- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMary Helene Chadwick
- Height5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- Helene Chadwick came from a very wealthy family in upstate New York
(the town, Chadwick, was named after them), where her father owned a
silk mill and her mother was an opera singer. On a visit to New York
she was persuaded by an artist friend to pose for one of his paintings.
A film producer saw the work, and after contacting Helene discovered
that she was an experienced horsewoman, which is what he needed for a
film he was shooting. He asked her if she'd be interested, she was, and
soon she found herself making her film debut in
The Challenge (1916) for Pathe.
After a few more films she signed a contract with Goldwyn Pictures. She
had a career of more than 20 years in the film industry, her last
picture being
A Star Is Born (1937), directed
by her former husband,
William A. Wellman, in which she had
an uncredited bit part as a woman at a film preview. Tragically, she
died in Los Angeles in 1940 from injuries she received in a fall. She
was only 42 years old.- IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- SpousesWilliam A. Wellman(July 2, 1921 - September 5, 1923) (divorced)Louis Herman Fonteine(July 4, 1915 - 1919) (divorced)
- Entered films in 1916.
- Helen suffered from alcoholism as she got older. When she died in 1940 newspaper reports claimed her death was caused by injured she got a in a fall. However her death certificate states that she died from cirrhosis of the liver.
- Her father George died in 1907 when she was only ten years old. Her older sister Marguerite died in 1924 from pneumonia.
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