Which blond actress?

Question

with a dimple in her chin, died in her twenties, slumped over in a car, a long, long time ago?

Answer 1

Jayne Mansfield?

Hey all I heard was A long time ago, Blonde, and Car so she was my first pick

Answer 2

Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd rose to fame as a comedic actress alongside the Marx Brothers, Laurel & Hardey, and Buster Keaton. Although well known in her day, she is now remembered for the manner and mystery of her death rather than for her achievements in life.

Todd arrived in Hollywood in 1926 and over the next 9 years she made seventy films, mostly as a foil for comics such as Harry Langdon and Charley Chase, as well as six with Laurel and Hardy. Her best were two with the Marx Brothers 'Monkey Business' and 'Horse Feathers'.

Her lively and flirtatious on-screen personality was more than matched by her riotous private life. She had so many drunken car crashes going from party to party, that the studio had to insist she have a chauffeur. Her marriage in 1932 to playboy Pasquale "Pat" DiCicco quickly degenerated into a series of drunken brawls and they divorced in 1934.

In addition to her film career, Thelma was also involved in the restaurant business, where her path crossed that of Lucky Luciano, the New York mobster who was trying to gain a foothold on the West Coast.

In 1935, at the peak of her poppularity, the 30-year-old actress was found "slumped over the steering wheel of her Lincoln Phaeton Touring car." Her demise was first declared a suicide, then an "accidental death from carbon monoxide poisoning." The fact that she drank heavily and often passed out in her car after a binge supported this conclusion.

With blood at the scene, a high blood-alcohol content, and clean shoes (while the area outside the car was muddy), many believed it to be murder. While the theory was largely ignored by the LAPD, suspects ranged from Todd’s highly possessive boyfriend, director Roland West (who was thought to have locked Todd in the garage to keep her from going to a party) to the most likely suspect, “Lucky” Luciano, who wanted to involve Todd’s club in illegal gambling against her wishes.

Roland West was said to have later confessed the murder to a friend, but his only punishment was a closing of ranks by Hollywood’s elite so he never worked in motion pictures again.

Who killed Thelma Todd? Officially, no-one knows, but she did cross Lucky Luciano. When discussing with him the possible use of her resaurant by his mobsters Thelma once shrieked 'Over my dead body! '

'That can be arranged', Luciano was heard to reply.  

Answer 3

Jayne Mansfield was 34 at her time of death, no dimple, and was laying on the ground. Sad. I don't think it is her the question is about.

I can't think of anyone.

The part about the scalp in actually an urban legend. It was her wig that fell off.

Answer 4

Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve's sister was 25 years old when she died in a road accident in 1967.