Carole Landis
Age: 29 | From: Fairchild, Wisconsin, USA
Person Details
Birthday: 1919-01-01 18:29:59
Death: 1948-07-05 18:29:59
Aliases: No known aliases
Gender: Female
Place of birth: Fairchild, Wisconsin, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 31
TV Involvements: 0
Most Famous Work
Biography
In 1935, after high school and a brief marriage in San Bernardino, California, Frances Ridste ran away to San Francisco to work as a nightclub dancer and band singer under the stage name Carole Landis. She got to Hollywood at age 17 in 1936 and got mostly extra work, but in 1937 she landed a contract with Warner Bros. However, Warners gave her mostly bit parts in B pictures and in the chorus of Busby Berkeley pictures for the 15 films she made for them. Her "break" came when Hal Roach cast her as the skin-clad lead in his hit One Million B.C. (1940) and in three fine comedies, then sold her contract to 20th Century-Fox. She played "B" leads and "A" supporting roles in her first 12 Fox films, with a notable dramatic performance in I Wake Up Screaming (1941). Critics dwelled on her fresh-faced beauty, seldom mentioning her acting and comedy potential. Carole wrote a book about her first wartime USO tour, entertaining troops in England and North Africa; in the film version, Four Jills in a Jeep (1944), you can get a glimpse of the kind of talent she really had, and which Fox was wasting. Absent from film work most of that year because of USO tours in the Pacific, Carol returned to Hollywood weakened by amoebic dysentery, malaria, and near-fatal pneumonia only to find the film dismissed as "self-praise". After Having Wonderful Crime (1945)--perhaps her best comedy--and two B pictures, her Fox contract was dropped. Ostracized in Hollywood due to her ardent feminism and rumors about sexual peccadillos, she made her last two films in England. With a stalled career, poor health, failed marriages, financial problems, and the ending of a torrid affair with married Rex Harrison, Carole Landis committed suicide with Seconal in 1948. Intelligent, generous, talented and gorgeous, she was only 29.
Most Famous Work
The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1938) Guest at Banquet (uncredited)
A Star Is Born
(1937) Girl in Beret at Santa Anita Bar (uncredited)
Secret Command
(1944) Jill McCann
I Wake Up Screaming
(1941) Vicky Lynn
One Million B.C.
(1940) Loana
Behind Green Lights
(1946) Janet Bradley
Three Texas Steers
(1939) Nancy Evans
Broadway Melody of 1938
(1937) Chorus Girl (uncredited)Acting
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | (archive footage) | |
| 1948 | Kay Sheldon | |
| Linda Medbury | ||
| 1947 | Mae Earthleigh | |
| 1946 | Loretta de Richet | |
| Julia Andrews | ||
| Janet Bradley | ||
| 1945 | Helene Justus | |
| 1944 | Jill McCann | |
| Carole Landis | ||
| 1943 | Flossie Fouchere | |
| Self | ||
| Kay Evans | ||
| 1942 | Edna Fraser | |
| Natalie Mercer | ||
| Kathryn Baker | ||
| Mae Collins | ||
| Helen Mason | ||
| 1941 | N/A | |
| Gene Baxter | ||
| Vicky Lynn | ||
| Lili Brown | ||
| Barbara Latimer, aka Miss Sears | ||
| Ann Carrington | ||
| Penguin Moore | ||
| 1940 | June McCarthy | |
| Sally Willows | ||
| Loana | ||
| 1939 | Mrs. Humphrey | |
| June Jones | ||
| Blanche Granville | ||
| Nancy Evans | ||
| 1938 | Extra | |
| Commissary Cashier | ||
| Lansford's 2nd Secretary | ||
| Girl at Fair (uncredited) | ||
| Ship Passenger (uncredited) | ||
| June Cooper (uncredited) | ||
| Golddigger | ||
| Guest at Banquet (uncredited) | ||
| Miss Leopard 1938 (uncredited) | ||
| Cocktail Party Guest (uncredited) | ||
| Peggy - Girl at Beach | ||
| Wheel Watcher at Party (uncredited) | ||
| Partygoer Leaning on Piano During Song (uncredited) | ||
| Carol | ||
| Woman Wanting to Go with Her Johnnie | ||
| Woman on Stairs (uncredited) | ||
| 1937 | Hat Check Girl with Coat (uncredited) | |
| Blonde Sunbather | ||
| Girl on Pier | ||
| Bit Role (uncredited) | ||
| Co-ed | ||
| Party Girl (uncredited) | ||
| Student (uncredited) | ||
| Chorus Girl (uncredited) | ||
| Bidder (uncredited) | ||
| Blonde at Airport (uncredited) | ||
| Party Guest (uncredited) | ||
| Girl in Beret at Santa Anita Bar (uncredited) | ||
| Chorine (uncredited) | ||
| 1936 | Chorus Girl (uncredited) | |
| Self | ||
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
