Carole Landis

Remembering Carole Landis on the anniversary of her tragic passing on July 5th, 1948. In 1945, Landis had married Broadway producer W. Horace Schmidlapp They separated in 1947 and she filed for divorce in May 1948, charging Schmidlapp with "extreme mental cruelty". During her separation, Landis entered into a romance with actor Rex Harrison, who was then married to actress Lilli Palmer. The affair became an open secret in Hollywood. Landis was reportedly crushed when Harrison refused to divorce his wife for her. Unable to cope any longer, she committed suicide by taking an overdose of Seconal. Harrison was the last person to see her alive, having had dinner with Landis the night before. The next afternoon, Harrison and Landis' 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' official website, which is owned by her family, has questioned the events of Landis' death and the coroner's ruling of suicide. She is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, in plot 814 of the "Everlasting Love" section.

Kodachrome Restoration by hollywoodpinups

(www.hollywoodpinups.com)