Lou Tellegen - Later Career and Death

Later Career and Death

Tellegen had appeared in numerous films before his face was damaged in a fire. One of his memorable roles was as the bad guy villain in John Ford's 1926 western 3 Bad Men who wore a white hat instead of the stereotypical bad guy black hat. Fame faded, employment was not forthcoming and debt-ridden, he went bankrupt. He was diagnosed with cancer, though this information was kept from him, and he became despondent. In 1931, he wrote his autobiography Women Have Been Kind.

On October 29, 1934, while a guest in a Cudahy mansion at 1844 N. Vine St. (now the site of the Vine-Franklin underpass of the Hollywood Freeway), Tellegen locked himself in the bathroom, then shaved and powdered his face. Then while standing in front of a full-length mirror, he committed suicide by stabbing himself with a pair of sewing scissors seven times (supposedly while surrounded by newspaper clippings of his career), resulting in lurid press coverage.

When asked to comment on Tellegen's death, former wife Geraldine Farrar replied, "Why should that interest me?". Tellegen's remains were cremated and scattered at sea.