Thelma Todd: The Hollywood Star Found Dead in Her Own Car

On December 16, 1935, Thelma Todd, one of Hollywood’s most popular comic actresses, was found dead in a car in a garage above the Pacific Coast Highway. She was twenty-nine. The official cause was carbon monoxide poisoning. So why has the case never felt closed? This Classic Hollywood documentary follows Todd from Miss Massachusetts to the Marx Brothers films “Monkey Business” and “Horse Feathers,” her comedy shorts at Hal Roach Studios, and her seaside cafe on the Pacific Coast Highway. We retrace her final night, the unanswered questions in the evidence, and the competing explanations: accident, suicide or something else. We clearly separate what is documented from theories that have circulated for decades but were never proven. No one was ever charged. If you love Old Hollywood, unsolved Hollywood mysteries, vintage comedy and forgotten stars, this one is for you. Subscribe to Star Archive for more Classic Hollywood mysteries and forgotten stories from the 1930s to the 1980s. Based on historical records, newspaper accounts and biographies. Disputed claims and unproven theories are presented as such. #ThelmaTodd #ClassicHollywood #HollywoodMysteries