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ArchivesOrigin of Tondelayo
I am interested in the origin of the name Tondelayo. I know it was the name of character Hedy Lamar played in "White Cargo". What is the origin of the name?
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Herman Melville[a] (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His work was almost forgotten during his last 30 years. He wrote the story Typee which contained the heroine "Tondelayo" who "stood up in the bow of the boat, unfurling her sarong like the sail on a ship, giving added speed to finally escape her father and the pursuing rowers who aided him'. The quote is from memory but I remember the story well. The event was of course fictional, somewhere in the Marquises islands but the residents have constructed things to aid tourism by supporting the tale captaincooldown@gmail.com
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In the original book, Hells Playground, the character is a Gabonaise woman named Ndio. The name seems to have been changed for the stage adaptation by Leon Gordon in 1923. A New York nightclub performer was using the name (spelled Tondalayo) by the '30s. At least ten WWII aircraft were christened Tondelayo, a B-25D Mitchell with an image inspired by the Hedy Lamar character, four different B-17 Flying Fortresses (one Tondalayo with a blonde nude or in a bikini at different times, unless these are two different aircraft), three different B-24 Liberators (one with an African Tondelayo in grass skirt, possibly two dressed as Polynesians), a B-26 Marauder with the name but no artwork, and the fighter or trainer seen with Class 43C of the Tuskegee airmen.
This message was edited 7/28/2018, 7:41 AM
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Tondelayo is a girls name sometimes used in South Pacific Islands. I assume it translates to something but I don't know what. While uncommon it is still found in Hawaii and Samoa.
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My name is Tondelayo. I am half african american, 1/4 cherokee Indian & 1/4 Puerto Rican. My mother is african american and my father half & half. I searched what my name means and through my information I found that my name is Cherokee and it means priceless as in a jewel. I myself would still like further information on my name.
Tondelayo Lynch aka Tayo
Tondelayo Lynch aka Tayo
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So an update...I have finally gotten the most accurate details of my background from blood relatives. We are Cherokee Indian 100% on maternal and paternal sides. My father is Puerto Rican. There is an Irish great great grandfather who married my great great grandmother and they had three children together. He wanted to take the children while she should go on the Trail of Tears but she fled with the children to New York. My mother loved strange and different things my Aunts say and choosing original names were her thing. My name came from the Hedy Lamarr movie and was popular in 1969 and 1970.
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this may be of interest;
they just recovered the remains of a member of the Tuskegee Airmen
the 7/27/18 article in the Washington Post shows members of the squad posing in front of a fighter plane with the name Tondelayo written on the fuselage
they just recovered the remains of a member of the Tuskegee Airmen
the 7/27/18 article in the Washington Post shows members of the squad posing in front of a fighter plane with the name Tondelayo written on the fuselage
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Cleveland Kent Evans (Authenticated as clevelandkentevans)
Date: July 25, 2011 at 7:37:42 AM
Reply to: origin for name by Tondeleyo
Tondeleyo is a name which was invented for a character in a play first produced in London in 1923 called White Cargo, written by Leon Gordon. The play was then made into a famous film with actress Hedy Lamarr playing the character Tondelayo in 1942.
Though the play was based on a novel called Hell's Playground by Ida Vera Simonton, the character is not called Tondeleyo in the novel and so the name was probably invented by Leon Gordon. The character is a half-European half-African woman and the story is set in West Africa around 1910. Gordon seems to have just made up the name from whole cloth as it doesn't really resemble most West African names that I've seen. In the movie the character played by Hedy Lamarr is said to be "half Egyptian and half Arab", and the setting is so vague that a lot of viewers didn't even realize it was supposed to be Africa, and so it's often remembered as having been set in Polynesia -- which is why you will see a few references that wrongly list Tondelayo as a Polynesian name.
The spelling was Tondeleyo in the play, but most references to the film spell it Tondelayo. The variations with -a at the end come simply from parents assimilating the name they heard to what seemed like a more normal "feminine" ending.
Date: July 25, 2011 at 7:37:42 AM
Reply to: origin for name by Tondeleyo
Tondeleyo is a name which was invented for a character in a play first produced in London in 1923 called White Cargo, written by Leon Gordon. The play was then made into a famous film with actress Hedy Lamarr playing the character Tondelayo in 1942.
Though the play was based on a novel called Hell's Playground by Ida Vera Simonton, the character is not called Tondeleyo in the novel and so the name was probably invented by Leon Gordon. The character is a half-European half-African woman and the story is set in West Africa around 1910. Gordon seems to have just made up the name from whole cloth as it doesn't really resemble most West African names that I've seen. In the movie the character played by Hedy Lamarr is said to be "half Egyptian and half Arab", and the setting is so vague that a lot of viewers didn't even realize it was supposed to be Africa, and so it's often remembered as having been set in Polynesia -- which is why you will see a few references that wrongly list Tondelayo as a Polynesian name.
The spelling was Tondeleyo in the play, but most references to the film spell it Tondelayo. The variations with -a at the end come simply from parents assimilating the name they heard to what seemed like a more normal "feminine" ending.
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Tnndelayo was a character in a movie, White Cargo, played by Hedi Lamar. The movie synopsis is: A tropical colony of Englishmen is driven to distraction by sultry Tondelayo. I believe this is probably Siddons' reference, at least in "The House Next Door."
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Tondelayo was the name of the dam of my wonderful Arabian horse, Don Bandido. This mare was exquisite in appearance and became a Living Legend in the show ring. She was named by Carol Chapman Wood, who was her trainer at the time of her show career. Carol was a beautiful very colorful show performer herself. Certain names of the Donoghue show horses at that time were similar, Bora Bora, being another one. Im sure Carol Chapman Wood named this Arabian mare Tondelayo after the exotic beauty of Hedy Lamar.
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