Helene Chadwick

Birthday: November 25th, 1897 Date of Death: September 4th, 1940 Place of Birth: Chadwick - New York - USA

From Wikipedia

Helene Chadwick (November 25, 1897 – September 4, 1940) was

an American actress in Silent film and in early sound film.

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 business man.

She began making films for Pathe Pictures in Manhattan, New

York. A director was impressed by Chadwicks'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 the

Manister (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.