Carole Landis
| Carole Landis | |
|---|---|
 in Topper Returns (1941) |
|
| Born | Frances Lillian Mary Ridste January 1, 1919 Fairchild, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | July 5, 1948 (aged 29) Pacific Palisades, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1937–1948 |
| Spouse | Irving Wheeler (1934 annulled; 1934–1939 divorced) Willis Hunt Jr. (1940 divorced) Thomas C. Wallace (1943–1945) (divorced) W. Horace Schmidlapp (1945–1948) (her death) |
Carole Landis (January 1, 1919 – July 5, 1948) was an American film and stage actress, who worked as a contract-player for Twentieth Century-Fox in the 1940s. Her breakthrough role was as the female lead in the 1940 film One Million B.C., with United Artists. She died mysteriously at the age of 29 in 1948. After her death, newspapers headlined stories about the actress, some with the title "The Actress Who Could Have Been...But Never Was." Landis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,[1] at 1765 Vine Street.
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[edit] Film career
Her 1937 film debut was as an extra in A Star Is Born; she also appeared in various horse operas.[2] She posed for hundreds of cheesecake photographs.[2] She continued appearing in bit parts until 1940 when Hal Roach cast her as a cave girl in One Million B.C.. The movie was a sensation and turned Carole into a star. A press agent nicknamed her "The Ping Girl" (because "she makes you purr").[2]
Landis appeared in a string of successful films in the early forties, usually as the second female lead. In a time when the singing of many actresses was dubbed in, Landis's own voice was considered good enough and was used in her few musical roles. Landis landed a contract with 20th Century Fox and began a sexual relationship with Darryl F. Zanuck. She had roles playing opposite fellow pin-up girl Betty Grable in Moon Over Miami and I Wake Up Screaming, both in 1941. When Carole ended her relationship with Zanuck, her career suffered and she was assigned roles in B-movies.
Her final two films Noose and Brass Monkey were both made in Britain.
[edit] USO Tours
In 1942, she toured with comedienne Martha Raye, dancer Mitzi Mayfair and actress Kay Francis with a USO troupe in England and North Africa. Two years later, she entertained soldiers in the South Pacific with Jack Benny. Landis traveled more than 100,000 miles during the war and spent more time visiting troops than any other actress. Landis became a popular pin-up with servicemen during World War II.
[edit] Broadway
In 1945 she starred on Broadway in the musical A Lady Says Yes with Jacqueline Susann, with whom she reportedly had an affair.[3] Susann purportedly based the character Jennifer North in her book Valley of the Dolls on Landis.
[edit] Writing
Landis wrote several newspaper and magazine articles about her experiences during the war, including the 1944 book Four Jills in a Jeep, which was later made into a movie, costarring Kay Francis, Martha Raye, and Mitzi Mayfair. She also wrote the foreword to Victor Herman's cartoon book Winnie the WAC.
[edit] Personal life
Busby Berkeley, director-choreographer, proposed to her in June 1939, but later broke it off. In 1940 she married yacht broker Willis Hunt Jr., a man she called "sarcastic" and left after two months.[2] Two years later, she met an Army Air Corps captain named Thomas Wallace in London, and married him in a church ceremony; they divorced a couple of years later. Carole wanted to have children but was unable to conceive due to endometriosis.[2]
She nearly died from amoebic dysentery and malaria she contracted overseas while entertaining American troops.
In 1945, Landis married Broadway producer W. Horace Schmidlapp. By 1948, her career was in decline and her marriage with Schmidlapp was collapsing. She entered into a romance with actor Rex Harrison, who was then married to actress Lilli Palmer. Landis was reportedly crushed when Harrison refused to divorce his wife for her; unable to cope any longer, she committed suicide in her Pacific Palisades home at 1465 Capri Drive by taking an overdose of Seconal.[4][5] She had spent her final night alive with Harrison. The next afternoon, he and the maid discovered her on the bathroom floor. Harrison waited several hours before he called a doctor and the police.[6] According to some sources, Landis left two suicide notes, one for her mother and the second for Harrison who instructed his lawyers to destroy it.[7] During a coroner's inquest, Harrison denied knowing any motive for her suicide and told the coroner he did not know of the existence of a second suicide note.[8]
Carole Landis was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California in plot 814 of the "Everlasting Love" section. Among the celebrities at her funeral were Cesar Romero, Van Johnson, and Pat O'Brien.[9] Harrison attended with his wife.[2] Her family's official web site claims that Carole was murdered.[10]
[edit] Film credits
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The King and the Chorus Girl | 1937 | Chorine | Uncredited |
| A Star Is Born | 1937 | Girl in beret at Santa Anita bar | Uncredited |
| A Day at the Races | 1937 | Dance Extra | |
| Fly Away Baby | 1937 | Blonde at airport | |
| The Emperor's Candlesticks | 1937 | Bit part | |
| Broadway Melody of 1938 | 1937 | Dancer | |
| Varsity Show | 1937 | Student | |
| Alcatraz Island | 1937 | Uncredited | |
| Over the Goal | 1937 | Co-ed | Uncredited |
| Adventurous Blonde | 1937 | Uncredited | |
| Hollywood Hotel | 1937 | Hat check girl with coat | |
| The Invisible Menace | 1938 | Woman waiting to go with her Johnnie | |
| Blondes at Work | 1938 | Carol | |
| A Slight Case of Murder | 1938 | Partygoer leaning on piano during song | |
| Love, Honor and Behave | 1938 | Wheel watcher at party | Uncredited |
| Over the Wall | 1938 | Peggy, girl at beach | Uncredited |
| Women Are Like That | 1938 | Cocktail party guest | Uncredited |
| The Adventures of Robin Hood | 1938 | Guest at banquet | Uncredited |
| Gold Diggers in Paris | 1938 | Golddigger | Alternative title: The Gay Impostors |
| Men Are Such Fools | 1938 | June Cooper | |
| When You Were Born | 1938 | Ship passenger | Uncredited |
| Penrod's Double Trouble | 1938 | Girl at fair | Uncredited |
| Four's a Crowd | 1938 | Myrtle, Lansford's 2nd Secretary | |
| Boy Meets Girl | 1938 | Commissary cashier | Uncredited |
| Three Texas Steers | 1939 | Nancy Evans | Alternative title: Danger Rides the Range |
| Daredevils of the Red Circle | 1939 | Blanche Granville | |
| Cowboys from Texas | 1939 | June Jones | |
| Reno | 1939 | Mrs. Humphrey | Uncredited |
| One Million B.C. | 1940 | Loana | |
| Turnabout | 1940 | Sally Willows | |
| Mystery Sea Raider | 1940 | June McCarthy | |
| Road Show | 1941 | Penguin Moore | |
| Topper Returns | 1941 | Ann Carrington | |
| Moon Over Miami | 1941 | Barbara Latimer, aka Miss Sears | |
| Dance Hall | 1941 | Lily Brown | |
| I Wake Up Screaming | 1941 | Vicky Lynn | Alternative title: Hot Spot |
| Cadet Girl | 1941 | Gene Baxter | |
| A Gentleman at Heart | 1942 | Helen Mason | |
| My Gal Sal | 1942 | Mae Collins | |
| It Happened in Flatbush | 1942 | Kathryn Baker | |
| Orchestra Wives | 1942 | Natalie Mercer | |
| Manila Calling | 1942 | Edna Fraser | |
| The Powers Girl | 1943 | Kay Evans | |
| Wintertime | 1943 | Flossie Fouchere | |
| Secret Command | 1944 | Jill McGann | |
| Show Business at War | 1943 | Herself | |
| Having Wonderful Crime | 1945 | Helene Justus | |
| Behind Green Lights | 1946 | Janet Bradley | |
| A Scandal in Paris | 1946 | Loretta de Richet | Alternative title: Thieves' Holiday |
| It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog | 1946 | Julia Andrews | |
| Out of the Blue | 1947 | Mae Earthleigh | |
| Noose | 1948 | Linda Medbury | Alternative title: The Silk Noose |
| Brass Monkey | 1948 | Kay Sheldon | Alternative title: Lucky Mascot |
[edit] References
- ^ Carole Landis from the Hollywood Walk of Fame website
- ^ a b c d e f "Casually in Hollywood". Time. July 19, 1948. http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,798846,00.html. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
- ^ Nicholas Wapshott (1991) Rex Harrison, p. 111
- ^ Parish, James Robert (2002). The Hollywood Book of Death: The Bizarre, Often Sordid, Passings of More Than 125 American Movie and TV Idols (3 ed.). Contemporary Books. pp. 315. ISBN 0-809-22227-2.
- ^ Gans, Eric Lawrence (2008). "The Good Die Young (1948)". Carole Landis: A Most Beautiful Girl. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 197–199. ISBN 9781604730135. http://books.google.com/books?id=4m7nPlavJi8C&pg=PA197&lpg=PA197&ct=result#PPA199,M1. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
- ^ Mosby, Aline (July 6, 1948). "Carole Landis Mystery Death Clues Hunted". Oakland Tribune. p. 1.
- ^ Gans, Eric Lawrence (2008). Carole Landis: A Most Beautiful Girl. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 190. ISBN 1-604-73013-7.
- ^ Actor Rex Harrison answering questions from coroner Ira Nance at inquiry on Carol Landis' suicide, a July 1948 Los Angeles Times photograph from the UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library website
- ^ Mosby, Aline (July 11, 1948). "Scores Attend Funeral of Carole Landis". Oakland Tribune. p. 1.
- ^ Was Carole Murdered?
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carole Landis |
- Official website, created by some of her relatives
- Carole Landis Online
- Carole Landis at the Internet Broadway Database
- Carole Landis at the Internet Movie Database
- Carole Landis at Find a Grave
