Thelma Todd seemed to be living the life of classic Hollywood dreams. She had a busy career, an active social life, and she owned a restaurant at arguably the most beautiful corner of southern California coastline. Then, one cold LA Christmas season, she died, alone in her own garage. The official ruling was that her death had been accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. A slough of suspicious characters surrounding Thelma and her death cast doubt on this theory, though. Investigating this 90 year old mystery with Tess is Babs Gray (@babsdgray) of Lady to Lady, Comedy Central, Vice. 

Read Michelle Morgan’s “The Ice Cream Blonde”

Read Thelma’s LA Times Obituary 

Watch  Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly in their comedy shorts

Follow Pop Mystery Pod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @popmysterypod 

Pop Mystery Pod is written and produced by Tess Barker @tesstifybarker. Produced by Tyler Hill. 

Theme song by Rick Wood @Rickw00d.

Support independent pop journalism and join us on Patreon at Pop Mystery Pod. Get access to ad free episodes, bonus content, and polls about upcoming topics. patreon.com/PopMysteryPod

Follow Tess’s other podcasts Lady to Lady and Toxic: The Britney Spears Story wherever you get your pods. 

Make sure to leave us a review! And tell a friend about the show!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.