‘The Chest’. Shapely actress and model Carole Landis posing on the beach in the early 1940s, capturing a moment when the world seemed to be at her feet

20th Century Fox

Actress Carole Landis, born on New Year’s Day in 1919 in Wisconsin, and by 1940 had become a star with her breakout role as Loana in ‘One Million B.C.’ In addition to her thriving career as an actress and pin-up girl, she undertook extensive USO tours during World War II, traversing over 100,000 miles, and contributed as a writer for newspapers and magazines. However, her tumultuous love life ultimately landed her in peril. By the age of 29, she had married and divorced four times, and was engaged in an affair with married actor Rex Harrison. Whilst the exact circumstances of her demise doth apparently remain in dispute among her living relatives, it was officially determined that Miss Landis, distraught over Mr. Harrison's refusal to divorce his wife for her, ended her life with an overdose of Seconal. Her body was discovered the following day by Rex Harrison, who curiously delayed informing the authorities for several hours. Another enigmatic Hollywood mystery that may forever remain unsolved, yet Carole Landis undoubtedly remains one of the most vivacious figures of her era, and her untimely death a crying shame.

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