During the silent era, she appeared in numerous supporting roles that made full use of her beauty but gave her little chance to act. With the advent of the talkies, Todd was given opportunity to expand her roles when producer Hal Roach signed her to appear with such comedy stars as Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel & Hardy. In 1931 she was given her own series, teaming with ZaSu Pitts for slapstick comedies. This was Roach's attempt to create a female version of Laurel & Hardy. When Pitts left Roach in 1933, she was replaced by Patsy Kelly. The Todd shorts often cast her as a working girl having all sorts of problems, and trying her best to remain poised and charming despite the embarrassing antics of her sidekick.
Thelma Todd became highly regarded as a capable film comedienne, and Roach loaned her out to other studios to play opposite Wheeler & Woolsey, Buster Keaton, Joe E. Brown, and the Marx Brothers. She also appeared successfully in such dramas as the original 1931 film version of The Maltese Falcon, in which she played Miles Archer's treacherous widow. During her career she appeared in more than 130 films and was sometimes publicized as "The Ice Cream Blonde." In the early 1930s, she opened a successful cafe at Pacific Palisades, called Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe, attracting a diverse clientele of Hollywood celebrities as well as many tourists.
Professor Timoleon Post (Buster Keaton) and Eleanor Espere (Thelma Todd) get drunk at Eleanor's flat in Speak Easily (1932).
Todd continued her short-subject series through 1935, and was featured in the full-length Laurel & Hardy comedy The Bohemian Girl. This was her last film; she died before completing all of her scenes. Producer Roach salvaged the unfinished performance by deleting all of Todd's dialogue and limiting her appearance to one musical number.
Toby Wing played a few leading roles in B features and short subjects. In 1936 and 1937 she worked opposite singer-songwriter Pinky Tomlin in two of his low budget musical features, With Love and Kisses and Sing While You're Able. The two stars were engaged briefly during late 1937. Her last leading role was in The Marines Come Thru (filmed in Florida in 1938, but not seeing general release until 1942 as Fight On, Marines!). She retired from movies after marrying the pilot Dick Merrill, more than twenty years her senior, in 1938. Wing completed her acting career on Broadway in the unsuccessful Cole Porter, "You Never Know" that starred Lupe Velez, Clifton Webb, Libby Holman and Harold Murray. The couple retired to DiLido, Florida, where Merrill was assigned Eastern Airlnes' New York- Miami route for the remainder of his career. Wing became successful in real estate in California and Florida.
Toby Wing Filmography:
* A Boy of Flanders (1924) * A Woman Who Sinned (1924) * Circe, the Enchantress (1924) * The Pony Express (1925) * American Pluck (1925) * Double Daring (1926) * Palmy Days (1931) * The Kid from Spain (1932) * The King's Vacation (1933) * 42nd Street (1933) * The Little Giant (1933) * Central Airport (1933) (scenes deleted) * Private Detective 62 (1933) * Baby Face (1933) * College Humor (1933) * She Had to Say Yes (1933) * This Day and Age (1933) * Torch Singer (1933) * Search for Beauty (1934) * School for Girls (1934) * Come on Marines (1934) * Murder at the Vanities (1934) * Kiss and Make Up (1934) * One Hour Late (1934) * Thoroughbred (1935) * Two for Tonight (1935) * Forced Landing (1935) * Mister Cinderella (1936) * With Love and Kisses (1936) * Silks and Saddles (1936) * Sing While You're Able (1937) * The Women Men Marry (1937) * True Confession (1937) * Mr. Boggs Steps Out (1938) * The Marines Come Thru (1938) * Sweethearts (1938)
Short Subjects:
* Jimmy's New Yacht (1932) * The Loud Mouth (1932) * The Candid Camera (1932) * Alaska Love (1932) * Ma's Pride and Joy (1932) * Blue of the Night (1933) * Rhythm on the Roof (1934) * Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove (1934) * Hollywood Extra Girl (1935) * La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935) * Hill-Tillies (1936) * Rhythmitis (1936) * Sunday Night at the Trocadero (1937)
