Roland West

Roland West (February 20, 1885 – March 31, 1952) was an American film director, known for his innovative proto-film noir movies of the 1920s and early 1930s. He is however best known for his possible involvement in the death of Hollywood actress Thelma Todd in 1935. Born Roland Van Zimmer to a theatrical family in Cleveland, Ohio, he began acting in vaudeville productions as a teenager. By his early 20s, he was writing and directing vaudeville productions.

Shortly afterward, he began directing films such as The Monster (1925) with Lon Chaney; The Bat (1926), based on the novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart (dramatized on stage by Rinehart and Avery Hopwood); Alibi (1929), for which he nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture; The Bat Whispers (1930) (also based on the Rinehart novel and play); and Corsair (1931).

So established was West by 1930 that The Bat Whispers was billed on posters as Roland West's The Bat Whispers. However, he made only one more film in his career.

Roland West's first wife was actress Jewel Carmen, although the two became estranged, and West began a longtime affair with actress Thelma Todd. Following Todd's death in 1935 and his divorce from Carmen in 1938, he married actress Lola Lane sometime after June 25, 1946 and remained married to her until his death in 1952.

Following Todd's death and his divorce, West rarely worked and withdrew into virtual seclusion. In the early 1950s, his health began to decline, and he suffered a stroke and a nervous breakdown. He died in Santa Monica, California, in 1952, aged 67. The third season of TV show True Detective features a character named Roland West, speculated to be a tribute to the director.