Vintage original 11 x 14 in. sepia-tinted silver bromide double-weight matte photograph of motion picture actress THELMA TODD, c.1929.
 
The beautiful and vivacious Miss Todd is depicted in an interior shot wearing a black dress with white top and various pieces of jewelry as she looks thoughtfully at the camera. This photograph was taken by George P. Hommel during his early days as a portrait photographer, and his courtesy ink stamp appears on the verso. It is in fine+ condition.
 
*"Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress and businesswoman who was often referred to by the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in around 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles opposite Zasu Pitts, and in films, such as the 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 (The Bohemian Girl) featured her in a part that was cut short by her suspicious death in 1935 at the age of 29.
 
Starting in films in 1927, in 1929 alone Todd was making some 20 features and shorts. A girl of great intelligence, Thelma started her working career in pursuit of a teaching degree, but the winning of beauty contests (and her mother’s aspirations) changed that. Though she appeared in dozens of shorts and features of various genres, it was her humor — both physical and verbal — which was popular with audiences then and is appreciated to this day.
 
Her business savvy in opening her own café is what likely lead to her tragic — and, to this day, unsolved — death. When gangsters attempted to turn her business into a front for gambling she refused and was found dead in her own garage from carbon monoxide poisoning soon after. The cursory investigation into her death (ruled a suicide) by the notoriously corrupt Los Angeles District Attorney’s office of the time is seen today as evidence that her death was gang-related. Her last three films were not released until after her death in 1936."
*(source: Wikipedia)
 
OS