Book Reviewed: Hot Toddy - The True Story of Hollywood's Most Sensational Murder, by Andy Edmonds

The fallen angel

Thelma Todd was a stylish blonde with an illustrious career in Hollywood. She worked with some of the best in showbusiness including Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Gloria Swanson, and others. She was one of the rare breed of actors to successfully cross over from silent films to talkies. This biography traces Todd's life and career of a perky little girl from her hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Under pressure from her mother, she became a reluctant beauty queen and then her rapid rise to become a star. She was a cross between Goldie Hawn and Farrah Fawcett. Despite this celebrity status, Todd was a very troubled; she had a difficult relationship with her husband Pat DiCicco, a self-described Hollywood agent with mob connections. She also had relationship with Mobster Lucky Luciano: Both the men were physically abusive to her. Her father was a distant, unloving man. Her on-screen life appeared to be a happy one and life seemed beautiful for this outspoken Hollywood rebel, but she was a deeply troubled who went out with several men and all of them were wrong for her.

Todd’s mysterious death at the age of 29 produced the same level of shock of other mysterious deaths like Marilyn Monroe and Sharon Tate. Her lifeless body was slumped over the wheel of her Lincoln convertible in her garage and the engine was still running. The coroner ruled her death a suicide due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The grand jury came up with same conclusion, but crime scene evidence and witness accounts contradicted this conclusion.

There are numerous suspects according to author Andy Edmonds that includes Todd`s ex-husband, Pat DiCicco; Roland West, a failed director and Todd`s lover; Roland’s wife Jewel Carmen. The Wests had financed the Sidewalk Café, overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Pacific Palisades, California. But it was owned by Thelma Todd. The three partners lived in a duplex together above the restaurant, it was an uncomfortable arrangement. While Roland West bitterly resented Todd`s numerous affairs with mobsters and studio bosses. But surprisingly, his wife Jewel Carmen didn`t object to his liaison with Todd. When the restaurant started to lose money, she threatened to kill her for squandering her investment. The most prominent name associated with her murder is the mob boss Lucky Luciano, a psychopath involved in gambling and extortion. Luciano was interested to control her restaurant to set up a gambling operation.

This biography reads like a textbook by Freud. The author has researched the relevant materials and interviewed people who were connected to her death. This is a highly intriguing murder mystery written in engaging style. A real page turner for readers interested in history of Hollywood, murder mystery in Tinseltown, and life of Thelma Todd. Based on the materials of this book, a TV movie entitled, ''White Hot” was aired in 1990 starring Loni Anderson as Thelma Todd. Anderson offered a passionate, flamboyant, and a touching performance. In an interview, she said that studio chief Hal Roach included a `potato clause` in Thelma Todd's contract, if she gained more than five pounds, she`d be fired. This led to weight control pill addictions, and excessive alcohol. Her death remains a mystery just like that of Marilyn Monroe.