Carole at her Pacific Palisade home
During the Summer of 1948 Carole was going through a divorce from her fourth husband Horace Schmidlapp. She had put her Pacific Palisades home up for sale and had signed on to star in the British film Madame X. Unfortunately she was having some health problems due to the dysentery she had contracted during the war. Her nephew Walter said that the last time her saw her she was very sick. Carole was also having an affair with married actor Rex Harrison. On July 2 she went shopping in Beverly Hills with a friend.
Photos from Carole's last portrait session
Carole said "I've never been so happy in all my life. The sun's shining. It's a wonderful day!". She ran into writer Crawford Dixon on Rodeo Drive. When he asked her about marrying Rex Harrison she replied "Oh, I'd love to marry him but you know how those things are." Crawford later said that she looked happy and vivacious. Later that afternoon she went to Star Records at 6525 Sunset Boulevard to make a recording for her fans. Tragically just three days later Carole would be found dead after taking her own life.
You can listen to her final recording here ...