Jewel Carmen: Difference between revisions

| image = Jewel Carmen by Albert Witzel.jpg

Carmen was born '''Florence Lavina Quick''' on July 13, 1897{{sfn|Vazzana|2001|p=80}} in [[Portland, Oregon]],{{efn|Some contemporaneous sources erroneously report that Carmen was born in [[Danville, Kentucky]],<ref>{{cite news|work=The Tampa Times|location=Tampa, Florida|date=September 29, 1917|p=14|via=Newspapers.com|title=Daintier Than Dresden China|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26939015/the_tampa_times/}} {{open access}}</ref> and this has contemporarily been re-published on websites such as the [[Internet Movie Database]] and [[AllMovie]]. According to census records, Carmen's father was originally from Kentucky,<ref name=census/> while her mother was raised in [[Danville, Arkansas]],{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}} which may potentially account for this confusion. The [[United States Census]] of 1910 lists the birthplace of Florence Lavina Quick as [[Oregon]],<ref name=census>{{cite census | url =http://archive.ph/qFSCg | title =Thirteenth Census of the United States | year =1910 | location =Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon | roll =1287 | page = 3B | line = | enumdist =321 | filmnum = 1,375,300 | nafilm =}}</ref> while a 1921 newspaper profile on her states that she was born in Portland.<ref name=perrill>{{cite news|work=[[The Wichita Eagle|Wichita Daily Eagle]]|location=Wichita, Kansas|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26939169/the_wichita_daily_eagle/|title=I'll Tell You|last=Perrill|first=Polly|date=January 9, 1921|p=31|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> Biographer William Donati also corroborates her birthplace as Oregon, not Kentucky.{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}}}} to Amos William and Minerva Quick.{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}} Her father was a native of [[Kentucky]], while her mother was born in [[Arkansas]].<ref name=census/> Amos worked as a farmer and [[carpenter]] to support the family.{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}} She had two older sisters, Alice and Edna; one older brother, Fred; one younger sister, Alberta<ref name=census/>; and a younger brother, Henry.{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}} She also had two other sisters, Louella and Florence, both of whom died during her childhood.{{snf|Donati|2014|p=48}}

Quick spent her early years near [[Tillamook, Oregon|Tillamook]] living on a farm before the family returned to Portland in 1900, where she attended Mount Tabor School{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}} and [[St. Mary's Academy (Portland, Oregon)|St. Mary's Academy]].<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Oregon Journal|The Oregon Daily Journal]]|location=Portland, Oregon|title=Oregon Folk Are Screen Stars; Portland Training Is Valuable|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26937519/the_oregon_daily_journal/|via=Newspapers.com|date=June 6, 1920}} {{open access}}</ref> In 1911, Amos left his wife and children to seek work in [[Los Angeles]].{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}}

In April 1913, Quick was involved in one of the first major [[scandal]]s in Hollywood{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}}: A [[grand jury]] had indicted 35-year-old William La Casse, a wealthy automobile dealer, on charges of [[statutory rape]].{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}} La Casse had initially been investigated over a potential connection to a white slavery ring, but his relationship with a then-15-year-old Quick was subsequently uncovered.{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}} However, La Casse denied that the two had been intimate.{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=48}} Quick testified against him in court, also implicating William Hollingsworth, a friend of La Casse, in having intimate relations with her.<ref name=shreveport/> Quick's elder sister, Alice, also testified that she had witnessed Quick and La Casse together on several occasions.{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=49}} One article covering the case claimed that, during a [[Preliminary hearing|preliminary examination]], it was stated that Quick had purportedly been an orphan, and was adopted by her parents, Amos and Minerva.<ref name=shreveport>{{cite news|work=[[The Shreveport Times]]|location=Shreveport, Louisiana|title=Orphan's Confession Causes Big Investigation|p=2|date=May 18, 1913|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26946793/the_times/}} {{open access}}</ref> Because Quick did not possess a [[birth certificate]] proving herself a [[minor (law)|minor]], the grand jury attempted to use other evidence—including sworn testimony from Minerva, as well as the recorded names and birthdates in the Quicks' family Bible—as evidence.<ref name=bible>{{cite news|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26947063/the_los_angeles_times/|title=Soft Pedal on Her Testimony|date=May 6, 1913|p=19|location=Los Angeles, California|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> However, with the jury lacking sufficient evidence proving Quick's age, the charges against La Casse were ultimately dropped.{{sfn|Donati|2014|pages=48–49}}

Carmen later became known for her connection to the scandal surrounding the December 16, 1935 death of actress [[Thelma Todd]].<ref name=wisc>{{cite news|work=[[Wisconsin State Journal]]|location=Madison, Wisconsin|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26940058/wisconsin_state_journal/|title=Todd Probers to Quiz 'Woman in Case' Today|date=December 27, 1935|p=1|via=Newspapers.com|agency=United Press}} {{open access}}</ref> Todd was found deceased from [[carbon monoxide poisoning]] in her car, which was parked and running inside the garage of Castillo del Mar, a residence owned by Carmen and West in [[Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles|Pacific Palisades]].{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=174}} Castillo del Mar was located only one block away from the Thelma Todd Cafe,{{sfn|Donati|2014|p=174}} a restaurant for which Todd served as the face, and which was financially backed by West and owned by Carmen.<ref name=wisc/> At the time of Todd's death, Carmen's parents were residing at Castillo del Mar.{{sfn|Donati|2000|p=39}}

There were a number of factors which made the death suspicious, including that Todd was allegedly spotted or spoken to several times the day after she died; Carmen herself testified before the grand jury that she had seen Todd riding in a [[Phaeton (carriage)|phaeton]] on [[Hollywood Boulevard]] around 11:00 p.m. on December 15,<ref name=sf>{{cite news|work=[[The San Francisco Examiner]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26945847/the_san_francisco_examiner/|title=Thelma Todd's Phone Call Dec. 15 Related|p=2|date=December 24, 1935|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> hours after police estimated Todd had already died.<ref name=wisc/>{{sfn|Nash|2004|p=250}} Claims from staff that Todd had been beaten by an unnamed man at the cafe in the days before her death were also investigated by law enforcement.<ref name=wisc/>

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