Carole Landis

She was known as "The Ping Girl", a nickname given to her by Frank Seltzer that she disliked and tried to disassociate herself from.

• Name — Carole Landis • Birth Name — Frances Lillian Mary Ridste • Born — 1 January 1919 • Birthplace — Fairchild, Wisconsin, U.S. • Died — 5 July 1948 • Place of death — Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Burial Place — Forest Lawn Memorial Park • Years Active — 1934–1948 • Occupation — Actress

Landis was born on January 1, 1919, in Fairchild, 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. 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. In 1923, Landis's family moved to San Bernardino, California, where her mother worked menial jobs to support the family. At the age of 15, Landis dropped out of San Bernardino High School and set forth on a career path to show business. She started out as a hula 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; she later sang with a dance band. After saving $100, she moved to Hollywood in 1937. She bleached her hair blonde and adopted the screen name of "Carole Landis" in honor of her favorite actress, Carole Lombard, and baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. She would legally change her name to Carole Landis on April 23, 1942.

She was signed by Warner Bros. in late 1936 and went on to appear in two dozen features, mostly for Bryan Foy's low-budget "B" unit (including gradually increasing roles in four Torchy Blane comedies, some of which gave her screen credit). By 1938 she was working in the studio's major motion pictures like The Adventures of Robin Hood and Boy Meets Girl, but only in uncredited bits. Dissatisfied with her lack of progress, she moved on to Republic Pictures, a small but efficient studio specializing in action pictures. The smaller studio paid more attention to her, giving her ingenue leads in two Three Mesquiteers westerns and a serial, Daredevils of the Red Circle. Pioneer producer Hal Roach was preparing One Million B.C., a dramatic film about prehistoric people menaced by the elements. He hired another movie pioneer, D. W. Griffith, to cast the picture. It was to be a rugged shoot, with many scenes staged outdoors. Roach recalled: Hal Roach saw star potential in Carole Landis and signed her to a contract in June 1940. He continued casting her in three more starring roles, the best known being Turnabout (1940), a role-reversal farce written by Thorne Smith and co-starring John Hubbard. • Illustration — Carole Landis in Topper Returns, 1941 She returned to Republic for one more film, the Judy Canova comedy Sis Hopkins (1941). She then landed a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox and began a sexual relationship with studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck. She had roles playing opposite fellow pin-up girl Betty Grable in the musical Moon Over Miami and the crime drama I Wake Up Screaming, both in 1941. When Landis ended her relationship with Zanuck, he stopped furthering her career. She remained under contract but was now assigned to lesser pictures, and Fox loaned her out to other studios three times. Her final two films, Noose and Brass Monkey, were both made in Great Britain. On March 20, 1943, the Fashion Academy had named Landis the best-dressed woman for 1943 in its screen classification category. The Fashion Academy honor was based on an annual poll of leading designers to select the twelve best dressed women of the nation for twelve different classification categories.

• Illustration — Carole Landis performing in a USO show at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Aiela Heights, Oahu on June 20, 1945. Carole Landis became a popular pin-up with servicemen during World War II. In 1942, she traveled with comedian Martha Raye, dancer Mitzi Mayfair, and actress Kay Francis, serving for the USO in England and North Africa. Two years later, she entertained soldiers in the South Pacific alongside Jack Benny. During the war, Landis traveled over 100,000 miles and was the actress who spent the most time engaged in this activity. During her travels, she became seriously ill due to amoebic dysentery and malaria.

In 1945 she starred on Broadway in the musical A Lady Says Yes, with future novelist Jacqueline Susann in a small role. Susann is said to have based the character of Jennifer North, from her best-selling novel Valley of the Dolls, in part on Landis.

Landis wrote several newspaper and magazine articles about her experiences during the war, including the 1944 book Four Jills in a Jeep, which was later made into a movie costarring Kay Francis, Martha Raye, and Mitzi Mayfair. She also wrote the foreword to Vic Herman's cartoon book Winnie the WAC.

• Illustration — Sgt. Bill Stewart and Landis ca. 1940s • Illustration — Landis and John Wayne, 1939 • Illustration — William Gargan and Landis, 1946) Landis was married four times and had no children (she was unable to conceive owing to endometriosis). 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. In 1938, Wheeler reappeared and filed a $250,000 alienation of affections lawsuit against director and choreographer Busby 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 had heard from him only the previous year when he claimed to want a divorce. Wheeler's lawsuit was later dismissed, and Landis and Wheeler were divorced in 1939. In June 1939 Berkeley proposed to Landis but later broke it off. On July 4, 1940, she married yacht broker Willis Hunt Jr. in Las Vegas. Landis left Hunt after two months of marriage due to abuse by Hunt; they were divorced on November 20, 1940. While touring army camps in London in 1942, she met United States Army Air Forces Captain Thomas Wallace. They were married in January 1943, and the wedding received a two-page photo spread in Life magazine. Landis would also write an article about their honeymoon for the June 1943 edition of Photoplay. The couple separated in early 1945, and they would divorce in July 1945. Landis would write about the relationship, marriage, and later causes that led to the eventual collapse of their marriage in her article "Don't Marry A Stranger" for the January 1945 issue of Photoplay. She would state that "No woman ever loved a man more than I loved Tommy Wallace. And Tommy loved me, too. All my life, above all the rest, I want to remember that." On December 8, 1945, Landis married Broadway producer W. Horace Schmidlapp. They separated in 1947, and Landis filed for divorce in May 1948, charging Schmidlapp with "extreme mental cruelty." During her separation from Schmidlapp, Landis began a relationship with actor Rex Harrison, who was then married to actress Lilli Palmer. The affair became widely known in Hollywood as an "open secret." After Landis's death, however, Harrison downplayed their relationship and publicly claimed that she was merely a close friend of himself and Palmer.

• Illustration — The blue beaded butterfly dress that Carole Landis would be interred in on July 10, 1948 • Illustration — Grave of Carole Landis at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California Landis was reportedly devastated when Harrison refused to divorce his wife to be with her. On July 5, 1948, unable to cope any longer, she died by suicide at her Pacific Palisades home at 1465 Capri Drive by taking an overdose of Seconal. Before she took her life, she penned a note to her mother, expressing remorse for the pain her actions would cause. She assured her mother and family members of her love and asked her to find her will, which left everything to her mother. Landis signed off as “Your Baby” and requested her mother’s prayers. Harrison was the last person to see her alive, having had dinner with her the night before she committed suicide. 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. 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. 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. Landis's official website, which her family owns, has questioned the events of Landis's death and the coroner's ruling of suicide. On July 10, 1948 at 12:30 PM her service was held at Forest Lawn's Church of the Recessional by Bishop Fred L. Pyman. During her service Pyman sang her favorite hymn of In the Garden. Afterwards she was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, in plot 814 of the "Everlasting Love" section. Among the celebrities at her service and funeral were Cesar Romero, Eddie Sutherland, Van Johnson, and Pat O'Brien. W. Horace Schmidlapp, her estranged husband, also attended her service and funeral. Rex Harrison attended with his wife however they both left early and had refused to look at Carole in her coffin during viewing.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1937 — The — Chorine — Uncredited • 1937 — A — Girl in beret at Santa Anita bar — Uncredited • 1937 — A — Dance Extra • 1937 — Fly-Away Baby — Blonde at airport — Torchy Blane comedy • 1937 — The — 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 — Torchy Blane comedy • 1937 — Hollywood Hotel — Hat check girl with coat • 1938 — The — Woman waiting to go with her Johnnie • 1938 — Blondes at Work — Carole — Torchy Blane comedy • 1938 — A — 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 — Torchy Blane in Panama — Miss Leopard of 1938 — Torchy Blane comedy • 1938 — Women Are Like That — Cocktail party guest — Uncredited • 1938 — The — 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 — 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 — 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; released posthumously. • 1948 — Brass Monkey — Kay Sheldon — Alternative title: Lucky Mascot; released posthumously (final role)

• Date — Program — Episode/Program/Source • 04/24/1938 — Warner Brothers Academy Theater — Special Agent / Carol' Radio Debut • 06/11/1942 — Command Performance — Program #17 • 05/10/1943 — The Front Line Theater — Johnny Eager • 10/23/1943 — Command Performance — Program #90 • 11/25/1943 — Soldiers In Greasepaint — Thanksgiving Salute to U.S.O. • 12/11/1943 — Command Performance — Program #96 • 04/11/1944 — Duffy's Tavern — Program #47 • 04/11/1944 — Duffy's Tavern — Program #125 (Rebroadcast of #47 for AFRS) • 04/21/1944 — GI Journal — Episode #42 • 06/24/1944 — Command Performance — Program #126 • 02/14/1946 — Command Performance — Program #211 • 03/16/1946 — Continental Celebrity Club — Episode #15

• Performance Date — Theater Genre — Play — Character • 01/10/1945 - 03/25/1945 — Broadway — A Lady Says Yes — Ghisella

Carole Landis was recorded at birth as Frances Lillian Mary Ridste. The authorities additionally record the heading Frances Ridste. Her recorded language was English. She married Irving Wheeler and W.