A Blog For Thelma Todd
Thelma Todd was a star of silent movies and later the talkies. She is remembered as much today for her mysterious death as she is for her films. In this blog, we take a look at Thelma Todd, her movies, and various commentaries.
PALOOKA was a comedy based on the comic strip JOE PALOOKA, which was released on January 26, 1934.
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PALOOKA starred Stuart Erwin, Jimmy Durante, and Lupe Velez
Lupe Velez and Jimmy Durante appeared together on Broadway as well as in several other films.
Thelma Todd appears as "Trixie", but that name may have only been used in the credits.
Another shot in the same costume.
Another shot with a cigarette. Smoking is supposed to indicate that she is a bad girl.
Robert Armstrong as Palooka senior. The booze also indicates that Thelma Todd'scharacter is supposed to be a bad girl. But this is a comedy, so it is not supposed to be taken seriously.
This is supposed to be funny, too. .
"Joe Palooka" is played by Stuart Erwin, and Mary Carlisle played his girlfriend. Neither appears in any scenes withThelma Todd in this film, her character being involved with Joe Palooka's father inthe story
Vibe Surfside building Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Castellammare Residents Express Parking Concerns
JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter
A tenant has moved into the Castellammare property that once housed actress Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Cafe and sat empty for years at 17575 Pacific Coast Highway this month.
The actress’ still-mysterious death in 1935 at the age of 29 garnered the property, built in 1928, fame—inviting interest, concern and wild speculation throughout the years the building sat empty.
The space is now home to The Many, a full-service advertising agency, which occupies the entire building.
“Hayman Properties bought the building from the former owners, and then they upgraded the building to be remarkable, with an emphasis on honoring its memory and legacy,” CBRE West LA office Executive Vice President Blake Mirkin, who held the listing, said.
The 16,000-square-foot property was sold for $6 million in 2015, according to records. PCH Building CP, LLC, the owner on record, is an entity affiliated with Hayman Properties, a Brentwood-based real estate investment and management company.
Mirkin shared that the redevelopment that took place was “quite special,” including exterior space, landscape and hardscape features, and various levels of seating and workspace. The property, now called Vibe Surfside, includes several water features, a fire pit and a pizza oven.
The property represented a one-of-a-kind redevelopment opportunity, according to Hayman Properties’ website. The space continues to be a “true icon of the Los Angeles Pacific Coast landscape.”
With the new tenant moving into the neighborhood, residents in Castellammare have concerns over parking.
Robert Hayman, the developer, spoke with residents of Lecco Lane and Porto Marina Way in December 2018 regarding proposed plans for parking, according to Palisadian Stephen Ujlaki.
Ujlaki explained that Hayman proposed parking for new tenants by sharing an area used by Caltrans as a staging area on PCH located just north of Porto Marina Way—a suggestion posted on a Vibe Surfside website.
In February 2019, a representative from the Department of Transportation reported in a letter obtained by the Post that, to date, Caltrans had not received a formal request for a lease agreement or sale transaction of the lot and that preserving the property for staging use “is in the best interest of the state.”
The Many uses a valet system for parking vehicles.
“We really tried to avoid having 100 employees and guests searching for parking in the neighborhood, so we selected the valet option to put as little strain on the public parking situation as possible,” The Many Founding Partner Jens Stoelken explained. “Cars are taken over to Los Liones away from the neighborhood.”
Stoelken added that the company also has a policy to cover Uber and public transportation for employees to limit the number of cars that are valeted.
“We’re thrilled to have completed this historic revitalization of a century-old community asset,” said Jamarah Hayner, project spokesperson. “During our neighborhood outreach events as well as community conversations over the last year, we’ve asked questions, shared ideas and explored a range of solutions pertaining to building’s parking.
“Our goal is to preserve neighborhood and beach-goer parking by pursuing the most practical and least impactful parking and access to the building for both the tenants and the community. We have explored multiple potential alternatives in the vicinity, some of which we are now using, while maintaining neighborhood safety and access.”
Ujlaki said that the primary concern of Palisades residents is about safety and expressed hope that Hayman Properties will choose to use under-utilized existing paid parking lots in the area for the tenants.
“We hope with enough opposition, Hayman will do the smart thing,” Ujlaki concluded.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a response from the project spokesperson.
Oliver Hardy, Thelma Todd, Hal Roach, and Stan Laurel
20th Anniversary of the Roach Studio on December 7, 1933.
Laurel And Hardy with Mrs Roach and Will Roger
MGM's poster congratulating Hal on his studio's 20th anniversary:
Thelma Todd is the blonde in the middle of the picture. The unfortunate individual with the green face next to her is meant to be Patsy Kelly. Below her with a blue face is Charley Chase, while the blue-faced individual behind Thelma Todd is Bill Gilbert. Laurel and Hardy are in the foreground, colored yellow and orange, while Our Gang kids of different colors are on the left.
This picture appears to be from an earlier period, although it was used for Thelma Todd at the Hal Roach Studio. At that time she no longer had long hair.
STARS OF THE PHOTOPLAY, published in 1930, also used an older photo for Thelma Todd which showed her as she had originally looked.
Looks like they continued using old picures after changing the way that Thelma Todd looked.
Brief documentary of Thelma Todd from "The Laurel and Hardy Show", which describes her work at the Hal Roach Studio, but does not make any mention of her death
This picture is marked "Thelma Todd - Metro Goldwyn Meyer - Hal Roach"
And the caption mentions Hal Roach -
but the long hair Thelma Todd had in that photo is what she had when she got into the movies. By the time she went to work for Roach, she no longer had long hair. They had cut it, beccause long hair was no longer supposed to be fashionable. It could be that this was an old picture showing her with long hair which had been cut before she got to Roach.
Another photo from the same session, same costume, different pose.
Another one from the same session which is marked MGM*, but which doesn't mention Hal Roach.
The previous picture might have had such studio identification, which was cropped off.
Thelma Todd with pearls again, this time with shorter hair, in another publicity photo for the Hal Roach Studio.
This is the way they were making her look in this period.
*MGM released the films of Hal Roach in this period.
