Thelma Todd

Thelma Alice Todd was an American actress and businesswoman often referred to by the nickname "The Ice Cream Blonde", as well as "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 with the Marx Brothers 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.

In 1931, Roach cast Todd in her own series of slapstick comedy shorts, running 17 to 27 minutes each. In an attempt to create a female version of Laurel and Hardy, Roach teamed Todd with ZaSu Pitts for 17 shorts. When Pitts left in 1933, she was replaced by Patsy Kelly, appearing with Todd in 21 shorts. These Roach shorts often cast Todd as a levelheaded working girl having all sorts of problems and trying her best to remain poised and charming despite the embarrassing antics of her ditzy sidekick.

She also appeared successfully in such dramas as the original 1931 film version of The Maltese Falcon starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, in which she played Miles Archer's treacherous widow. During her career she appeared in around 120 feature films and shorts.

In August 1934, Todd opened a successful cafe, Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe, in the Los Angeles coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. It attracted a diverse clientele of Hollywood celebrities as well as many tourists.

Todd continued her short-subject series through 1935 and was featured in the full-length Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bohemian Girl. This was her last film; she died after completing all of her scenes, but most of them were re-shot. Producer Roach deleted all of Todd's dialogue and limited her appearance to one musical number.

With the Marx Brothers
Todd appeared in two films with the Marx Brothers, Monkey Business (1931) and Horse Feathers (1932), providing both a comedic foil for Groucho and a romantic interest for Zeppo.

Personal Life
In 1932 Todd married Pasquale "Pat" DiCicco, an agent, movie producer, and occasional actor, as well as an alleged mobster working for Lucky Luciano. The couple had a particularly unstable marriage, and they frequently erupted in drunken brawls, one of which resulted in a broken nose for DiCicco and an emergency appendectomy for Todd. They divorced in 1934. Todd died a year later from what was ruled to be accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.