Friday, June 13, 2014

Lola Todd

It seems that Thelma Todd was not the only one who thought about using a stage name for reasons that had to do with the name of Thelma Todd.

Lola Todd

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lola Todd
Born	(1904-05-14)May 14, 1904 New York City, New York, United States
Died	July 31, 1995(1995-07-31) (aged 91) Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1923 - 1929

Lola Todd (May 14, 1904 – July 31, 1995) was an American film actress in the early years of Hollywood's silent film era.
Todd was born in New York City, and moved to Hollywood in the early 1920s to pursue film acting. She received her first role in the 1923 film The Ghost City, followed by Rustlin' Buster that same year, opposite Jack Mower. In 1924 her career briefly took off, and she would star in nine films that year. In 1925 she would have roles in only three films, but would be one of thirteen girls selected to be "WAMPAS Baby Stars", a list which included future Hollywood legend June Marlowe.
She would star in five films the following year, and four in 1927, but afterward her career would slow considerably. In 1928 and 1929 combined she would have roles in only three films, and with the advent of "talking films" her career ended promptly. She retired in Los Angeles, where she resided until her death on July 31, 1995, aged 91.

Selected filmography

The Return of the Riddle Rider (1927)
The Bells (1926)
The Scarlet Streak (1925)
Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1924) - Pocahontas
The Iron Man (1924)
The Ghost City (1923)

References

Lola Todd filmography

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The Wampus Baby Stars was a promotional campaign by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers,which honored thirteen young women a year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. June Marlow, who was on the list at the same time as Lola Todd, would later play "Miss Crabtree" in Our Gang comedies.

As for the Thelma Todd angle, THE WAMPUS BABY STARS by Roy Liebman tells us:
"In the late 1920's Todd announced her intention of assuming the stage name of Carol Mason. This was ostensibly to avoid comparisons with blonde comedienne Thelma Todd, although she did not physically resemble her. There is no evidence that she made any films under that name and her motion picture career ended about the same time."

It is likely that the coming of sound had something to do with her retirement from the screen. The coming of sound brought about a number of changes, including an exodus of silent stars and an influx of new talent from the theater.