Monday, July 8, 2019


Here is a very interesting article written by Carole Landis' niece Tammy Powell. It poses an interesting alternate idea that Carole did not commit suicide. I have tried to get hold of Tammy Powell, but I have had little luck. If anyone knows of how to get in touch with her, let me know...

My beautiful Aunt Carole died in 1948 when she was only 29. The official story is that she committed suicide because her married boyfriend Rex Harrison would not marry her. I want you to know that my family has NEVER believed that it was a suicide. We are 100% convinced that Rex Harrison is to blame for her death. My grandmother Dorothy begged the police to investigate more but they refused. Desperate to find answers she hired a private detective. All he could tell her was that people were paid off and evidence was destroyed. The only person brave enough to come forward was Carole's secretary Nan Stuart who knew there was a cover-up.

We know that many things were taken from the house and that the lights in the bathroom were suspiciously turned off. Then there was a mysterious 2nd note which was never really explained. There are theories about what may have happened the night she died. Maybe Rex put secanol in Carole's food or drink without her knowing about. He knew about her past "suicide attempts" and thought no one would find it odd. He had been in the house a lot so he knew where the pills were. Another possibility is that Carole did threaten to kill herself as a dramatic gesture...something she had done in the past to get attention. She took the pills then called Rex to save her. He found her and instead of calling a doctor he just let her die.

One of the myths that has circled around and then seems to bounce here and there and becomes such a focus is that Carole was manic depressive. I find it hard to believe she was. Yes, she had made a few attention grabbing suicide attempts but in those cases she would take aspirin and was always near someone who she knew would save her. I think this part of her personality came from her childhood. When she didn't get her way she threw a tantrum and she would get what she wanted. She was determined at such a young age and it might not have been the right way but it sure worked. She was a smart woman and knew how to make things go her way. Everyone has something they do to ensure themselves that they get what they want. We all choose our methods even if it's not always the smartest thing to do.

Another issue I have is this...if she was so depressed to attempt to kill herself or planned it then why would she go on a BIG shopping spree and plan a 4th of July party with her friends? I know from research that she wasn't broke - she had work coming up and was getting a big check from the sale of her house. She was smart enough to know that she shouldn't keep spending if she didn't have money. Also when she had a party she really knew how to do it right!!! She would put out a "feast to feed a village" (my grandmother's words) and she would be dressed up and would be the best hostess and always wanted everyone to enjoy and have fun.

She was in a bubbly and radiant mood that 4th of July weekend. Not one friend said that she was down and depressed. She even said she had "never been happier". Now, if she had stayed in the house, secluded herself from friends, and put on a fake smile it would be a different story. She was a great actress but by no means could you pull it off that well. Her friends would have known and at some point she would have shown her true emotions to someone. That night she was set on telling Rex that he need to keep his word to leave his wife or they were done. She wanted to have a normal relationship - marriage and children. I think that's what he promised her.

She even had her friends leave that evening because they knew he was coming over. If she was so down then she could have just had him come over without anyone knowing it and then proceeded to take her life. The real interesting thing is that from my training with suicide counseling I learned this - someone who really wants to take their life NEVER tells anyone about it. Yes, some leave a note explaining why but they don't reach out to anyone while they are doing it. Most who have called for help usually say they NEVER really wanted to in the first place. Carole just wasn't in the mind frame what so ever of someone who was going to do it.

We know she made a phone call to her close friend Marguerite around midnight. IF she was taking pills at that time and really wanted to die she wouldn't have made the call. And it probably wasn't one of her "attention grabbers" due to the fact that she didn't call anyone else. Or maybe she did call Rex and she thought he was coming to the house to save her but he didn't. The fact that REX was the last to see her and the first to find her body is the key! There are many unanswered questions but all the facts we know about that night make him look very guilty. Aunt Carole's death has haunted my family for over 60 years and knowing Rex Harrison never paid for what he did only makes it worse. We may never know the entire truth about her death but will continue to investigate as much as we can. Carole didn't want to be remembered as a pathetic woman who died on the bathroom floor ... she deserves better.

Before you believe Carole committed suicide consider the following...

1) Carole was very happy in the weeks before her death. She was going back to England to make a movie and had many plans for the future. Her maid Fannie said she was "happy as a lark" the day before her death.

2) Carole's other suicide attempts were never serious since she always made sure she was saved by friends. The "suicide note" that was found was undated so it could have been written any time. As a Catholic Carole believed she would go to Hell if she killed herself.

3) Rex was the last person to see Carole alive and the first one to see her dead. When Rex came to the house he told her maid Fannie that he thought Carole was dead. This was BEFORE they went upstairs and found the body!

4) After Rex found Carole's body in the bathroom he said he felt a pulse BUT instead of calling for the doctor or getting Carole help he just left the house. Where did he go?

5) Rex LIED to the police about his love affair with Carole saying they were just friends. He committed perjury when he testified they were not having an affair.

6) Several people saw a second note in the house but it mysteriously disappeared. We now know that Lilli Palmer paid a police officer $500 to destroy it. What did the note say?

7) When Carole's family arrived at the house it was a mess with drawers and cabinets open and papers thrown all over. Some of Carole's photo albums and personal diaries were missing. Did Rex try to get rid of evidence?

8) For years after Carole died newspapers reported there new clues in the case but the police continued to ignore the evidence. Then in the early 1950s Carole's police file mysteriously disappeared. Did someone pay the police to "lose" the file?

Carole's father Alfred Ridste never believed she killed herself. He said there were "secret pictures" that would prove she was murdered. Alfred also said that he found a book in Carole's bedroom that had an imprint showing that a letter had been removed from it. Here is a letter Alfred wrote in 1948 ..


  1. Always lots of stories for and against. But what stands out most to me is plenty drug bottles about in bedroom to lay down and die in peace...but she chose a full bottle of pills while in bathroom....and the picture of her on bathroom floor clearly shows her left arm trying to lift herself up of floor. Not usual for a suicide victims actions. .....somehow...I just feel someone may not have liked the idea of their relationship with her to neither go public, nor any further. Movies was big money back then..... scandal was suicide and life was cheap compared to the money to be lost by some! Thats just a reality.

  2. Rex murdered her, I just know it. There are too many discrepancies in the case, and to say “I think she’s dead” before you even get in the room?! Then to just walk out of the house and leave when she was still alive? He gave time for her to die before he did anything. It really makes me angry to think that all he had to do was wave some money around and the case was dropped 😡. Now no one will ever know the real truth of exactly what happened but I will always believe he did it. She was not suicidal that day according to everyone who knew her and who’s to say he didn’t drug her food as suggested and then just leave hoping she would be dead before he came back? I hope he’s getting his now wherever he is 😢

  3. Rex murdered her, all the things he did and the observations of others point that way. She was not suicidal on that day and he was the last person to see her alive. He walked out and let her die when he discovered she wasn’t already dead as he had planned. He paid money to get the case dropped and was never brought to justice in this life. I hope he’s rotting somewhere now 😡😢

  4. Yer sleaze bag rex Harrison he was hated by the stars of the screen in the u.k theres one true story a old lady a fan of his was waiting to greet him outside the theatre he was, starring in one night she went over to greet him he told her to xxxx off (a old saxon swear word) to this the elderly woman berated and slapped him him as one English comedian also appearing with him who witnessed the act. said jokingly this is the first time ever "a fans hit the shit" I also believe he was a right horror to his son noel Harrison. All in all a horror of a man .. He Even denied he was even from Liverpool born n bred.. One nasty self centered and overrated person.

  5. One nasty guy rex Harrison.. Toad like

  6. I won't say sexy Rexy murdered her as I don't have evidence, but he was certainly a 24 carat cad who had a part in her tragic demise. Suicide victims do strange things, pay bills, shop, laugh, sing, their actions beforehand are no clue to their intentions, so as it stands I still consider it a suicide with Harrisons pawprints all over the act, I can't watch his films to this day. Carole may be physically dead, but she is very much alive in the hearts and minds of fans. A signed letter from her time in England hangs on my bedroom wall <3

  7. A far more plausible explanation than murder is that Rex Harrison told her he was going to leave his wife which explains why she was "happier than ever". He may have lied as many men and women do in such situations or he might have considered leaving his wife. Either way he then tells her he isn't leaving his wife. So she goes from being happier than ever to a state where she takes her life. The fact he waited two hours to report her death, the missing second note and the fact that he went through her belongings can all easily be explained by his wanting to cover up the affair he had with her.

  8. Some of your reasons for suggesting it wasn't suicide aren't hard to explain away. Carole Landis was said to be happier than ever but this is unlikely to be simply because of her career but most likely because of Rex Harrison. He may have convinced her he was going to leave his wife. Regarding her being a Catholic. If this would be a reason to discount suicide it would also be a reason to discount attempted suicide even if you thought you would be found in time. You wouldn't risk it. A plausible explanation for almost everything is that Carole Landis thought Harrison was going to leave his wife but then he tells her he won't, which explains the dramatic change in her. From happier than ever to suicidal. She does attempt suicide, perhaps hoping he will save her and perhaps he allows her to die. That can't be proved or disproved. But the disappeared second note and he fact that clearly a search was made for other things can obviously be explained in any case by the desire to remove any evidence of their affair. This also explains the delay in informing the authorities in order to do so. Everyone paints him as cold and calculating, which fits their narrative, whereas he is likely to have been in a panic which could explain some of his behaviour however despicable a picture it paints of him.

  9. Bravo to Carole's niece for carrying on her aunt's legacy.
    Even though a lot of time passed by, a petition for an investigation into Carole's death could possibly help. This case should be opened again, just like other mysterious deaths, Natalie Wood's and Marilyn's, that are still being publicly discussed by our society.
    So many mysterious deaths of Old Hollywood actors/actresses. Cases that were never really looked up. 👀
    Regardless of being famous, all people need to find peace and justice.
    RIP dear Carole Landis.