The Ice Cream Blonde: The Whirlwind Life and Mysterious Death of Screwball Comedienne Thelma Todd - Hardcover

Michelle Morgan (author)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1613730381 ISBN 13: 9781613730386

Publisher: Chicago Review Press, 2015

Synopsis

A beloved film comedienne who worked alongside the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and dozens of others, Thelma Todd was a rare Golden Age star who successfully crossed over from silent films to talkies. This authoritative new biography traces Todd s life from a vivacious little girl who tried to assuage her parents grief over her brother s death, to an aspiring teacher turned reluctant beauty queen, to an outspoken movie starlet and restaurateur.
Increasingly disenchanted with Hollywood, in 1934 Todd opened Thelma Todd s Sidewalk Cafe, a hot spot that attracted fans, tourists, and celebrities. Despite success in film and business, privately the beautiful actress was having a difficult year receiving disturbing threats from a stranger known as the Ace and having her home ransacked when she was found dead in a garage near her cafe.An inquest concluded that her death, at age just twenty-nine, was accidental, but in a thorough new investigation that draws on interviews, photographs, documents, and extortion notes much of these not previously available to the public Michelle Morgan offers a compelling new theory, suggesting the sequence of events on the night of her death and arguing what many people have long suspected: that Thelma was murdered.
But by whom?
The suspects include Thelma s movie-director lover, her would-be-gangster ex-husband, and the thugs who were pressuring her to install gaming tables in her popular cafe including a new, never-before-named mobster. This fresh examination on the eightieth anniversary of the star's death is sure to interest any fan of Thelma Todd, of Hollywood's Golden Age, or of gripping real-life murder mysteries."

About this title

Review

I loved [author Michelle] Morgan s writing style; she makes Thelma Todd an accessible human being. On Wednesdays We Wear Capes"

Morgan presents a biography sure to appeal to fans of Hollywood s Golden Era rich in significant detailsabout Todd s life and aimed at ending speculation about the death of this versatile actress. "Booklist""

Morgan digs into the complexities of Thelma's last night, and the events that would follow, with a strong investigative eye. "indieWIRE""

[For] anyone already acquainted with Todd and the controversy surrounding her death, the book offers a concise and thoughtful glimpse into an actress untimely demise. "Pre-code.com""

well written and with much research, giving us an insight into the true Thelma Todd, from her beginnings in Massachusetts to her demise in California. "Any Good Book""

"a great read, and also timely." Huffington Post"

"Michelle Morgan weaves another insightful examination of a much maligned figure, highlighting the darkness but never ignoring the light surrounding Thelma Todd." Journeys in Classic Film"

This is a well-researched and invigorating celebration of a talent that does not deserve to be forgotten. EDGE"

a good read, especially for anyone interested in the heyday of Hollywood with all its dirty little secrets. "New York Journal of Books""

"Author Morgan does meticulous work, not only about all the strangeness surrounding Todd's death, but the actresses' slow, steady and mostly unsatisfying climb." New York Social Diary"

About the Author

Michelle Morgan is the author of "The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals," "The Mammoth Book of Madonna," and several books about Marilyn Monroe: "Marilyn Monroe: Private and Confidential," "Before Marilyn: The Blue Book Modeling Years," and" Marilyn s Addresses: A Fan s Guide to the Places She Knew.""

About this edition

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1613730381
• ISBN 13: 9781613730386
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288