Helene Chadwick

Biography

From Wikipedia Helene Chadwick (November 25, 1897 – September 4, 1940) was an American actress in Silent and early sound films. Chadwick was born in the small town of Chadwicks, New York, which was named for her grandfather. Her mother was a singer who performed on the stage and her father was a businessman. She began making films for Pathe Pictures in Manhattan, New York. A director was impressed by Chadwick's talent as an equestrian, thus she began acting as a western star, but this did not continue with the exodus of film production from the east to the west coast. Signed by Samuel Goldwyn, Chadwick went to California in 1913 and entered silent movies in 1916. She was a star from 1920 through 1925. At the pinnacle of her acting career, she earned a salary estimated to have been $2,000 per week. From 1929 until 1935, she found success as a character actress when sound was being introduced to films. In the final five years of her life she was reduced to taking roles as an extra, playing "atmospheric parts". She was always optimistic that her fortunes would turn for the better. Helene made movies with Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, and other studios. Her most noteworthy performances came in The Long Arm of Mannister (1919), The Cup of Fury (1920), Heartsease (1919), The Sin Flood (1922), Dangerous Curve Ahead (1921), From The Ground Up (1921), The Glorious Fool (1922), Yellow Men and Gold (1922), Dust Flower (1922), Godless Men (1920), and Quicksands (1923). In January 1919, Chadwick became engaged to Lieutenant William A. Wellman, an American pilot with the Lafayette Flying Corps. He had just returned from France and was cited for bravery for his valour in World War I. The couple had met at a party at the house of a friend. Wellman was signed to play a prominent role in an upcoming movie with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The couple wed in July 1921, but in the summer of 1923 Chadwick sued Wellman for divorce on grounds of desertion and non-support. At the time of their separation William was directing movies for Fox Film. Wellman directed Wings, the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as many other notable films. Helene Chadwick died at St. Vincent's Hospital, Los Angeles, California, aged 42, in 1940. Her death was indirectly the result of an accident she suffered in June 1939.

Known For

Miss White

Father and Son

Wilma Wharton

Go-Get-Em Garringer

Kate Sheriff

The Naulahka

The Kept Woman

The Last of the Carnabys

Joan Randle

The Border Legion

Bessie

Yellow Men and Gold

Poppy

The Sin Flood

Jane Brown

The Glorious Fool

The Girl

Quicksands

Ellen Llewellyn

Trouping with Ellen

Eleanor Carter

The Bachelor's Baby

Nightclub Patron (uncredited)

Night World

The Mystery of the Double Cross

Edith Marbury

The Honest Thief

Miss Seaton

The Yellow Ticket

Saloon Girl (uncredited)

Frisco Kid

Mary (uncredited)

The Perfect Set-Up

Emily at 22

The Old Nest

Mary

The Solitary Sin

Marie Louise - 'Mamise'

The Cup of Fury

Macie Sewell

Cupid the Cowpuncher

Florence Lamont

The Angel Factory

Mrs. Emily Dysart Tappan

Reno

Fanny Daniels

Gimme

Helene

Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes

Sylvia De La Mere

The Long Arm of Mannister

Attendee at Meeting of Department Heads (uncredited)

Employees' Entrance

Marjorie Gregg

Hard Boiled

Queenie Kate

The House of Hate

Stella Mowbray

Women Who Dare

Prison Matron (uncredited)

Mary Burns, Fugitive

Amy, Sam's Wife (uncredited)

The Bad Sister

Cornelia Quinn

The Dark Swan

Mrs. George Myers

Managed Money

Mrs. Rogers

Merrily Yours

Helen Caswell

Say It with Sables

Ruth Lytton

Godless Men

Irene Emerson

Why Men Leave Home

Mother (uncredited)

A Wicked Woman

Mrs. Crosby

Good Dame

Clara Hyland

Men Are Like That

Alice Hedman

Dancing Days

The Woman Hater

Molly Shannon

The Golden Cocoon

Townsperson (uncredited)

So Big!

Larson

School for Girls

Claudia Royce

Made in Heaven

Sanford's Sister

Hell Bound

Phoebe (Mabee) Jones

Dangerous Curve Ahead

Alberta Bradley

The Challenge

Betty Powell

The Masked Dancer

Nan Everard

Her Own Free Will

Atendee at Opening (uncredited)

Mississippi

Helen

Blind Man's Luck

Marion De Long

Vengeance Is Mine

Cynthia Redfield

Love of Women

Secretary (uncredited)

Morning Glory

Lucy Fay

The Still Alarm

Letty Gravely

The Dust Flower

Countess Lucia Bonavia D'Orano

An Adventure in Hearts

Doris Manning

Stolen Pleasures

Betty Joe

The Re-Creation of Brian Kent