen on the hill in the background. Todd in Corsair (1931) Todd, Roland Young, Lili Damita in This Is the Night (1932) Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe, 17575 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades Sidewalk CaféĬocktail Room.

Laurel and hardy game of monkey business