Helen Ainsworth (1901 - 1961)

Actress, Entertainment Agent. Known as “Cupid Ainsworth”, she appeared in thirteen motion pictures in the 1930s and early 1940s, most notably “The Big Broadcast of 1937” (1936) and “Gold Mine in the Sky” (1938). She became an agent after her film career, and was instrumental in launching the careers of Hollywood figures such as Marilyn […]

Helen Alliene Shaw (1897 - 1997)

Actress. She is best known for playing a kindly old woman on such shows as Diff’rent Strokes and Highway to Heaven. Perhaps her most famous role was Steve Martin’s grandmother in the 1989 comedy Parenthood. She died at the age of 100. (bio courtesy of: Wikipedia)

Helen Allingham (1848 - 1926)

Artist. A noted watercolourist of the late 19th Century, she is primarily remembered for her images of the Surrey countryside. Born Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson, she was raised initally in Altrincham, Cheshire, then following her father’s 1862 death during a diphtheria epidemic, the victims of which he was helping to treat, in Birmingham. Her talent […]

Helen Boehm (1920 - 2010)

Businesswoman. Called the “Princess of Porcelain”, she was co-founder of a Trenton, New Jersey, company producing high-end figurines which have been seen the world over. Born Elena Francesca Stephanie Franzolin, she was trained as a dressmaker and later as an optician. Married to veterinary assistant Edward Boehm in 1944, she joined with her husband in […]

Helen Brach (1911 - 1977)

Helen Brach was born on November 10, 1911 on a small farm in Unionport, Ohio. Helen married her high school sweetheart in 1928; the couple had divorced by the time she was 21. Brach found work at a country club in Palm Beach, where she met and married millionaire, Frank Brach. The couple built a […]

Helen Broderick (1891 - 1959)

Actress and Screenwriter. She wrote screenplays for 2 films: “High Speed” (1924) and “The Mystery Club” (1926). She also appeared in 35 films including: “Top Hat,” “Swing Time” (both with Astaire & Rogers), “The Road to Reno,” “The Rage of Paris,” and “No, No, Nanette.” Mother of actor Broderick Crawford. (bio by: TLS)  Family links: […]

Helen Burgess (1916 - 1937)

American stage and screen actress. She was discovered by Cecil B. DeMille, and made her screen debut as Buffalo Bill Cody’s wife in “The Plainsman” (1936). While filming “Night of Mystery” (1937), she caught a cold which developed into pneumonia. She was only 20 years old when she died. (bio by: Scott G) Cause of […]

Helen Carter (1927 - 1998)

Helen Carter Country Musician. Born Helen Myrl Carter, she was a member of the country singing group ” Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters”. She performed with her mother Maybelle, sisters Anita and June, later wife to Johhny Cash. She had a professional career in music that spanned 60 years and recorded for such labels […]

Helen Chandler (1906 - 1965)

Actress. Best known for her portrayal of “Mina Seward” in the 1931 version of “Dracula.” Chandler began her career in the 1920s as a stage actress in New York, eventually moving to Hollywood where she made about 30 movies. In 1937 she left Hollywood to return to the stage, but her career was destroyed by […]

Helen Chandler (1906 - 1965)

Actress. Best known for her portrayal of “Mina Seward” in the 1931 version of “Dracula.” Chandler began her career in the 1920s as a stage actress in New York, eventually moving to Hollywood where she made about 30 movies. In 1937 she left Hollywood to return to the stage, but her career was destroyed by […]

Helen Cresswell (1934 - 2005)

Helen Cresswell had great “popular impact” because she “diversified into writing for television, in 1960, with a script for what was then called Jack Playhouse, bringing simple storytelling to BBC children’s TV.” She tried writing for adults but succeeded with the child audience. Her first book was published in 1960, Sonya-by-the-Shore, and the Jumbo Spencer […]

Helen Dorothy Martin (1909 - 2000)

Actress. One of the first African-American actresses to appear on Broadway, and co-founder of the American Negro Theater. In theater from the 1930s, she debuted on Broadway in 1937 in Orson Welles’ production of “Orchid’s Preferred” Became a TV personality late in her career as Marla Gibbs’ nosy next-door-neighbor Pearl in the sitcom “227,” and […]

Helen Douglass (1838 - 1903)

Helen Douglass was active in the women’s rights movement and co-edited The Alpha, with Caroline Winslow, in Washington. In 1882, Douglass hired Helen as a clerk in the office of the Recorder of Deeds in Washington, to which he had just been assigned. Because he was writing his autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass and […]

Helen Ferguson (1901 - 1977)

Helen Ferguson (July 23, 1901 – March 14, 1977) was an American actress later turned publicist. Born in Decatur, Illinois in 1901, she graduated from Nicholas High School of Chicago and the Academy of Fine Arts. Helen Ferguson was a newspaper reporter before entering the motion picture field. It is thought she made her debut in films […]

Helen French (1970 - 1917)

Stage and silent-screen actress. Married to actor Charles French. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Helen Goss (1903 - 1985)

British actress: She was born in London, England. Her film and television credits include “Jane Eyre,” “Half a Sixpence,” “The Spy with a Cold Nose,” “A Suitable Case for Treatment,” “The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll,” “Moment of Danger,” “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” “Carry On Sergeant,” “Gideon’s Day,” “Action of the Tiger,” “Three Cornered […]

Helen Grace (1914 - 2002)

Businesswoman. With her former husband W.T. Grace together they founded the company “Helen Grace Candy”. He began his career as a candy assistant, then formed his own putting her name on the company. (bio by: Graving Queen of the OC)  Family links:  Spouse:  W.T. Grace (1907 – 1989)* *Calculated relationship

Helen Gurley Brown (1922 - 2012)

Brown was born Helen Marie Gurley in Green Forest, Arkansas, the daughter of Cleo Fred (Sisco) and Ira Marvin Gurley. Her mother was born in Alpena, Arkansas, and died in 1980. Her father was once appointed Commissioner of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas after Ira won election […]

Helen Hayes (1900 - 1993)

Helen Hayes was born in Washington D.C. on October 10, 1900. Her mother, Catherine Estelle (née Hayes), or Essie, was an aspiring actress who worked in touring companies. Her father, Francis van Arnum Brown, worked at a number of jobs, including as a clerk at the Washington Patent Office and as a manager and salesman […]

Helen Holmes (1892 - 1950)

Helen Holmes was born on June 19, 1892 in Illinois While there is uncertainty about her place of birth, Holmes stated in an interview that she was born on a farm in South Bend, Indiana,[3] but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. A 1917 article indicates Holmes was born on her father’s private railroad car, “Estevan”. Holmes […]

Helen Honig Meyer (1907 - 2003)

Publisher. She worked her way through the ranks of Dell Publishing to become one of the first women to lead a major publishing company. She began working for Dell in 1923. She was the firm’s president and chief executive from the early 1950s until it was sold to Doubleday & Co. in 1976. During that […]

Helen Isabel Barnett Ford (1894 - 1982)

Actress. Film and television credits include “Carry on Doctor,” “Callan, “Crossroads, “Dixon of Dock Green, “The Public Defender,” “The Raid,” “Sound Off,” “The Secret People,” “The Model and the Marriage Broker,” “Apartment for Peggy.” She was a major Broadway musical comedy star during the 1920s. Among her Broadway stage credits include three Rodgers and Hart […]

Helen Jackson (1830 - 1885)

Helen Jackson was born Helen Maria Fiske in Amherst, Massachusetts, the daughter of Nathan Welby Fiske and Deborah Waterman Vinal Fisk. Helen’s father was a minister, author, and professor of Latin, Greek, and philosophy at Amherst College. She had two brothers, both of whom died soon after birth, and a sister Anne. They were raised […]

Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her family lived on a homestead, Ivy Green, that Helen’s grandfather had built decades earlier. She had two younger siblings, Mildred Campbell and Phillip Brooks Keller, two older half-brothers from her father’s prior marriage, James and William Simpson Keller.  Her father, Arthur H. […]

Helen Kleeb (1907 - 2003)

Helen Kleeb (January 6, 1907 – December 28, 2003) was an American film and television actress. In a career covering nearly fifty years, she may be best known for her role from 1972 to 1981 as “Miss Mamie Baldwin” on CBS’s family drama, The Waltons. In 1956–1957, Kleeb guest-starred on CBS’s Hey, Jeannie!, starring Jeannie Carson. […]

Helen Mack (1913 - 1986)

Helen Mack, born Helen McDougall was the daughter of William George McDougall, a barber, and Regina (née Lenzer) McDougall, who had a repressed desire to become an actress. She obtained her education (1921–29) as a youth at the Professional Children’s School of New York City. Vera Gordon was a friend who helped her along as […]

Helen Mann (1915 - 1947)

American stage and motion picture actress and dancer of the 1920s and 30s. Appeared with Loretta Young in the 1933 drama “Employee’s Entrance.” (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  Gordon Lee Mann (1891 – 1949)  Ruth Kirkpatrick Mann (1894 – 1976)  Sibling:  Helen Mann (1915 – 1947)  Gordon Lee Mann (1921 – 2002)* *Calculated […]

Helen Margaret Oakley Dance (1913 - 2001)

Music Journalist and Producer. Born into a prosperous family, Helen Margaret Oakley was educated in Toronto and Switzerland. A jazz enthusiast, she was a music journalist contributing to the Chicago Herald Tribune, Down Beat magazine, Tempo, Swing, and Jazz Hot. She organized jazz concerts and produced recording sessions for the Okeh and Master/Variety record labels. […]

Helen McCrory (1968 - 2021)

Helen McCrory Helen McCrory, who has died of cancer aged 52, was already established among the leading stage actors of her generation when she became known as Cherie Blair in Stephen Frears’s movie The Queen (2006), starring Helen Mirren, and with Michael Sheen as Tony; and as the witch Narcissa Malfoy, mother of Draco, in […]

Helen Page Camp (1930 - 1991)

Actress. Best known for her roles on television, she started out as ‘Lucy’ on the TV show “Here Come the Brides” in 1968. Later, she made many guest appearances on popular shows such as “The Wild, Wild West”, “The Waltons”, “All in the Family”, “Battlestar Galactica”, “Cheers”, “Different Strokes” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. […]