Carole Landis (Broken-Hearted Melody)

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.


A tribute to Carole Landis (1919-1948), the beautiful, brilliant and talented blonde actress known as "The Ping Girl" (a nickname she disliked). A New Year's baby, born Frances Lillian Mary Ridste in Fairchild, Wisconsin, to a Norweigan father and a Polish mother. From a young age, she was a feminist who tried to start a girl's football team at her high school. When she arrived in Hollywood, she began in small parts at Warner Brothers and was eventually put under contract at 20th Century Fox, where she decided on the name Carole in honor of her favorite actress, Carole Lombard. She shone in comedies ("Having A Wonderful Crime", 1944), musicals ("Moon Over Miami" 1941), film noir ("I Wake Up Screaming" 1941), historical action dramas ("One Million BC", 1940) and war-time films ("Four Jills In A Jeep" 1944, which was based on her book about her experiences during her USO tours). A talented singer who used her own singing voice in musicals, she was also an amateur photographer, and was one of the top pin-ups of World War II. In fact, she visited troops more than any star, even contracting malaria and becoming deathly ill when touring overseas. Despite appearances that she had everything, Carole was emotionally fragile when it came to her personal life and she suffered from depression and other health problems, most notably endometroisis, which overruled any chance of having children, which had been a lifelong dream of hers. Four times married and divorced, she had attempted suicide a few times and by the mid-forties her career was already in decline. She was reduced to B movies and longer stretches between projects. Heavily in debt, in poor health, ostracized in Hollywood due to her tumultous private life, depressed by her affair with actor Rex Harrison (which had come to an end), Carole took an overdoes of barbitutes, and Harrison, with whom she had dined the night before, discovered her body. The tragedy was a serious blow to his career and it took some years before it picked up momentum again. Harrison has often been cast as the villain in this tragic story, but his son Noel insists, "It was a terrible, terrible tragedy. I don't know how he went on with his life after that." Terrible, indeed that this lovely woman with so much to give felt the need to take her own life, that she got to the point where she felt that living held nothing for her anymore. In a somewhat poignant tribute, author Jacqueline Susann, who became friendly with Carole during the early 40s when they both were appearing on stage, partially based the tragic Jennifer North in her novel "Valley Of The Dolls" on Carole. I used Sarah Vaughn's "Broken-Hearted Melody" in tribute to this gorgeous girl who left a short but memorable legacy in the history of film. Enjoy.


*This is the second video tribute to Carole I have made. The first one, which was posted here a year ago, was recently blocked by the site apparently due to a music copyright issue. In fact, several of my videos have been blocked because of claims like that, and while youtube does allow you to use Audioswap for your videos, I have found most of their music provided to be mediocre. I've tried it with a few videos but I just didn't like the results. So, from now on I'm going to be deleting any of my videos that have been blocked and will probably redo them using different music and effects. I'm finding this copyright stuff to be a bit ridiculous and frustrating, especially when you find the same songs on the site and the videos are still live. Oh, well, press on!

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• Carole
• Landis
• Sarah
• Vaughn
• OneTrueMedia

[vilnalv]

That's Sarah Vaughan singing, not Carole Landis.

[Muirmaiden]

@vilnalv , I know it's Sarah Vaughan. I stated that in the description.

[WOODBINEXX]

this surely is the sarah vaughan version?

[Muirmaiden]

@WOODBINEXX , Yes it is.

[spartason]

Very lovely.

[oldies195]

Great music...............

thanks...

[Lukasz21222]

she was beautiful gir she's gone too soon...fly with angels Carole!

[windstorm1000]

Carole was exquisite. My father got to dance with her at a USO show in the war and said she was nice as can be--I imagine he told her he, too, was from WI. Tragic that Rex Harrison threw her over, but we have some nice memories of her.

[Lukasz21222]

Carole is an angel in the heaven now. thanks for good work!

[pagescoslet]

Carole Landis was too pretty and talented to have ended up so badly.

[AntoninOldies]

Thank you for this post , you let me know Carole Landis ( new for me but maybe i stil know and forget it ) i love very much the old fashions American movie , thank for the info

ps .. i have read the disclaimer to

great from Holland !!

[AntoninOldies]

@WOODBINEXX look my cathy lane - broken hearted melody version ! nice to

[Rusty350]

Carole will never be forgotten. So beautiful.

[tskimmi]

Carole sweetie you must be smiling knowing we have not forgot you and I'm only 20...