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.
Movie | The Casting Couch | (archive footage) | 1995-01-01 |
Movie | Noose | Linda Medbury | 1948-09-28 |
Movie | Brass Monkey | Kay Sheldon | 1948-12-01 |
Movie | Out of the Blue | Mae Earthleigh | 1947-04-21 |
Movie | Behind Green Lights | Janet Bradley | 1946-02-15 |
Movie | It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog | Julia Andrews | 1946-07-01 |
Movie | A Scandal in Paris | Loretta de Richet | 1946-07-19 |
Movie | Having Wonderful Crime | Helene Justus | 1945-04-12 |
Movie | Secret Command | Jill McCann | 1944-07-30 |
Movie | Four Jills in a Jeep | Carole Landis | 1944-03-17 |
Movie | The Powers Girl | Kay Evans | 1943-01-15 |
Movie | Show-Business at War | Self | 1943-05-21 |
Movie | Wintertime | Flossie Fouchere | 1943-09-17 |
Movie | My Gal Sal | Mae Collins | 1942-04-30 |
Movie | A Gentleman at Heart | Helen Mason | 1942-01-16 |
Movie | Orchestra Wives | Natalie Mercer | 1942-09-04 |
Movie | It Happened in Flatbush | Kathryn Baker | 1942-05-28 |
Movie | Manila Calling | Edna Fraser | 1942-10-16 |
Movie | Topper Returns | Ann Carrington | 1941-03-21 |
Movie | Road Show | Penguin Moore | 1941-02-18 |
Movie | Dance Hall | Lili Brown | 1941-07-18 |
Movie | Moon Over Miami | Barbara Latimer, aka Miss Sears | 1941-07-04 |
Movie | I Wake Up Screaming | Vicky Lynn | 1941-10-31 |
Movie | Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2 | 1941-12-05 | |
Movie | Cadet Girl | Gene Baxter | 1941-11-28 |
Movie | One Million B.C. | Loana | 1940-04-05 |
Movie | Mystery Sea Raider | June McCarthy | 1940-10-26 |
Movie | Turnabout | Sally Willows | 1940-05-17 |
Movie | Three Texas Steers | Nancy Evans | 1939-05-12 |
Movie | Daredevils of the Red Circle | Blanche Granville | 1939-06-10 |
Movie | Cowboys from Texas | June Jones | 1939-11-29 |
Movie | Reno | Mrs. Humphrey | 1939-12-01 |
Movie | Love, Honor and Behave | Wheel Watcher at Party (uncredited) | 1938-03-12 |
Movie | Women Are Like That | Cocktail Party Guest (uncredited) | 1938-04-23 |
Movie | A Slight Case of Murder | Partygoer Leaning on Piano During Song (uncredited) | 1938-02-26 |
Movie | Over the Wall | Peggy - Girl at Beach | 1938-04-02 |
Movie | Hollywood Hotel | Hat Check Girl with Coat (uncredited) | 1938-01-15 |
Movie | The Patient in Room 18 | Woman on Stairs (uncredited) | 1938-01-08 |
Movie | The Invisible Menace | Woman Wanting to Go with Her Johnnie | 1938-01-11 |
Movie | Torchy Blane in Panama | Miss Leopard 1938 (uncredited) | 1938-05-07 |
Movie | Blondes at Work | Carol | 1938-02-05 |
Movie | Four's a Crowd | Lansford's 2nd Secretary | 1938-08-04 |
Movie | Girls on Probation | Extra | 1938-10-22 |
Movie | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Guest at Banquet (uncredited) | 1938-05-13 |
Movie | Penrod's Double Trouble | Girl at Fair (uncredited) | 1938-07-23 |
Movie | Boy Meets Girl | Commissary Cashier | 1938-08-27 |
Movie | Gold Diggers in Paris | Golddigger | 1938-06-11 |
Movie | When Were You Born | Ship Passenger (uncredited) | 1938-06-18 |
Movie | Men Are Such Fools | June Cooper (uncredited) | 1938-06-15 |
Movie | The Emperor's Candlesticks | Bidder (uncredited) | 1937-07-02 |
Movie | A Day at the Races | Party Guest (uncredited) | 1937-06-11 |
Movie | Fly Away Baby | Blonde at Airport (uncredited) | 1937-06-19 |
Movie | A Star Is Born | Girl in Beret at Santa Anita Bar (uncredited) | 1937-04-27 |
Movie | Broadway Melody of 1938 | Chorus Girl (uncredited) | 1937-08-20 |
Movie | The King and the Chorus Girl | Chorine (uncredited) | 1937-03-27 |
Movie | The Adventurous Blonde | Bit Role (uncredited) | 1937-11-13 |
Movie | She Loved a Fireman | Blonde Sunbather | 1937-12-18 |
Movie | Missing Witnesses | Girl on Pier (uncredited) | 1937-12-11 |
Movie | Over the Goal | Co-ed | 1937-10-16 |
Movie | Varsity Show | Student (uncredited) | 1937-09-04 |
Movie | Alcatraz Island | Party Girl (uncredited) | 1937-10-13 |
Movie | Gold Diggers of 1937 | Chorus Girl (uncredited) | 1936-12-28 |