Helen Gardner (actress)

Helen Gardner
1911
Born	Helen Louise Gardner (1884-09-02)September 2, 1884 Binghamton, New York, U.S.
Died	November 20, 1968(1968-11-20) (aged 84) Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Other names	Miss Garnder
Alma mater	American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation	Actor, producer, writer, editor, costumer
Years active	1910–1924
Spouse(s)	Duncan Clarkson Pell, Sr. (m. 1902; died 1964)
Children	1

Helen Louise Gardner (September 2, 1884^[1] – November 20, 1968) was an American stage and film actress, screenwriter, producer, editor and costume designer.

Contents

• 
  1 Career
  


• 
  2 Personal life
  


• 
  3 Later years and death
  


• 
  4 Selected filmography
  


• 
  5 References
  


• 
  6 External links
  

Career

Gardner was born in Binghamton, New York. An alumna of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Gardner began her acting career as a stage actress. She became a Vitagraph Studios player in 1910 and earned critical acclaim for portraying Becky Sharp in the film version of the novel Vanity Fair. In 1912, she became the first film actor, male or female, to form her own production company,^[2] the Helen Gardner Picture Players in Tappan, New York with capital provided by her mother. Hiring her lover Charles L. Gaskill as a director and scenarist, she produced eleven feature films before closing her studio in 1914.^[2] She was known for her portrayals of strong female characters. Her first production was Cleopatra (1912) which was one of the first American full-length films.^[3] The film was re-edited and re-released after Fox released the 1917 adaptation starring Theda Bara. Gardner was considered the screen's first vamp and predated Theda Bara, Valeska Suratt and Louise Glaum in roles of this type.^[4]

In 1915, she returned to Vitagraph briefly before signing with Universal. By this time, her popularity began to wane and she retired from acting in 1924.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Before Gardner embarked on an acting career, she married socially prominent businessman Duncan Clarkson Pell, Sr., on October 16, 1902, in West Haven, Connecticut.^[5] The marriage took place shortly after Gardner's 18th birthday and one week after Pell's divorce from his first wife, Anna. Duncan and Anna Pell's divorce was covered in the gossip columns of The New York Times.^[6] The couple had one child.^[7] Gardner left Pell in 1906 to continue her acting career but they never divorced.^[8] They remained married until Pell's death in 1964.

Some sources state that Gardner married for a second time to Charles Gaskill, the director of many of her films. Gardner's granddaughter and biographer, Dorin Gardner Schumacher, states that this is incorrect and that Gardner never divorced Duncan C. Pell, Sr.^[2][3]

Later years and death

In the 1950s, Gardner returned to Orlando, Florida where she had previously lived with her estranged husband. Gardner died in Orlando on November 20, 1968, at the age of 84.^[6]

Selected filmography

Short subject

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1910	How She Won Him	Muriel Hanson
1911	A Tale of Two Cities		Uncredited
1911	The Inherited Taint	The nurse
1911	The Wooing of Winifred	Winifred
1911	The Show Girl	Audrey, an actress
1911	For Her Brother's Sake	Bessie Black - the Sister
1911	Barriers Burned Away	John's wife
1911	A Quaker Mother	Lois Pearson Harmon - A Quaker Wife
1911	She Came, She Saw, She Conquered	Rose Leigh - a Young Schoolteacher
1911	The Death of King Edward III	Alice Ferrers
1911	For Love and Glory	Rose Seaton
1911	By Woman's Wit	The wife
1911	Ups and Downs	The Young Wife
1911	Regeneration	Elfie - Ross' sweetheart
1911	Madge of the Mountains	Madge of the Mountains
1911	Arbutus	The Mountain Woman
1911	The Girl and the Sheriff	The Mountain Girl
1911	Freshet	Meg Matthews
1911	Vanity Fair	Becky Sharp
1911	A Reformed Santa Claus	The Widow
1912	Where the Money Went	Mrs. Fred Hart - the Jealous Wife
1912	She Came, She Saw, She Conquered	Rose Leigh - a Young Schoolteacher
1912	A Problem in Reduction	Mrs. Smartly - a Woman Who Wants to Reduce
1912	Her Boy	Sue - Harry's Sweetheart
1912	The Love of John Ruskin	The wife
1912	The Love of John Ruskin	Mrs. John Ruskin
1912	The Old Silver Watch		Credited as Miss Gardner
1912	The Illumination	Sabina
1912	The Serpents	Linda
1912	An Innocent Theft	Malcolm's mother
1912	An Innocent Theft	Song Bird, a Young Indian
1912	The Miracle	Abbasah, the Caliph's Wife
1912	The Heart of Esmeralda	Louise Lennox - a Novelist
1912	The Party Dress	Lydia Borne
1913	Becky, Becky	Becky	Writer
1913	Alixe; or, The Test of Friendship	Alixe
1913	Eureka!	The Castaway
1913	Vampire of the Desert	Lispeth, Vampire of the Desert
1913	The Wife of Cain	Save - the Wife of Cain	Producer
1913	A Daughter of Pan	Dusa - a Daughter of Pan	Producer
1914	The Girl with the Hole in Her Stocking		Producer
1914	Fleur de Lys		Producer
1914	And There Was Light		Producer
1914	Butterfly	Nancy North - the Butterfly
1914	Underneath the Paint	Tryphena Winter
1915	The Breath of Araby	Clothilde
1915	The Still, Small Voice	Musa
1915	Snatched from a Burning Death	Joan Le Grande
1915	Miss Jekyll and Madame Hyde	Madeleine Jekyll/Madame Hyde

Features

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1912	Cleopatra	Cleopatra - Queen of Egypt	Producer, costume designer, editor Credited as Miss Gardner
1913	A Sister to Carmen	Margo	Producer
1913	A Princess of Bagdad	Princess Ojira	Producer
1914	Pieces of Silver: A Story of Hearts and Souls	Sister Berenice	Producer
1914	The Strange Story of Sylvia Gray	Sylvia Gray/Silvery
1914	The Moonshine Maid and the Man	Nancy - the Moonshine Maid
1920	The Sleep of Cyma Roget	Cyma Roget
1924	Sandra	La Flamme's wife

References

1. 
   ^ Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). Silent Film Necrology (2 ed.). McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub. p. 189. ISBN 0-786-41059-0..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ ^abc Letter from Dorin Schumacher to the New York Times (June 27, 1999)
   


3. 
   ^ ^ab Helen Gardner website
   


4. 
   ^ Information about Helen Gardner
   


5. 
   ^ "Marriage Announcement: Gardner-Pell", The New York Times, October 26, 1902
   


6. 
   ^ ^ab Wallace Dickinson, Joy. "Few Remember Days When Film Queen Lived Among Us". orlandosentinel.com. p. 1.
   


7. 
   ^ "What's Doing in Society?", The New York Times, January 26, 1904
   


8. 
   ^ Wallace Dickinson, Joy (March 25, 2001). "Early Screen Queen Turns Heads Again". orlandosentinel.com.
   

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helen Gardner (actress).

• 
  Helen Gardner on IMDb


• 
  Helen Gardner at Women Film Pioneers Project


• 
  Helen Gardner at AllMovie
  


• Helengardner.org

Authority control	LCCN: no2018137611 WorldCat Identities (via LCCN): no2018-137611

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