Carole Landis | |
|---|---|
 Landis in 1941 | |
| Born | Frances Lillian Mary Ridste (1919-01-01)January 1, 1919 Fairchild, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | July 5, 1948(1948-07-05) (aged 29) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Other names | The Ping Girl The Chest |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, Singer |
| Years active | 1934–1948 |
| Spouses | |
Carole Landis (bornFrances Lillian Mary Ridste; January 1, 1919 – July 5, 1948) was an American actress and singer. She worked as a contract player forTwentieth Century-Fox in the 1940s. Her breakout role was as the female lead in the 1940 filmOne Million B.C. fromUnited Artists. She was known as "The Ping Girl" and "The Chest" because of her curvy figure.[1]
Landis was born on January 1, 1919, inFairchild, Wisconsin, the youngest of five children of Clara (née Sentek), a Polish farmer's daughter, and Norwegian-American Alfred Ridste, a drifting railroad mechanic who abandoned the family after Landis's birth.[2][3]: 205 [4] According to Landis's biographer E. J. Fleming, circumstantial evidence supports that Landis was likely the biological child of her mother's second husband, Charles Fenner. Fenner left Landis's mother in April 1921 and remarried a few months later.[5]
In 1923, Landis's family moved toSan Bernardino, California, where her mother worked menial jobs to support the family.[6] At the age of 15, Landis dropped out ofSan Bernardino High School and set forth on a career path toshow business.[7] She started out as ahula dancer in a San Francisco nightclub, where she was described by her boss as a "nervous $35-a-week blonde doing a pathetic hula at her opening night at the old Royal Hawaiian on Bush [Street]...that'll never get her anyplace in show business". He apparently employed her only because he felt sorry for her;[8] she later sang with a dance band. She bleached her hair blonde and changed her name to "Carole Landis" after her favorite actress,Carole Lombard. After saving $100, she moved to Hollywood.[2]
Landis made her film debut as an extra in the 1937 filmA Star Is Born. She also appeared in varioushorse operas.[2] She posed for hundreds ofcheesecake photographs.[2] She continued appearing in bit parts until 1940, whenHal Roach cast her as a cave girl inOne Million B.C..[9] The movie was a sensation and turned Landis into a star. A press agent nicknamed her "The Ping Girl" (an awkward contraction of "purring").[2]
Landis appeared in a string of successful films in the early 1940s, 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 withTwentieth Century-Fox and began asexual relationship withDarryl F. Zanuck. She had roles playing opposite fellowpin-up girlBetty Grable in the musicalMoon Over Miami and crime dramaI Wake Up Screaming, both in 1941. When Landis ended her relationship with Zanuck, her career suffered and she was assigned roles inB-movies.
Her final two films,Noose andBrass Monkey, were both made inGreat Britain.
She became a popular pin-up with servicemen duringWorld War II.[10]
In 1945 she starred onBroadway in the musicalA Lady Says Yes, with future novelistJacqueline Susann in a small role.[11][10] Susann is said to have based the character of Jennifer North, from her best-selling novelValley of the Dolls, in part on Landis.[12][10]
Landis wrote several newspaper and magazine articles about her experiences during the war, including the 1944 bookFour Jills in a Jeep, which was later made into a movie costarring Kay Francis, Martha Raye, and Mitzi Mayfair.[10][13] She also wrote the foreword toVic Herman's cartoon bookWinnie the WAC.[10][14]
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Landis was married four times and had no children (she was unable to conceive owing toendometriosis).[2] In January 1934, 15-year-old Landis married her first husband, 19-year-old Irving Wheeler. Her mother had the marriage annulled in February 1934. Landis persuaded her father, Alfred Ridste (who had left the family shortly after Landis was born and who, by coincidence, lived near the family in San Bernardino), to allow her to remarry Wheeler. He finally relented, and the two were remarried on August 25, 1934. After three weeks of marriage, Landis and Wheeler got into an argument and Landis walked out. Neither filed for divorce, and Landis began pursuing an acting career.[15] In 1938, Wheeler reappeared and filed a $250,000alienation of affections lawsuit against director and choreographerBusby Berkeley. Even though Landis and Wheeler were estranged, he claimed that Berkeley had enticed and otherwise persuaded Landis to transfer her affections. Landis maintained that she had not seen Wheeler in years and heard from him only the previous year when he claimed to want a divorce.[16] Wheeler's lawsuit was later dismissed, and Landis and Wheeler were divorced in 1939.[17]: 399
In June 1939 Berkeley proposed to Landis but later broke it off. On July 4, 1940, she married yacht broker Willis Hunt Jr. inLas Vegas.[18] Landis left Hunt after two months of marriage;[2] they were divorced in November 1940.[19]
While touring army camps inLondon in 1942, she metUnited States Army Air Forces Captain Thomas Wallace.[20] They were married in January 1943, and the wedding received a two-page photo spread inLife magazine.[21] The couple separated in May 1945,[22] and they divorced in July 1945.[20]
On December 8, 1945, Landis married Broadway producerW. Horace Schmidlapp.[17]: 400 They separated in 1947 and Landis filed for divorce in May 1948, charging Schmidlapp with "extreme mental cruelty."[9][23]During her separation from Schmidlapp, Landis began a relationship with actorRex Harrison, who was then married to actressLilli Palmer. The affair became anopen secret in Hollywood.[24] After Landis's death, however, Harrison downplayed their relationship and publicly claimed that she was merely a close friend of himself and Palmer.[25]
Landis was reportedly crushed whenHarrison refused to divorce his wife for her. Unable to cope any longer, on July 5, 1948,[9] she committed suicide in herPacific Palisades home at 1465 Capri Drive by taking an overdose ofSeconal.[26][3]: 197–199 Harrison was the last person to see her alive, having had dinner with her the night before she committed suicide.[27]
The next afternoon, Harrison and Landis's maid discovered her on the bathroom floor. Harrison waited several hours before he called a doctor and the police.[28] 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.[3]: 190 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.[29] Landis's official website, which is owned by her family, has questioned the events of Landis's death and the coroner's ruling of suicide.[30] She is interred inForest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery inGlendale, California, in plot 814 of the "Everlasting Love" section. Among the celebrities at her funeral wereCesar Romero,Van Johnson, andPat O'Brien.[31] Harrison attended with his wife.[2]
Landis has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 1765Vine Street.[32]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | The King and the Chorus Girl | Chorine | Uncredited |
| 1937 | A Star Is Born | Girl in beret at Santa Anita bar | Uncredited |
| 1937 | A Day at the Races | Dance Extra | |
| 1937 | Fly-Away Baby | Blonde at airport | |
| 1937 | The Emperor's Candlesticks | Bit part | |
| 1937 | Broadway Melody of 1938 | Dancer | |
| 1937 | Varsity Show | Student | |
| 1937 | Alcatraz Island | Uncredited | |
| 1937 | Over the Goal | Co-ed | Uncredited |
| 1937 | The Adventurous Blonde | Uncredited | |
| 1937 | Hollywood Hotel | Hat check girl with coat | |
| 1938 | The Invisible Menace | Woman waiting to go with her Johnnie | |
| 1938 | Blondes at Work | Carol | |
| 1938 | A Slight Case of Murder | Partygoer leaning on piano during song | |
| 1938 | Love, Honor and Behave | Wheel watcher at party | Uncredited |
| 1938 | Over the Wall | Peggy, girl at beach | Uncredited |
| 1938 | Women Are Like That | Cocktail party guest | Uncredited |
| 1938 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Guest at banquet | Uncredited |
| 1938 | Gold Diggers in Paris | Golddigger | Alternative title:The Gay Impostors |
| 1938 | Men Are Such Fools | June Cooper | Uncredited |
| 1938 | When Were You Born | Ship passenger | Uncredited |
| 1938 | Penrod's Double Trouble | Girl at fair | Uncredited |
| 1938 | Four's a Crowd | Myrtle, Lansford's 2nd Secretary | |
| 1938 | Boy Meets Girl | Commissary cashier | Uncredited |
| 1939 | Three Texas Steers | Nancy Evans | Alternative title:Danger Rides the Range |
| 1939 | Daredevils of the Red Circle | Blanche Granville | |
| 1939 | Cowboys from Texas | June Jones | |
| 1939 | Reno | Mrs. Humphrey | Uncredited |
| 1940 | One Million B.C. | Loana | |
| 1940 | Turnabout | Sally Willows | |
| 1940 | Mystery Sea Raider | June McCarthy | |
| 1941 | Road Show | Penguin Moore | |
| 1941 | Topper Returns | Ann Carrington | |
| 1941 | Moon Over Miami | Barbara Latimer, aka Miss Sears | |
| 1941 | Dance Hall | Lily Brown | |
| 1941 | I Wake Up Screaming | Vicky Lynn | Alternative title:Hot Spot |
| 1941 | Cadet Girl | Gene Baxter | |
| 1942 | A Gentleman at Heart | Helen Mason | |
| 1942 | My Gal Sal | Mae Collins | |
| 1942 | It Happened in Flatbush | Kathryn Baker | |
| 1942 | Orchestra Wives | Natalie Mercer | |
| 1942 | Manila Calling | Edna Fraser | |
| 1943 | The Powers Girl | Kay Evans | |
| 1943 | Wintertime | Flossie Fouchere | |
| 1943 | Show Business at War | Herself | |
| 1944 | Secret Command | Jill McGann | |
| 1944 | Four Jills in a Jeep | Herself | |
| 1945 | Having Wonderful Crime | Helene Justus | |
| 1946 | Behind Green Lights | Janet Bradley | |
| 1946 | A Scandal in Paris | Loretta de Richet | Alternative title:Thieves' Holiday |
| 1946 | It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog | Julia Andrews | |
| 1947 | Out of the Blue | Mae Earthleigh | |
| 1948 | Noose | Linda Medbury | Alternative title:The Silk Noose |
| 1948 | Brass Monkey | Kay Sheldon | Alternative title:Lucky Mascot |
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Warner Brothers Academy Theater | Special Agent[33] |
| 1942 | Command Performance | June 11 |
| Year | Theater genre | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Broadway | A Lady Says Yes | Ghisella[11] |
