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Thelma Hill | |
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 From a 1920 magazine | |
| Born | Thelma Hillerman (1906-12-12)December 12, 1906 Emporia, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | May 11, 1938(1938-05-11) (aged 31) Culver City, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Occupations | Actress, Model |
| Years active | 1919–1934 |
| Spouse | |
Thelma Hill (bornThelma Hillerman; December 12, 1906 – May 11, 1938) was an Americansilent screencomedian and one of theSennett Bathing Beauties.
Hill was born Thelma Hillerman[1] on December 12, 1906, inEmporia, Kansas.[2] Her parents were married in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1899. They relocated to Emporia, Kansas, before Thelma was born and divorced when she was a baby. Her mother Augusta "Gussie" Hillerman was given full custody after alleging her father, railroad worker Clifford Hillerman, had abandoned them for another woman. Clifford Hillerman died in 1914 after suffering an accident at work.[citation needed]
Before she became aMack Sennett bathing beauty, Hill worked as an artist's model in New York.[3]
Hill was one of the fewSennett Bathing Beauties to make it into featured roles. Hill was widely known as the "mah jongg bathing girl" because of themah jongg bathing suit she was photographed in.[citation needed]
When she was a child her parents divorced and her father died. Thelma and her mother moved to California, where they opened a cafe down the road from the Sennett studios. She was discovered byRoscoe Fatty Arbuckle when she was serving him and dropped soup in his lap. Arbuckle introduced her toMack Sennett who made her one of his bathing beauties. In a 1924 article Sennett declared she was the "ideal bathing beauty of her time". The petite actress was just five feet tall and weighed only 100 pounds.[citation needed]
She started working as an extra at the Sennett studios in 1919 and appeared in dozens of comedy shorts includingPicking Peaches (1924) andThe Hollywood Kid (1925). She was a talented comedienne and quickly moved on to featured roles. Hill starred oppositeBen Turpin inA Prodigal Bridegroom (1926) and withBilly Bevan inHoboken From Hollywood. Mack Sennett saw her potential and signed to her a long term long contract.
From 1927 to 1929, she co-starred withBud Duncan inLarry Darmour's series of silentToots and Casper comedy shorts and wasLaurel and Hardy's leading lady inTwo Tars (1928). She was under contract atFBO in 1927 and was signed byMGM for a role inThe Fair Co-Ed (1927). She appeared in a handful of talkies includingThe Old Barn (1929) andThe Naughty Flirt (1931) withAlice White. Her final role was in theHal Roach comedyMixed Nuts (1934).
In 1934 she marriedJohn West Sinclair, a stunt man and gag writer forW.C. Fields.[4]
By 1935 she had retired from movies and was living with her husband at 8229 Blackburn Avenue in Hollywood. Unfortunately she was suffering fromdepression andalcohol abuse. After having a nervous breakdown she entered Edward Merrill Sanitarium inCulver City, California, in early 1938.[citation needed]
She died at the sanitorium on May 11, 1938, at the age of 31. Cause of death was attributed to a stomach ailment.[5] She was buried inForest Lawn Memorial Park[2]
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