Thelma Todd: Starvation Diets

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Photoplay's Weight Loss Series Of 1926 - End

We jump ahead to the last issue ( September 1926 ) of the series because it's handy. There was another one in between that I couldn't seem to lay my hands on.

I am not familiar with some of the excercise machines mentioned in this article. It could be that they are no longer in use. Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts were shown using exercise machines in RED NOSES.

The Paramount acting school mentioned on this page is the same one that Thelma Todd went through at the time.

I am familiar with the effects of Thyroid pills as I take them every day ( my thyroid gland doesn't work and I need to ). I have had my weight fall off when the dosage was too high. Thyroid horomone isn't something to fool around with.

And here's an article that ascribes the death of Barbara La Marr to excessive dieting.

The death of Wallace Reid was said to be related to drugs that had been perscribed by his doctor. Some doctors used to be careless in perscribing things like morphine or even heroin. So they say.

Barbara La Marr was one of Zasu Pitt's friends, and I remember her death being mentioned in some of the books. But I'm not sure how often they ascribe her death to extreme dieting.

I think excessive dieting was a problem for Thelma Todd, but I don't think it's usually been emphasized in most of the books I recall. But there was one that put some emphasis on the subject.

HOT TODDY by Andy Edmonds

The book HOT TODDY by Andy Edmonds said Thelma Todd was taking diet pills that contained amphetemines. But diet pills containing amphetemines seem to have come into use after the second World War. Something that criticism of the book seems to have somehow missed, even though some of the same people found lots of other mistakes, some of which aren't even in there.

However, some of the diet pills that were in common use in the 1920's contained thyroid horomone, which could also cause problems, including heart trouble. Thelma Todd suffered from some sort of heart trouble, as did her replacement at the Roach studio, Lyda Roberti.

The problem of extreme dieting is still with us today. There's a whole industry based on it, so the people involved in that industry have an interest in keeping the thing going.

Barbara Lamarr:
http://barbaralamarr.com/

Jean Morgan ( girl in the pictures said to be a graduate of Paramount's acting school ):
http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1998/winter98/marsh.shtml

Wallace Reid:
http://www.goldensilents.com/stars/wallacereid.html

Thelma Todd Dieting Though She Disliked It ( Pittsburgh Press Article ):
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19351224&id=1kwbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DEwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4514,1736957

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Photoplay's Fight Against Reduceomania

Starvation diets were recognized as a problem long ago. Complaints about them go way back, too. Here's something published in PHOTOPLAY back in the silent era.

In 1926, Catherine Brody wrote a series of articles in PHOTOPLAY about problems related to dieting, which was related to the current ideal of the "flapper", who was supposed to be thinner than the traditional norm in addition to rebelling against things like layers of undergarments and long hair. The movies of the period depicted heroines as being flappers and influenced many young ladies to follow the trend.

Many stars suffered from the effects of excessive dieting, something which may be ignored or denied by fans not familiar with the problem. The modern media seeks to set abnormal standards which can cause problems to those who might follow them, and the problem is still with us today.

Betty Blythe in the movie SHE, based on the H. Rider Haggard's novel.